Internationalizing Curriculum.WebQuests

Las Monarcas Quest
A WebQuest for Teachers
Internationalizing the Curriculum

Introduction
Monarch butterflies migrate from Canada and the United States to central Mexico where they hibernate, mate and start their journey north. For this WebQuest, you will plan a project so your students can follow the route (virtually) that a butterfly might take and present their journey in a PowerPoint journal.

Task
You are going to have the students write a PowerPoint (or MAC version) journal which tells the tale of their journey from Canada or the United States to Mexico. They will decide where to stop and rest, how much it will cost and take ‘snapshots' of what they see en route.

Process
Begin by looking at the migration map (here or at)
http://www.ccu.umich.mx/mich/monarca/
monarca2/infor2.html
and decide where you want to begin your journey. You are to imagine it is fall and time for you to take the reverse path that your great-great grandparents made last spring when they headed north. Your first task is to figure out how many miles/kilometers it is from your starting point to the reserve where you will spend the winter months.

Using this website http://www.geobytes.com/CityDistanceTool.htm you can calculate the distance. Once you have decided how many miles/kilometers you will be traveling, decide on your mode of transportation and how many stops you will make on the way.

You can use airline, bus and automobile websites for timetables and prices (see resources). It takes the butterfly about three months and it stops only to feed and rest at night. You might decide to make it in fewer days depending on your mode of transportation and budget. Once you have decided where you will stop you will want to take a ‘snapshot' of something interesting you can see there by searching in www.google.com (name of the city).. Make sure to label your ‘snapshots' as you file them for use in your PowerPoint (or Mac equivalent). Complete the following chart which will serve as your guideline for writing your journal.

	Transportation	Lodging	Sightseeing	Total Cost
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five

Resources
This website from the Universidad de Michocán, Mexico explains (in Spanish) the importance of the monarch butterfly in Prehispanic Mexico, the characteristics and life stages from caterpillar to butterfly, the migration and the butterfly reserve.
http://www.ccu.umich.mx/mich/monarca/mon-inicio.html

Monarch Watch is an organization dedicated to education, conservation and research of the monarch butterfly. The website has lots of links for bringing the monarch to your classroom, having students participate in research projects and learning more about the migration.
http://www.monarchwatch.org/

This website calculates distances in miles and kilometers between cities.
http://www.geobytes.com/CityDistanceTool.htm

Transportation/hotel websites
Link to all airports in Mexico
http://www.aeropuertosmexico.com/

Continental Airlines
http://www.continental.com/

United Airlines
http://www.united.com/

Greyhound Bus
http://www.greyhound.com/

American Automobile Association
http://www.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/ZipCode

Hotels
www.hotels.com
www.hotwire.com

Conclusion
Were your students able to plan a trip that follows the monarch's migration? What obstacles did they encounter? Were they able to find solutions?

Evaluation

	Good	Better	Best
Personal growth and knowledge of topic	You learned one or two new things about monarch butterflies	You learned three to five interesting new things about monarch butterflies.	You learned more than five new interesting things about monarch butterflies and want to know more.
Appropriateness of finished product	Your students were not able to complete most of their trip plan or overcome obstacles.	Your students had some success but were unable to complete the entire trip plan.	Your students enjoyed planning their trip and successfully completed their plan.
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.