Curriculum - Based Research Modules

You can go directly to the links or scroll down to see descriptions of each first.

     Designed for a cataloging course graduate project, this module allows students to explore the Dewey Decimal Classification System. Students will become experts in accessing materials in their school media center. After exploring web sites such as Melvil Dewey, a multimedia tour of the classification system, and Rockburn's own PAC catalog, they will create a HyperStudio Stack to share information with a visiting group of exchange students.

In this Research Module, the director of marketing knows that fourth graders across the state are learning about Maryland as part of their Social Studies curriculum. Students are asked to use their superior knowledge, research skills, and creativity to make a brochure that persuades out of state travelers to visit our state.

This module allows students to explore the wonderful world of Shakespeare. Students will visit websites on topics such as Elizabethan London, The Globe Theater, and the life of Shakespeare. After they take notes on their assigned topic, they will create a Power Point presenation to share their information with other students interested in Shakespeare.

This module is for those students who love animals. They get to choose an animal to research via a variety of web sites. Then, they will create one slide that will be compiled by the teacher with the slides of their classmates and complete a class PowerPoint slide show.

Teachers,

Use this website with the Revolutionary War Fifth-Grade Social Studies Unit. The website is a Research Module designed with the MSDE format for conducting a historical investigation in mind. The students will cruise through this self-propelled website to print organizers, visit appropriate links, examine primary and secondary resources and documents, and investigate the the causes and events in the Boston Massacre. After conducting their investigations, they will complete a structured, informative writing assignment to report their findings and interpretations.

Teachers,

Welcome to this easy do-it -yourself weather broadcast template. This site is designed for any students who wants to broadcast the accurate weather on your school's morning/afternoon announcements. They may want to do this for a Type III project, a science project or just for fun. This site is linked to various sites that will give accurate information, forecasts, and great trivia. This site is very user friendly and it allows for the students to browse each website and customize their broadcast to meet the needs of your school. Have fun.

After going to links to read profiles about many characters in Marc Brown's books, the students pretend that they are newspaper reporters and it's their job to write a paragraph to inform readers about one of the characters. Students create a newsletter in Microsoft Word or Student Writing Center.

This webquest centers on the animals and enviroment of Australia. Students are asked to develope a HyperStudio stack about an animal or area of Australia. web site includes elaborate directions for the use of HyperStudio.

This module is designed for thrid grade students as a curriculum extension
of their Social Studies unit on Howard County. The module focuses on the past and present of Howard County. Students will use their research to create a PowerPoint Slide show summarizing general information about Howard County official symbols, historic sites and major parks.

This module is designed for fourth and fifth grade students as a cross-curricular extension to reading, writing, and social studies units. In thsi module students will research and report on a famous female in history. They will use this research to compose a newsletter. The newsletter will include information about the achievements, life story and a mock interview with the famous female.

Concerned about the public's lack of knowledge concerning Maryland's Native Americans, the Governor has asked you to put together an informational brochure. You will research the shelter, clothing, food and language of three Maryland Native American tribes. You will also have an opportunity to 'grade' a web site.

This module encourages 4th and 5th grade students to explore various aspects of a community by answering the following broad-based questions:
1) What is a community?
2) How would your community be different on Mars?
3) What makes life in your community meaningful?
4) How would you create and represent your community?
They are to use their findings to create a community on Mars for the year 2030. The websites help them look at communities from an artistic, scientific, and technological point of view.

This module is designed for fourth grade students as a curriculum extension
of their Social Studies unit on Maryland. The module focuses on the past,
present and future of Maryland. Students choose from four topics to
research: Bay-Friendly Gardening, Hunger in Maryland, People who have made an Impact on Maryland and Historical Preservation in Maryland. Using a note-taking template, students gather information from website links.
Students then create a Hyperstudio Program to share the information they have learned.

This newspaper unit is designed to assist teachers in grades 4-6. It
involves activities that teach the students about the different parts of a
newspaper, as well as, providing activities that connect students to the
real-world of news (newswire). The real-world experience, models real-life
news stories along with providing them information that they can use to
write their own news stories. The students learn how to write a proper
news story and are instructed on how to use Microsoft Works to type up the
stories. This unit can be used for students who are learning to create a
newspaper for their grade/school, or it can be used as an extension to a
unit on how to incorporate newspapers into the classroom.

This activity was written for fourth grade students. Students are researching the Mayan culture and people in order to find information that may be added to a book that has been read in class.

