Geography for Life Web Assignment

This assignment, due December 4, will require you to prepare a web site (one page with multiple linked pages) focused on one of the six essential elements of the National Geography Standards. Each student will be assigned an essential element. The site should reflect a deep understanding of the concepts and generalizations related to the element, a summary of key student expectations at grades 4, 8, and 12 for each standard within the element, and include 10 or more annotated links to relevant WWW sites.

The way you develop your page is your choice. The key components, as listed above, are:

• a summary and analysis of the main points, concepts, and generalizations related to your element. Think in terms of how you would begin to explain this content to a fellow teacher. "Hey, what is Standard X all about? What do I teach about when I teach about this set of standards?" You might want to use illustrations, words, excerpts from other scholarly sources of information, newspaper articles, whatever pieces of information available to you to help explain the ideas contained in this portion of geography.
• a summary of the student expectations at the three grade levels, grades 4, 8, and 12. What is a student expected to know and be able to do related to the standards in this element? You may wish to copy directly what is in the standards, but then, elaborate, go beyond, show some originality and thought--give examples of possible activities, explain what specific tasks a student should be able to complete, etc. What would be relevant to the lives of students in Texas? Be sure to correlate your standards to the TEKS at the grade levels you intend to teach (K-5, 6-8, 9-12). The TEKS are available on line at http://socialstudies.tea.state.tx.us/teks_and_taas/teks.htm
• ten or more annotated links to relevant WWW sites.Some standards and elements are well-supported on the web with a variety of resources such as government sponsored data sources, newspaper information, area studies centers, and so on. Others are not as well supported. Find a MINIMUM of ten very helpful sites, provide the link addresses, and annotate them, that is, describe what is at the site and how it is helpful to developing an understanding of the standard. Again, think of the utility of the sites to a geography teacher/student of geography. For a good example of annotations, see http://people.tamu.edu/~j0b4761/EE5.htm
• anything else you think would be helpful, relevant to teaching about this element. Use your imagination, search for resources, think of ways to make these standards clear and meaningful.

This is a good web search engine. Another excellent resource is http://www.signpost.org/signpost/. I think http://www.google.com is pretty good as well.

Remember to focus on content and quality of information rather than elaborate web development. I am not impressed as much (at all) by flashing graphics and animation. I am impressed by any evidence of your ability to find or create good useful information on the web.

Clarity, ease of access, and good design sense are all helpful in web-design. But the bulk of points will come from content. Focus on how well you meet the four components listed above.

As soon as the web sites are completed (December 4) I will review them. You will present your web sites to the class in lieu of a final examination. At that time your classmates will grade you using the same scoring rubric I used. Your final grade will be 85% my evaluation, 15% your classmates.

Scoring Rubric: here are the criteria on which the sites will be evaluated.