Quest for the Rainforest

A WebQuest for 11th and 12th Grade Spanish

rtowle@mail.hhsc.k12.in.us

Introduction

You and your partner are naturalists doing field studies throughout the tropical rainforests of Costa Rica. An e-mail message just arrived describing a critical situation that needs your expertise. After silently reading the message, you look at each other and say, “Are they for real?!”

After all this time that you have spent studying the rainforests, the flora, the fauna…After all those first miserable, sleepless nights listening to the endless sounds of the animals, the birds, and the insects (many too big for your liking!)…After battling the dangers of the forest, both seen and unseen… How could the Costa Rican government consider selling off parts of the forest for commercial purposes? How could the government and the industrialists ignore the issues of deforestation, of the ozone layer, of the endangered species? Your schooling and your heart have led you to this fieldwork, and now, your work and the national park are being threatened. You just can’t let this happen! But what can you do? How can you convince a judge to take your side!

Task Option A

You and your research partner have only a short time before your transportation will arrive to take you back to the capital. You decide to research the issues via your satellite connection to the Internet and develop a defense of the rainforest to present to a judge who can issue a restraining order before the destruction begins.

You and your partner will incorporate your research and your views in a PowerPoint presentation to persuade a judge to grant a restraining order that will halt the planned destruction of a tropical rainforest.

Task Option B

You and your partner are representing a development company that plans to use a portion of the park for commercial purposes (hotel, resort, etc.). The importance of building up ecotourism in Costa Rica is to improve the economy of the local people as well as the economy of the country. Look for facts related to the money that Costa Rica receives from ecotourism. General information on the ecology of Costa Rica and the flora and fauna and how your development can be built and still save the ecosystems should be researched. You must convince the judge that your company's motives and methods will be beneficial as a whole.

Process

Your transportation will arrive soon, so you and partner must get busy. Start your research by using the websites and sources given for information dealing with tropical rainforests, endangered species therein, and the impact on the ecosystems. Although you and your partner decide to “divide and conquer” the research, remember to share information that you might come across that would be useful to your partner!

Choose from one of the following parks:

ARENAL VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK
BARRA HONDA NATIONAL PARK
BRAULIO CARRILLO NATIONAL PARK
CAHUITA NATIONAL PARK
CHIRRIPÓ NATIONAL PARK
CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK
GUANACASTE NATIONAL PARK
IRAZÚ VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK
JUAN CASTRO BLANCO NATIONAL PARK
MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK

PALO VERDE NATIONAL PARK
PIEDRAS BLANCAS NATIONAL PARK
PLAYA GRANDE MARINE TURTLE NATIONAL PARK
POÁS VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK
RINCÓN DE LA VIEJA NATIONAL PARK
SANTA ROSA NATIONAL PARK
TENORIO VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK AND VICINITY
TORTUGUERO NATIONAL PARK
WHALE MARINE NATIONAL PARK

Go to the website: http://centralamerica.com/cr/ to find out more about each park.

Naturalist #1 /Developer #1

You will focus on the following areas:

§ General information on the ecosystems of Costa Rica

§ Specific information on the ecosystems of your park

§ Global benefits of rainforests

The following sites will help you:

Howstuffworks "How Rainforests Work"
A great overview and links.

Rainforest Facts
An excellent overview of the issue.

Rainforest Live: Facts and figures
Facts and figures for projects.

Passport to the Rainforest
Good basics!

Teaching Tropical Rainforest Biology - Table of Contents
This unit has good resources and images.

Naturalist #2 /Developer #2

You will research the following areas:

§ Forms/Methods of destruction/development of the ecosystem

§ Impact of destruction/development

§ Related statistics to your position

§ Specific concerns and impact on Costa Rica

Use the sites to assist you:

Costa Rica - Rainforest Portal
Links to rainforest conservation efforts.

Costa Rica: Forestry and Deforestation - PopPlanet.org
Links to relevant information in Costa Rica

Forest Conservation Portal
A conservation site with loads of links to current and general information

National Geographic: Eye in the Sky--Deforestation
Info and images of deforestation.

Tourism--economical impact on Costa Rica

Costa Rica Tourism Board, National Parks regulations

Benefits of Ecotourism

Ecotourism in Costa Rica

Photo Journey Through a Costa Rican Rain Forest

For both naturalists/developers:

1. Take notes (either on 3x5 note cards or notepaper). Find a minimum of 12 factual pieces of information that will help support your case. Reference each item by number to your bibliography. Submit to the teacher for approval.

