Implementation of “Climate Change WebQuest“ (SOI-HR-339)

Author: Daniela Dorčak, English teacher

School/Organization: I.gimnazija Osijek, Croatia

As I was starting a new topic (Global issues) with my second graders of high school I was looking for ideas to refresh my lessons and I found inspiration in the learning scenario “Climate Change WebQuest” (LS-HR-285) by Anita Lasić. I decided to modify the LS by taking the activities I thought my students would be interested in and added my own ideas and activities. This LS is a WebQuest so my students used their mobile phones.

Using mobile phones

Summary

The implementation of the LS “Climate Change WebQuest” was carried out with students of 16+ age during the English class as a double lesson (90 minutes). The class of 24 students was divided into 6 groups as the LS was foreseen to be done in small groups. I implemented it in two different classes.  Some parts of the LS were skipped because I wanted to avoid too much digital content. I created qr codes to ensure quick access to websites. My students have used Europeana resources before, so they are familiar with arts and science digital heritage. 

Brainstorming

In the introduction I asked my students what the weather was like that day and encouraged them to brainstorm different types of weather. We used https://answergarden.ch/3037105. In addition I showed them pictures of extreme weather conditions from Europeana and asked them what they thought our topic would be. https://www.europeana.eu/item/2021009/_E13C705FF85FEEEF5D55BA916983B8BA

https://www.europeana.eu/item/2021009/_D23E3F02D0D294757EFA53DAF19E3D81

https://www.europeana.eu/item/2021009/_BBEC03076260EF6D173AED30738F1CFB

Showing an image from Europeana

The photos gave the students the idea of the topic and we proceeded by revising vocabulary. I used an online matching activity from the LS. 

Webquest

The next step took us to the Webquest and the first web page where students had to find evidence that climate is changing and the causes and effects of climate change. After that students followed the link and got familiar with the goals of sustainable development. They needed to find one dealing with climate.

The next activity which I chose from the Webquest was about Venice which is especially affected by climate change and the students explained what problem the city has.

Padlet activity

In addition I wanted my students to think critically and discuss what we can do to fight climate change. As they were working in groups they wrote their ideas to Padlet. 

https://padlet.com/dorcakd/climate-change-lacyy05aqo4ti1y

Students working in groups

Posting to Padlet

The last activity taken from the LS was writing a short report about students’ findings about climate change and they did it individually.

Assessment

We finished our lesson with an assessment, each student had to write the most important thing they had learned during the lesson and post it again to Padlet.

The students also got homework which was to write a paragraph about a recent natural phenomenon that had recently happened in their country. I slightly modified the task from the LS.

I used only a few activities from the original WebQuest and suggest other educators to plan more time for the whole WebQuest, 90 minutes is not enough.

Outcomes

By implementing this LS I wanted to raise my students’ awareness of environmental problems, climate change and the effects on all of us. The students’ active participation, their interest in the topic, their mature thoughts and written comments show that the learning outcomes were achieved. Their comments on Padlet show that they are worried about our planet, they are aware that the planet is in danger and that we need to take care of it. 

My advice to other educators who plan to implement this LS would be to use less digital content as my students were saturated with it.

Benefits for educators

I am familiar with Teaching with Europeana resources and have been using materials for a few years. The resources are unique and different from any other. Learning scenarios are free and mostly ready to use with no or little preparation. I would recommend all teachers regardless of the subject they teach to use resources from Europeana so that students get familiar with the diverse heritage of art and science in digital form.  I created a LS with my biology colleague and another one with my PE colleague. I also implemented a LS with my math  and arts colleagues. Using Europeana resources is very simple but all users should be aware of copyright. During the implementation of this scenario, I used images from Europeana to bring extreme weather conditions closer to my students. 

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? Climate Change WebQuest created by Anita Lasić

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? You might also like: 

• Climate change and well-being implemented by Laurentina Soares
• This is Just a BEGINNING implemented by Zehra Güleniş
• Implementation of “Let’s make green decisions” by Ozgu Ozturk

Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.

CC0 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Statens Museum for Kunst.