Trip to Mexico City
WebQuest for 7th Grade Spanish
Designed by Maude Chasse/
Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | TeacherPage
Introduction
You wake up to a ringing phone at 5:00 a.m. It is none other than Señora Loca de Cabeza, the owner of the Nonnewaug Travel Agency. Sra. Loca explains that a group of schoolstudents and their teacher (Señora Chasse) from WoodburyMiddle Schoolare stranded in a New York City airport! Señora Chasse frantically contacted Señora Loca for help. It appears that their travel plans(previously booked with the Flimsy Tour Agency) were cancelled, and the tour operator left without a word! You need to get into the office right away and organize a trip for these students to Mexico City. Señora Loca will award you and your team with a free weekend to New York City if you can get the WMS students safely to their Mexican destination, and provide an itinerary for a fun week in Mexico. Please help!Task
You and your group will develop an itinerary for Señora Chasse and her group of students. Since this is April vacation, they require round-trip airfare, comfortable hotel accommodations, plus a travel itinerary for 8 days and 7 nights,April 12-19, 2008. The ideal tour should include visits to a variety of places: cultural sites, sporting events, museums and shopping. Señora Chasse has five required stops:Museum of Anthropology in ChaputepecPark, the pyramids of Teotihuacán, a boat ride in the FloatingGardens of Xochimilco, a bullfight in the Plaza de Toros, and a trip to the city of Taxco. Other plans are up to you. Each traveler has US$2,500 to spend. Can you get your teacher and your middle school friends to Mexico Cityand back? Go to the PROCESS and help your teacher and your friends have a fabulous vacation!Process
- Get to know what Mexico City is about.
Mexico CityHistory
Photos of Mexico City
Mexico City Landmarks
Mexico City Sports
CIA Factbook informationabout Mexico
- Choose one job as a tour agent.
- Air and hotel agent
- Sports and leisure agent
- Historical sites agent
- Special excursions agent
c)Save some interesting photos on a Word document to include in your group’s final presentation.
AGENT: Air and Hotel Agent
As the air and hotel agent, your individual task is to research and find flight information and hotel accommodations for the trip. The flights must be round trip, DIRECT flights from a New York or New Jersey airport to Mexico City. You will need to record the airline, flight number, departure and arrival times plus the cost on your TRIP FORM. Hotel accommodations must be in the same hotel for 7 nights. The hotel must be located in the central tourist district of Mexico City. You will need to record several options for flights and hotels for your group so the best information is chosen for the final itinerary. Sites to view:
AGENT: Sports and Leisure Agent
As the Sports and Leisure Agent, your individual task is to research and find places to visit pertaining to sports and leisure. You will need to find several options to include in your TRIP FORM. However, you MUST include two of the must-see items on Señora Chasse’s list: a boat ride in the floating gardens of Xochimilco and a Bullfight! Some other suggestions might be a soccer game or visit to the Olympic Stadium. Find some cool activities from the list below. Sites to view:
(index to activities)
(look and click on “visiting the city guide”)
(Xochimilco)
(Xochimilco)
(Xochimilco)
(Estadio Azteca)
(Estadio Azteca ticket)
(Bull fighting ring)
AGENT: Historical Sites Agent
As the Historical Sites Agent, your individual task is to research and find places to visit pertaining to Mexico’s historical sites. You will need to find several options to include in your TRIP FORM . However, you MUST include two of the must-see items on Señora Chasse’s list: a visit to the Pyramids of Teotihuacan, and a trip to the Museo Nacional de Antropología! Find some fantastic places to see from the site list below:
(Teotihuacan)
(Museo de Antropologia - click on information)
(look and click on “visiting the city guide”)
(Click on Teotihuacan)
(Teotihuacan)
(various excursions)
AGENT: Special Excursions Agent
As the Special Excursions Agent, your individual task is to research and find places OUTSIDE of Mexico City that are interesting, informative or fun. These could be natural habitats, volcanoes, or heritage sites. You will need to find several options. However, you MUST include one of the must-see items on Señora Chasse’s list: a tour (including shopping time) to the city of Taxco, the heart of Mexico’s silver trade! Other special excursions could be to Cuernavaca, the “Popo” volcano, a spa visit in Tepotzlán, or 6 Flags. Make sure you list 5 choices on your TRIP FORM. Find some fantastic places to go from the site list below:
(Taxco photos)
(tour info)
(Cuernavaca / Taxco/ 6 Flags excursions)
(Volcano)
(Cuernavaca info)
(Tepoztlan info)
(spas in Tepoztlan)
- With your group, plan a trip itinerary.