This is an extension unit related to the novel. Students feign the role as curator of a museum, and peruse the art of different museums to put together a collection . Employing the purposes of writing to inform and to persuade, the students will decide upon a collection, import examples of art, provide the history of each piece, and create a slide show to convince their benefactors to bring this collection to their museum. The activities include a visit to the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a history of the works of Michelangelo, and a visit to various other museums. Students are asked to prepare a slide show in Kid Pix after viewing the sites.

In this module students are introduced to the temperate rainforest in British Columbia, Canada and asked to analyze why this rainforest is disappearing, to discover the effects on the environment, and to determine what students can do to help. Using the WWW, students engage in meaningful research, organize their information using a study guide, and present their findings in a hyperstudio stack.

African American History Month is fast approaching. The principal is concerned that not enough students are aware of famous black Americans from Maryland. She has assigned you the task of exploring information about famous African Americans from Maryland to learn as much as you can. After you have researched the people you will need to chose one famous African American Marylander and create a Kid Pix Slide Show about your person. The Kid Pix Slide Show will be shown to other students in the school to raise awareness of famous African American Marylanders.

This module is designed for fourth or fifth grade students as a curriculum extension unit to the book The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop. After reading the book, students will use these instructions to research facts about castles, specifically about a particular castle room that may have figured in the story. The students' products will be a brochure with pictures from the internet and text describing the room.

Students studying Mexico will love this research module. Your students will learn how to gather information from predetermined web sites and record information using a visual organizer. Students will create a KidPix slide show about Mexico and share it with their peers. This unit covers most Howard County First Grade Social Studies objectives in the Children of Mexico unit. Students should have a general understanding of KidPix before beginning this module.

This research module was created for students to use previewed internet links to help them find information on Revolutionary War Patriots. The students should work in cooperative groups as instructed in the module to complete a report with visual aids. (Some of the visual aids are graphics pulled from the internet links.) The rationale for creating this module was for students to become actively involved using technology to learn about the patriots (opposed to textbooks) as stated in the Fifth Grade Revolutionary War Unit of the Anne Arundel County Curriculum.

Space Science was a new addition to the Science curriculum of 1998-1999. This research module can be a wonderful enrichment to the Space Science lessons for both 4th and 5th graders. It requires students to do research on the Internet and then use their technology skills to create a newsletter. Students will be researching the planets and Earth's seasons. It is recommended that this research module follow the Space Science curriculum, as the lessons within the curriculum give a very good basis on which the students can build.

To prepare for this lesson, be certain that your classes have background in the changes of Earth's seasons. It is also helpful for students to view a laser disc on Space. This gives students an opportunity to actually see how the Earth rotates, revolves, etc. Teachers also need to have available, for students, some directions on how to create a newsletter in ClarisWorks. This activity will most likely take the students 3-4 days, from start to finish.

Concerned that our planet is moving closer and closer to the sun with every orbit, students are asked to study the other planets in our solar system and then create a brochure that will persuade the people of earth to move to another planet in the solar system in order to save their life.

Module Description

The curriculum based research module was developed for students who are studying Pioneers. The module includes descriptions of who the pioneers were, how and where they traveled, trails they used, descriptions and illustrations of the wagons they used, and how they lived once they reached the new land. The students then use this information to create a brochure in Claris Works. It is designed specifically for students in second grade (curriculum based), but can be modified with organizers for higher grade levels.

This research module is designed to increase students abilities to persuade and debate their opinions. Each student will select an "Athlete of the Year" finalist and create a slide show presentation which will display their opinions towards that athlete.

The objective of this research module is to create a brochure in Claris Works. Students will also be expected to clip and paste pictures from the internet. Through the module, they will be guided to several Chesapeake Bay sites where they will reseach information. They will learn about the pollution, volunteer organizations, and bay wildlife. They will include all of their research in a four page colored brochure illustrating and informing the public about the Chesapeake Bay.

Endangered Species: Snow Leopards
Created By Lynne Spalding
Sunset Elementary

This modules is designed for first and second graders. The information about snow leopards in included within the module written in easy to understsand, large print. Students are asked to create a kidpix slide show which will be presented at the Baltimore Zoo about the snow leopards.

Many children in the upper elementary and middle school are facinated with the bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War II. This module allows them discover information about the war and a monument park created to honor those who lost their lives. Stuedents are led to various sites answering questions about the war, the bomb, and its implications. Students are then asked to create a brochure which will be shared at a "new" peace memorial park in Washington D.C.

This research module can be used in conjunction with the Forces unit in fifth grade science in the Howard County curriculum. The module challenges students to create a slide show presentation to solve a fictitious problem involving the Thomas Viaduct. There are many, many links to bridge sites. Students will learn about four basic types of bridge construction in addition to bridge history. The module will take approximately five to six class periods to complete.

