http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/lewis/caveart
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Introduction | Content Area | Standards | Resources | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion
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This lesson was developed as part of the San Diego Unified School District's Patterns Project a California State funded grant project. See Technology Innovation Challenge Grant for information on U.S. funded grant projects.
In this Web Quest your students will combine their textbook knowledge of early humans with their reading of the novel Maroo of the Winter Caves, then research Early Humans and Cave Art on the web, to finally create a cave art project depicting the daily life of early humans. You may also have each student write a response essay telling what he or she would include in a cave art project based on the role chosen for the project.
Students Read:
You are a clan of Early Humans holed up in your cave during a storm. The eldest of your clan, a storyteller, is near death. He/she has asked you to depict the history of your clan on the walls of the cave to help preserve it for future generations of the clan. Since the cave is small and space is limited, your clan must decide what important aspects of early human life should be included. The problem is that each member of the clan is a different person with different opinions about what is important in clan life.
This lesson is designed for 6th grade social studies and reading in the study of early humans. Language arts is also addressed if you choose to have student teams write essays or present their work before their classmates. Further, you may choose to incorporate math by requiring teams to complete their art to scale.
Students will learn about the daily life of early humans, and through the art of early humans, what was then considered important or worthy of recording. They will use critical thinking skills to make inferences, synthesize knowledge from various sources and evaluate what was important to the role they choose in the project.
Click to view specific standards addressed by this unit.
This lesson will require at least one visit to the computer lab to for an introduction to the project, then may continue in the lab or be done with as few as two classroom computers over one week during which time students will need at least ten minutes of computer time per day. Four computers at 20 minutes would be optimal. Each team should be allowed to work at the computers together in order to assist each other in researching the correct role. After completing the research online, students will then need class time to complete the tasks. Additional lab time may be needed if you wish your students to use a word processing program to type their responses.
*Art may be done on the undersides of student desks or tables to simulate the cramped cave environment.
Websites:
While one classroom teacher may choose to tackle this project alone, aide and parent assistance will lessen the workload. You may even choose to have students assist in the preparation of the materials. i.e. the large sheets of crumpled brown butcher paper needed for each team's cave wall section.
A field trip to a museum such as San Diego's Museum of Man to view an exhibit on early humans will greatly enhance your students' learning experience.
Entry Level Skills and Knowledge
Teacher and students will need to have a basic knowledge of how to use the Internet to search for resources beyond the links provided in the web quest, and how to return to the starting points of the quest so as to not get lost in cyberspace. Students will also need to be familiar with a word processing program if you choose to have them type their essays. Students writing essays will need writing basics to accomplish this task, although you may incorporate some skill lessons into you project. The teacher will need to be able to explain the roles of the team adequately so the students buy in.
After students complete the project they will need to complete the rubric document to evaluate their team members' performances. This will assist you in giving grades for individual work.
At the end of this project students should have learned about the lives of different early humans and the possible significance of their cave art. They will be required to reflect that learning by writing a 5 paragraph essay. Click here to see an essay guide.
Based on a template from The Web Quest Page