- With your group, develop a PowerPoint presentation for the class.
- One slide or page containing a title, names of group members, and a photo or map of Mexico,
- One slide for each day (8 days total) showing the Day #, photos and caption for the place(s) students will visit,
- One final slide or page showing the costs of the trip in US dollars and Mexican pesos.
Evaluation
Your performance on this WebQuest will be graded on the rubric below. You will receive an individual grade for your personal behavior and the work completed on the TRIP FORM. Second, your team will receive a several group grades for the GROUP ITINERARY and Final Presentation to the class.Nombre ______Clase ______
Fecha ______
Beginning
1 / Developing
2 / Accomplished
3 / Exemplary
4 / Score
QUALITY OF INDIVIDUAL TRIP FORM / Less than five plans are included on your TRIP FORM / 5 plans are included on your TRIP FORM, with 3 or less items listed and spelled correctly in Spanish / 5 plans are included on your TRIP FORM, with 4 items listed and spelled correctly in Spanish / 5 plans are included on your TRIP FORM, with ALL items listed and spelled correctly in Spanish
INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR DURINGWEBQUEST WORK / Individual has been off-task or disruptive and spoken to by the teacher more than once. / Individual has been off-task or disruptive and spoken to by the teacher once. / Student has been on-task and has demonstrated good listening skills and work ethic through most of the WebQuest. / Student has been on-task and has demonstrated outstanding individual initiative in planning and implementation of WebQuest
INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION TO GROUP PRESENTATION / Student does not present slides to the class, or student presents slides in English. / Student presents less than 2 slides to the class, using mostly complete Spanish grammar and pronunciation. / Student presents at least 2 slides to the class, using mostly complete Spanish grammar and pronunciation. / Student presents at least 2 slides to the class, using correct Spanish grammar and pronunciation.
EXTENT TO WHICH ALL TRAVELERS NEEDS ARE MET ON GROUP ITINERARY / Less than four must-see sites are included, and itinerary is incomplete / Four must-see sites are included, but itinerary contains less than eight days of activities / Less than five must-see sights are included, and itinerary contains eight days of a variety of activities / Five must-see sites are included, and itinerary contains eight days of a variety of activities from all 4 Trip agents
WORKING WITHIN CONTRAINTS / Trip costs are inconclusive / Trip is 1-10% over budget
($2800<trip<$3080) OR some costs for day trips are missing / Trip is within budget, and some specific costs are reasonable / Trip is within budget and specific costs for all day trips and admissions are reasonable
QUALITY OF GROUP PRESENTATION / Group presentation contains less than 10 required slides. / Group presentation contains 10 slides, but not all contain photos and captions / Group presentation contains 10 slides, all with photos and correctly spelled Spanish place names. Trip costs are evident in US dollars and Mexican pesos. / Group presentation contains 10 slides with photos, interesting captions and correctly spelled Spanish place names. Trip costs are shown in a side-by-side comparison, in US dollars and Mexican pesos.
Conclusion
Has your group succeed in planning a fun and educational trip for the stranded travelers in New York? Did you accomplish your goals within budget? If so, your work as a travel agent for Señora Loca de Cabeza will be handsomely rewarded! Mexico City is an exciting city with many places of interest. It is only a small part of what Mexico has to offer. What other places would you like to visit inMexico?Trip to Mexico
WebQuest for 7th Grade Spanish
Teacher Resource Page
Designed by Maude Chasse/
Introduction| Learners| Standards | Process | Resources | Evaluation| Credits| Modifications| StudentPage
Introduction
This WebQuest was developed to add a cultural component and inquiry activity to a Spanish I unit about leisure time activities. Students previously studied grammar and vocabulary related to extending and accepting invitations, telling about places they like to go, and looking at some places of interest in Latin American and Spain.The lesson was developed to give the students some insight into leisure time activities in Mexico City, and to challenge beginning students to use prior knowledge about place names in Spanish, using the concept of cognates to find information in target language sources.
