Exploring the Odyssey using GoogleEarth

1. Odysseus, Where Art Thou? Student Page Title Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Credits [ Teacher Page ] A WebQuest for 9th Grade English Designed by Julie Nemcik [email_address] Based on a template from The WebQuest Page

2. Introduction Student Page Title Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Credits [ Teacher Page ] The Perilous Journey. . You and your classmates are crew members on a 10 year voyage, following your heroic captain, Odysseus! It is your job to record the events that happen to your captain and crew throughout the trying voyage, as well as the places you go and the encounters you escape in The Odyssey . You will face monsters and temptations and the wrath of gods. You will encounter challenges, setbacks, and dangers while making mistakes, losing your way and ultimately finding it again! A man named Homer wants to write an Epic Poem based on the excellent information you provide about your amazing adventure!

5. Process Part II: Google.Earth Student Page Title Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Credits [ Teacher Page ] “ The gods go in various disguises from city to city, observing the wrongdoing and the righteous of men.” - Odysseus Now that you have documented a piece of your epic journey, it is time to collaborate with the rest of the crew to create a complete map of your travels!! Since no one knows exactly where the events happened (due to faulty navigation records) you will need to cross reference the textual evidence and the maps provided on these three sites in order to make the best educated guess for plotting your event: Map 1 Map 2 Map 3 Once your group has an idea of where to plot the event, you will use GoogleEarth on the class computer to find where the event took place and create a “ Placemark .” - Next, under “Add” click Folder - This folder is for your specific group to copy and paste your Summary. Include your names! - Once you have included your summary, find a picture on the internet that best represents your event and add it to your GoogleEarth file. Be sure to cite (in MLA Format ) where you got the picture from!

6. Evaluation: Student Page Title Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Credits [ Teacher Page ]

7. Conclusion Student Page Title Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Credits The Journey’s End. Congratulations!!! You have successfully worked as individual groups, and have come together as a class of crew-members to accurately document the voyage your heroic captain, Odysseus, has lead. You have perfected your ability to summarize as well as find important information from all types of texts! The final virtual map you and your fellow shipmates created will be a great study tool and source of reference for anyone who wants to know what your story is all about! Homer is particularly excited to follow your journey on the virtual globe... [ Teacher Page ]

8. Credits & References Student Page Title Introduction Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Credits [ Teacher Page ] http://websitebuilders.ws/images/The%20Odyssey%20of%20Homer.gif http://pro.corbis.com/search/searchFrame.aspx Search “The Odyssey” http://www.freewebs.com/odysseynewman2008/homerstheodyssey2.htm http://www.freewebs.com/odysseynewman2008/ http://pro.corbis.com/popup/Enlargement.aspx?mediauids=%7b3798e8ba-d458-402f-92e1-307da803607a%7d|%7bffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff%7d&qsPageNo=1&fdid=&Area=Search&TotalCount=12&CurrentPos=8&WinID=%7b3798e8ba-d458-402f-92e1-307da803607a%7d For more info. on WebQuests go to: The WebQuest Slideshare Group The WebQuest Page

9. Odysseus, Where Art Thou? (Teacher) Designed by Julie Nemcik [ Student Page ] Title Introduction Learners Standards Process Resources Credits Teacher Page A WebQuest for 9th Grade English [email_address] Based on a template from The WebQuest Page Evaluation Teacher Script Conclusion

10. Introduction (Teacher) [ Student Page ] Title Introduction Learners Standards Process Resources Credits Teacher Page This WebQuest was designed as a tool to get students to use technology in a new format. As technology is becoming more and more important to education, it is essential that teachers incorporate technology into their curriculums. Something as simple as WebQuest is one way to embrace technology and enhance students’ learning experience for a unit. I designed this WebQuest to help students master Summarization of literary text. The ability to summarize is extremely important and students do not practice it enough. By allowing students to use technology, like a virtual globe from GoogleEarth, along with text-on-page interaction, teachers are giving students a greater chance to connect to learning. This WebQuest provides a new twist on something kids might consider old and probably boring. Technology makes the old become the new. Through hands-on learning and visual/mental interaction with the text, students become active participants in their education. Having this WebQuest journey divided into parts for the entire class enables small group work to become part of a greater, overall combined effort. Each student will be a part of the project, with an end result being a study tool they can all use and benefit from. The collaborative final project (virtual map on GoogleEarth) will become a source of pride for the students, as well as a source of literary discussion and interaction. ……… . In this lesson, it is the students’ job to work in small groups to create summaries of their designated event from the epic poem, The Odyssey . They will be examining literary text and internet sources to generate a summary that they will plot on the virtual globe using GoogleEarth. Combined, the individual group work will result in a class project that shows the journey of Odysseus and provides key literary elements along the way! Evaluation Teacher Script Conclusion