Make a bibliography of the websites and sources that you have used. This bibliography should be included in your presentation. Be sure to use the proper format. Use the following website for documentation:

NoodleTools Citation Link

Landmark Citation Machine

Brainstorm with your partner for effective methods of persuasion for your presentation approach. Use the guide at this site:

Process Guide #8 - Persuasive Arguments

Create a storyboard for your PowerPoint slides (minimum of 10 slides). The teacher should check this before starting production of your PowerPoint presentation.

Build a PowerPoint presentation (minimum of 10 slides) to convince a judge to block the BAD Company’s project. Be sure to include the bibliography. Also, use the following sites for possible images for inclusion in your presentation.

Google Search: Costa Rica deforestation
Images of Costa Rican deforestation and its impact.

Google Search: rainforest Costa Rica
Lots of images of Costa Rican rainforest and animals.

Evaluation

The following rubric will be used to evaluate your project. You will receive a copy of this for your Spanish class folder.

Quest for the Rainforest

Teacher name: Mr. Towle

Student Name ___________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Originality	Presentation shows considerable originality and inventiveness. The content and ideas are presented in a unique and interesting way.	Presentation shows some originality and inventiveness. The content and ideas are presented in an interesting way.	Presentation shows an attempt at originality and inventiveness on 1-2 cards.	Presentation is a rehash of other people's ideas and/or graphics and shows very little attempt at original thought.
Text - Font Choice & Formatting	Font formats (e.g., color, bold, italic) have been carefully planned to enhance readability and content.	Font formats have been carefully planned to enhance readability.	Font formating has been carefully planned to complement the content. It may be a little hard to read.	Font formatting makes it very difficult to read the material.
Background	Background does not detract from text or other graphics. Choice of background is consistent from card to card and is appropriate for the topic.	Background does not detract from text or other graphics. Choice of background is consistent from card to card.	Background does not detract from text or other graphics.	Background makes it difficult to see text or competes with other graphics on the page.
Use of Graphics	All graphics are attractive (size and colors) and support the theme/content of the presentation.	A few graphics are not attractive but all support the theme/content of the presentation.	All graphics are attractive but a few do not seem to support the theme/content of the presentation.	Several graphics are unattractive AND detract from the content of the presentation.
Content - Accuracy	All content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors.	Most of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that might be inaccurate.	The content is generally accurate, but one piece of information is clearly flawed or inaccurate.	Content is typically confusing or contains more than one factual error.
Sequencing of Information	Information is organized in a clear, logical way. It is easy to anticipate the type of material that might be on the next card.	Most information is organized in a clear, logical way. One card or item of information seems out of place.	Some information is logically sequenced. An occassional card or item of information seems out of place.	There is no clear plan for the organization of information.
Effectiveness	Project includes all material needed to gain a comfortable understanding of the topic. The judge will definitely rule in your favor.	Project includes most material needed to gain a comfortable understanding of the material but is lacking one or two key elements for persuasion. The judge will probably rule in your favor.	Project is missing more than two key elements. The judge might rule in your favor.	Project is lacking several key elements and has inaccuracies that make it a poor effort to persuade the judge.
Cooperation	Partners complete tasks and share responsibility effectively all of the time.	Partners complete tasks and share responsibility effectively most of the time.	Partners complete tasks and share responsibility effectively some of the time.	Partners are not effective in completing tasks and/or sharing responsibility.

Conclusion

¡Muy bien hecho! The two of you have worked hard on behalf of the tropical rainforest. You have researched, compiled information and created a presentation that has had a real impact. You and your partner have undoubtedly brought the BAD Company’s plans for destruction of the rainforest to a virtual halt! Now you are ready for your next adventure…but what will it be? Will you go back to your research? Perhaps you will go back to school for more education…or will you continue your quest for saving the rainforests?

Credits & References

Image of Rainforest in Costa Rica

Image of Jaguar

Plants image of the background

Rubric created at rubistar.4teachers.org

Thanks to The WebQuest Page and the Design Patterns page for the ground floor of this WebQuest.

For exceptional tech support, encouragement and teaching, a very special thanks to Andrea Icenogle.

And for steadfast support, for proofreading and for always being there--Thanks, Laura!!

"We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL."

Last updated on July 30, 2003. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page