Learners
This WebQuest was designed for first year Spanish students in middle school. The lesson is anchored in year 1 Spanish curriculum, but also coordinates with social studies, math, and technology education to a lesser extent.Students will need to know the following Spanish concepts before beginning this WebQuest:
- place names in Spanish (such as viaje, museo, parque, castillo, vuelo, pyrámide, montaña lago)
- days of the week
- concept of the 24-hour clock
- cognates
Curriculum Standards
The World Language Standards Addressed (ConnecticutState standards and ACTFL standards are referenced)- Students will understand and interpret spoken and written language on a variety of topics. (CT 2, ACTFL 1.2)
- Students will reinforce and expand their knowledge of other areas of student through the World Language. (CT 5, ACTFL 3.1)
- Students will acquire and use information from a variety of sources only available through the world language, using technology, print audiovisual, media data and human resources. (CT 6, ACTFL 3.2)
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of that world language and their own. (CT 7, ACTFL 4.1)
- Students will use the world language both within and beyond the school setting for personal enjoyment, enrichment and active participation. (CT 9, ACTFL 5.1
- Think critically about what outcomes they want to achieve as an individual and as a group,
- Make inferences about places and sites that they initially do not understand,
- Create interim outcomes during the process to receive a grade,
- Work cooperatively to share the responsibilities of their final project,
- Learn the basics of Microsoft PowerPoint and (most cases) Microsoft Excel,
- Compromise and categorize students’ research in a final presentation
Process
The WebQuest was presented and completed in Spanish class. It is organized into two parts: research and presentation. Students did research for 5 class periods (43 minutes) in school and did additional research and presentation preparation at home. Two class periods were devoted to group presentations.Students were divided into teams of four. I let students choose their groups, with the caveat that students will receive both individual and group grades. I stressed that they choose students that they know would do their fair share. Task requirements were modified for teams of less than four students.
This WebQuest could be used by any experienced Spanish teacher. However, teachers should be familiar with the websites ahead of time and have a good understanding of Microsoft PowerPoint. The side-by-side cost comparison is best shown in Microsoft Excel. Students will need to be led through this.
There may be several stumbling blocks to anticipate:
- Verify that all the web pages are unblocked by the school district’s internet security. There were some sights that could be viewed, but certain imbedded content, such as pictures, had additional security layers that also needed to be unblocked.
- Verify that students can copy and paste information into a common folder on your school’s network where groups can create their final presentation. All students should be able to update a common file as necessary. This will avoid duplication of work for students who were developing slides for a PowerPoint presentation, but could not access other students’ networked folders. Individual students can work on their group project at different times.
- Anticipate weak groups. Student groups will ask for more time beyond a deadline. It was usually due to students’ incomplete work, or a group’s weak computer skills. Many students may require permission to finish work outside of class.
- Anticipate projects emailed to school. Some groups met at home or at the public library. For groups working at home, some may need to email presentations to the teacher due to security permissions on the school’s internet.
Variation to extend the WebQuest for gifted students:
Give student teams several options for a final presentation. The EVALUATION form can be adjusted as necessary. Options include:
- Present more depth in the PowerPoint presentation using sound clips, WebCam images, short video or music clips from a foreign Website.
- Create a poster of their trip using a map and place names indicated on the map.
- Develop a board game similar to Monopoly or CandyLand containing spaces and photos of all the students’ trip options, and costs. Use pesos as currency.
- Change or remove the constraint of a $2500 budget. If eliminated, the students would not need to complete a side-by-side comparison of costs. The EVALUATION form would need to be modified.
Resources Needed
- School internet permission and separate accounts for all students
- Student access to Internet Explorer, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel
- Hardware to project student presentations to the class (Smart Board or LCD projector and networked computer
Evaluation
The formal student assessment is a rubric: seeEVALUATION . Additionally, I asked students to fill out and return an anonymous evaluation of the WebQuest process itself. It could also be included into the WebQuest as a short self-reflection entry.What did you learn in this WebQuest?
What was the easiest part of the WebQuest?
What was the hardest part of the WebQuest?
What would you PERSONALLY do different next time?
Credits & References