11. Learners (Teacher) [ Student Page ] Title Introduction Learners Standards Process Resources Credits Teacher Page This WebQuest is designed for a 9 th grade English course, based on Colorado Model Content Standards for Reading and Writing. The assignment also involves geography and history. The project can be adapted for higher level courses by changing the specifications for summary, and could easily be applied to any social studies course. Prior to beginning this lesson, students will need to have read The Odyssey in order to have a comfortable level of background knowledge of a text that is often difficult to tap into. Background knowledge will also get the students’ invested, providing them with a connection and purpose for completing the project. Evaluation Teacher Script Conclusion

14. The Process (Teacher) [ Student Page ] Title Introduction Learners Standards Process Resources Credits Teacher Page FOR TEACHERS: This WebQuest is organized to have students work in small groups that you, the teacher, choose (2-3 students per group). There are 15 places/characters identified from The Odyssey , so you can remove any excess or change the rules/groups to compensate. IMPORTANT: Because GoogleEarth must be downloaded to individual computers, students will have to use the same computer account to plot their summaries/pictures or else they cannot have all their files on the same map!! Students will need to be able to save their files onto the class computer, or have flash-drives available to transport the documents. It will take at least one class period for the students to research and arrive at a working summary. It might be helpful to include a day for workshopping the summaries. One day will be needed for students to add their summaries to the class GoogleEarth account. Students should also be allowed time to explore their final creation! Overall, this project should take 2-3 days. This lesson is simple for teachers! Students will be doing the work. You only need to be familiar with The Odyssey and have explored GoogleEarth for yourself. GoogleEarth is simple and straight forward – you will be an expert in 5 minutes! Variations This project was designed for a computer-lab experience. Students should be allowed ample time go through all the links on the WebQuest. The most important aspect of this project is the SUMMARY, so make sure there will be more focus on that so the students know this isn’t just about playing on the computer. Evaluation Teacher Script Conclusion

18. Conclusion (Teacher) [ Student Page ] Title Introduction Learners Standards Process Resources Credits Teacher Page The Odyssey was written around 630 BC. Most students can not fathom this time period, and many more have no interest in anything that deals with a time that occurred so long ago. As with all assignments we give our students, we need to help them find connection to the texts they read. Otherwise, they will find no purpose in the task and they will cast it aside. This WebQuest is designed to help bridge the gap between an ancient epic poem and the 21 st century student. Allowing them to use technology to relate to a text is actually allowing them to explore the text in a new way – a technological way they are interested in. Interest is key to any assignment. When we get the student interested, we get them to become active learners that drive their own education. If the interest is there, there is no end to the possibility of what the student will learn. The GoogleEarth aspect of this project is a way to help students make sense of a complicated text. The journey is visually shown to them. Ithaca is now a place on the virtual map – they can see how far their own home is from this real place. Before GoogleEarth, Ithaca remained a word on a page, in a world of the ancient past. This WebQuest brings the past to the present at the hands of the students. It’s pretty powerful when you think about it. Evaluation Teacher Script Conclusion

19. Credits & References (Teacher) LINKS TO IMAGES: http://websitebuilders.ws/images/The%20Odyssey%20of%20Homer.gif http://pro.corbis.com/search/searchFrame.aspx Search “The Odyssey” http://www.freewebs.com/odysseynewman2008/homerstheodyssey2.htm http://pro.corbis.com/popup/Enlargement.aspx?mediauids=%7b3798e8ba-d458-402f-92e1-307da803607a%7d|%7bffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff%7d&qsPageNo=1&fdid=&Area=Search&TotalCount=12&CurrentPos=8&WinID=%7b3798e8ba-d458-402f-92e1-307da803607a%7d [ Student Page ] Title Introduction Learners Standards Process Resources Credits Teacher Page Evaluation Teacher Script Conclusion LINKS TO WEBSITES: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/odyssey/ http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odysseytofc.htm http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/3a_p1.html http://www.poetry-portal.com/styles10.html http://hhhknights.com/curr/human/1/herochar.htm http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/odyssey/ http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odysseytofc.htm http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/3a_p1.html http://www.poetry-portal.com/styles10.html http://mantex.co.uk/samples/summary.htm http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/odyssey/themes.html http://www.irasov.com/odyssey_map.htm http://summit.k12.co.us/schools/shs/computer/lfrykholm/map.html http://www.adnax.com/classical/writers/homer/odyssey/odysseymaps1.htm http://www.tesd.k12.pa.us/stoga/dept/mcenter/library/MLA.htm For more info. on WebQuests go to: The WebQuest Slideshare Group The WebQuest Page