Introduction
Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.Bertrand Russell
British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)
What is a comet?
a. A new sandwich cookie for dogs
b. A ball of dust, ice and gas that orbits the sun
c. A member of the Houston Comets
d. All of the above.
If you said (d), you would be correct, but for the purpose of this webquest, we will be focusing on the comets that exist in space. Often the tails of comets can be seen from Earth. In February 2009, Comet Lulin, named for the Taiwan Observatory in 2007, could be seen from the United States during certain times of the evening. There is a Google window in the Process section of this webquest - Google Comet Lulin for more information.
You are going to wear two hats during this webquest. The first will be of a scientist who has discovered a brand new comet. You will create a picture of your comet in KidPix or similar painting program.
Next, you will team up with a classmate and interview each other on your comets. You will both take turns wearing a media hat, creating a media release about the other's comet. This can be a Podcast using Garage Band (or PhotoStory - PC users) which can be posted on a news or university website, a PowerPoint presentation to a university audience, or press release written in MS Word for distribution to the AP Wire.