Internationalizing Curriculum.WebQuests

Corn Quest
A WebQuest for Teachers
Internationalizing the Curriculum

Introduction
Corn is a new world product that was important to the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of explorers from Europe. In addition to being food for humans and animals, corn provides industrial products and even the husks can be used to make dolls and other toys.

Task
You are going to write a “big book” which will teach your students some aspects of how corn has been used by different cultures and in different ways. You can use either a word document or PowerPoint to write your book. (See sample – you will need the PowerPoint software application to see it).

Process
Begin by visiting the websites mentioned below and decide which uses of corn you want to include in your “book”. Once you have decided which uses you want to include find an appropriate illustration to represent the use of corn, download and save the picture and write appropriate grade level text to accompany the illustration you have selected.

Resources
An excellent site that gives a history of corn, facts about corn for teachers and for students:
http://www.campsilos.org/mod3/index.shtml

This site gives a history of the tortilla:
http://www.latortillaloca.com/History.htm

Another site that contains the history of the tortilla: http://www.casaherrera.com/Ttopics/2000/060100.pdf

This site gives a brief history of corn, and talks about the technical aspects of corn:
http://daphne.palomar.edu/scrout/maize.htm

This site is in Spanish and describes the various ways corn is used in Mexican cooking, contains recipes for corn tortillas, recipes on how to use tortillas, and how the masa is prepared.
http://cocinamexicana.com.mx/maiz/f-maiz.html

A web page designed for kids that talks about corn, how to grow it,
http://www.michigan.gov/mikids/0,1607,7-163-15943_20529---,00.html

A site that guides the teacher and students on making a corn husk doll.
http://www.michigan.gov/mikids/0,1607,7-163-15941_20571---,00.html

Contains a history of corn, fun facts, talks about the different kinds of corn, etc.
http://www.cyberspaceag.com/kansascrops/corn/default.htm

Designed at the University of Kansas, this site gives great information about corn and its different varieties, as well as the different stages of corn growth.
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/kansascrops/corn.htm

Conclusion
Did you write a book that your students enjoyed? Did you learn a lot in the process? How would you change the book to make it better the next time you read it to your students?

Evaluation

	Good	Better	Best
Personal growth and knowledge of topic	You learned one or two new things about corn.	You learned three to five interesting new things about corn.	You learned more than five new interesting things about corn and want to know more.
Appropriateness of finished product	Your students did not seem to understand the book you wrote.	Your students understood but were not excited about your book.	Your students enjoyed having your book read to them and want to know more about corn!
Overall esthetic presentation	Pictures are not clear and may not always correspond with text.	Interesting pictures but text could be improved to correspond better with graphics.	Pictures are colorful, clear and crisp and text corresponds well.