Introduction

SSSnakes Alive is a first grade science lesson that teaches characteristics of snakes. It was developed for a snake activity day that the Plano, Illinois first grade teachers have implemented in their science curriculum.

The students pretend to be herpetologists. They work in pairs and "travel" to different snake sites on the Internet. During their travels they need to observe three different snakes and take field notes.

Learners

This WebQuest is designed to be used in first grade but can be adapted to any primary level.

Prior to their "travels" in Sssnakes Alive, the students should be exposed to the following terminology: herpetologist, habitat, venomous, constrictor, fangs, carnivour, and diet.

Curriculum Standards

Illinois State Addressed

State Goal 11: Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems.

• A. Know and apply the concepts, principals and processes of scientific inquiry.
  • 11.A.1c Collect data for investigations using measuring instruments and technologies.

State Goal 12: Understand the fundamental concepts, principals and interconnections of the life, physical and earth/space sciences.

• A. Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt and change.
  • 12.A.1a Identify and describe the component parts of living things and their major functions.
  • 12.A.1b Categorize living organism using a variety of observable features.

• B. Know and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other and with their environment.
  • 12.B.1a Describe and compare characteristics of living things in relationships to the environment.
  • 12B.1b Describe how living things depend on one another for survival.

Resources Needed

To complete this WebQuest the following is needed:

• Computers with Internet connection
• Field Notebook
• Projects
  • Snake graph
  • Snake habitat diorama
  • Do These Snakes Measure Up?
• Snake videos
• art supplies

The following books may be displayed in the classroom for student use.

Snakes and Their Young by Donna Bailey

S-S-Snakes! by Lucille Penner

Eyewitness Readers: Slinky, Scaly Snakes by Jennifer Dussling

Verdi by Janell Cannon

Snakes by Barbara Taylor

Rookie Read-About Science: It's Best to Leave a Snake Alone by Allan Fowler

 

 

Evaluation

You and your partner will be graded using the following rubric. You will receive a group grade and an individual grade. Work hard and try your best!

	Unsatisfactory	Needs Improvement	Satisfactory	Excellent
Works well with partner
Completes field notebook questions
Includes drawings of three snakes
Includes one interesting fact about each snake
Final Project
Makes good use of time

Credits & References

The graphics used in this WebQuest were downloaded from http://dgl.microsoft.com. The green tree boa created by Lisa Konrad was downloaded from http://www.animation.arthouse.org/snake5.html.

Reference Books:

Rookie Read-About Scence It's Best to Leave a Snake Alone by Alan Fowler

Zoo Clues Making the Most of Your Visit to the Zoo by Shelden L. Gerstenfeld, V.M.D.

Thank you to Discovery.com for the project idea Do These Snakes Measure Up?

My name is Joanne Bales. I am a first grade teacher at P. H. Miller School in Plano, Illinois. This WebQuest is the project for a class I took this summer (August 2002). 

Please email any comments or questions to jbales@plano88.kendall.k12.il.us

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Last updated on August 9, 2002. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page