This module was created to enrich the unit titled Objects in the Sky used in the third grade curriculum. This was developed not only for the use of third grade students, but it may be used for fourth and fifth grade students as well. In this module the student will be given an overview of the solar system while they gather facts using the provided organizers. Once the students have gathered their information they will then select a specific planet to research. The object of these lessons is for the students to create a page for a collaborative class book discussing the solar system.

Students are asked to help Dr. Toothygrin convince first graders of the importance of good dental hygiene. After gathering information, students are encouraged to develop a slide show to share with other classes. This is a class project.

Students are encouraged to develop a new attraction at a Dr. Suess theme park based upon one of his stories. First students learn about the man behind Dr. Suess, and then get a chance to read some of his classics. Students then are encouraged to use KidPix to draw a picture of the attraction and write a paragraph explaining the attraction and why it should be in the theme park.

DESCRIPTION OF MODULE:

This curriculum-based research module was developed for students who are studying Native Americans, specifically regions and resources. If focuses on researching four regions- Northwest, Southwest, Plains, and Eastern Woodlands - and information on their types of food, clothing, shelter, and myths and legends. The students then use this information to create a brochure in ClarisWorks. It is most appropriate for students in grades 3, 4 or 5 , but can be modified for or done with small groups of students in second grade.

This research module is designed to be used at the end of a data and graphing unit. Students are given web sites to choose their favorite sport's team from. The students find team or player statistics and then use ClarisWorks or other spreadsheet program to graph the information.

Do you want your students understand the seriousness of smoking? Would you like them to feel that can can make a difference by taking action to counter youth smoking? This research module requires students to research the problems caused by tobacco and present an antismoking action plan to an audience. Features of this module include:

• Students work in cooperative groups of four.
  Each group member has a role.
• Preselected internet sites and links help prevent random surfing.
• Culminating project is easily modified to suit your resources.

This Weather Research Module is designed to allow students the opportunity to become real-life investigative Meteorologists for the Baltimore, Maryland area. As Meteorologists, it will be their job to make, measure, accumulate, and report data on various weather conditions such as: Temperature, Wind Patterns, Air Pressure, and Relative Humidity. Since Maryland is positioned along the Eastern Coastline, the dangers of Hurricanes can become all too real. As a Weather Reporter, it is their job to provide the necessary information to all Maryland residents so that preparations can be made for their safety. They must report on and design a brochure highlighting the warning signs and safety steps taken in preparing for a Hurricane. This module can be completed individually, with a partner, or possibly a small group.

Students studying the Civil War will love this research module. Your students will learn how to gather information from pre-determined web sites, record information using a visual organizer, use specific geography terms, and practice reading to perform a task.

Note: Students should only begin this unit with some background knowledge of why the Civil War began.

THIS WEB SITE IS DESIGNED TO BE USED BY STUDENTS, IN GRADES THREE AND FOUR, WHO ARE DOING INDEPENDENT RESEARCH. THEY WILL SEARCH THE WEB FOR INFORMATION ON HOW HURRICANES ARE FORMED, SAFETY PRECAUTIONS, AND HOW PEOPLE DEAL WITH THIS DISASTER. THE STUDENTS ARE GIVEN DIRECTIONS TO CREATE A FOLLOW-UP BROCHURE.

In this unit, students research hurricanes with the intent to publish a student-to-student brochure. Research focuses on the formation, hazards and safety precautions associated with hurricanes. Directions for publication of the brochure are not included within the unit.

This research module was developed as a curriculum extension unit for third graders reading the novel, James and the Giant Peach. The module involves extensive research of all of the creatures in the story. The information about each creature can then be put together into a newsletter and/or a Kid Pix slide show for future students to view before reading James and the Giant Peach.

Students are asked to research a variety of ecological concepts including food chains, food webs, habitat, etc., as identified in the Howard County Essential Curriculum. Students then research specific habitats and animals so that they can construct an Eco-Center. Students are then asked to create a brochure and map to be used as a guide for the center.

In this Research Module, the Second Grades have many questions about butterflies, and especially the Monarch. They search safe sites to gather general information. Next, they answer questions generated by other Second Graders. After gathering at least 5 facts they use Kid Pix Studio computer program to develop a slide show. This will be presented to the Second Grade Team in the Spring.

The students are presented with the premise that the Maryland Historical Society is planning displays about the importance of the Baltimore area in the War of 1812. They would like students to identify significant people, places, and events from the war. The students, after browsing various sights, and focusing their research on specific people who are tied to a specific event, are asked to create a poster of slide show that presents their information. Ultimately, the students present their products to their Social Studies class.