Introduction
It's the 21st century and "junk food" has gone global. For better or for worse (mostly worse), junk food is now available all over the world. We see it most everywhere we go -- in grocery and convenience stores, fast-food restaurants, on television -- usually looking very appealing. But just what are the facts about junk food?
As the problem is becoming more and more actual and dangerous, you, as a scientist in the sphere, are to investigate it and assess all the risks for today's generation. You are envited to cooperate with the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security, The World Food Programme (WFP). WFP demands for new specialists within the food assistance branch. The competiton is great. Your research in the sphere is a necessary option to be hired by the management of the organization. Before working out the research strategies, let's identify the most topical problems connected with "Junk Food" issue. They can be:
1. Calories contribution.
2. Low satiation value.
3. Junk food tends to replace other, more nutritious foods.
4. Commercial benefits.
5. Promotion of overeating.
6. Health problems.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/junk-food-facts
PART II
According to your primary researches there are three torical problems connected with junk food. You need to investigate them more profoundly to be able to join the WFP. Your sceintific activity in the sphere will also be beneficial for the future of Ukraine as this programme can be extended to a continuing basis on its territory.
The roles to perform:
- Journalist (deals closely with commercial issues, specializes in advertising campaigns).
http://www.princetonreview.com/Careers.aspx?cid=85
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalist
- Nutrition scientist (advises on matters of food and nutrition impacts on health).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritionist
- Government's official (cooperates with the public, acts in an official capacity for the Government to improve cooperation of Ukraine with the UN organization, specializes in the sphere of Health Care).
http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/careers/government-official.html
Task
Each of the specialists should cover the following issues:
- the roots of the "Junk Food" problem;
- categories of junk food;
- junk food's influence on people's health;
- junk food "victims";
- reasons of the problem's penetrating into modern people's lives;
- governmental policy concerning the problem;
- ways to cope with the problem.
Lexical areas:
Unit 6 A of Straightforward Pre-Intermediate
Grammar areas:
Modifiers (Unit 6 A of Straightforward Pre-Intermediate).
By the end of the Web Quest you will make a PowerPoint Presentation ‘Junk Food Crisis 2014’ reflecting the main points of the problem chosen, which will help you to visualize the solution of the main research question. The main research problem is TO FIND THE WAY TO PREVENT JUNK FOOD ADDICTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCALE.
Resources:
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/junk-food-affects-children-5985.html
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/junk-food-facts
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/reasons-eating-junk-food-not-good-3364.html
Process
This is a description of the steps you should go through in accomplishing the task, with links embedded in each step:
- To choose a topical problem.
- To study general information carefully.
- To set up goals.
- To choose a communicative role.
- To identify the area of activity according to the role chosen.
- To analyze the information.
- To create the Web Quest.
- To achieve goals.
- To analyze your activity.
While performing the task of the Web Quest answer the following questions:
- Why is the problem, chosen by you, actual?
- What are the most crucial points of the problem?
- What results do you expect to get after studying the problem? What are the objectives of your research?
- What can be the difficulties of the research? Can they be overwhelmed?
- What are the ways to meet the above objectives? Are these ways satisfactory?
- Can the problem be solved using the results of your activity? Why?
Evaluation
The evaluation describes to the students how their performance will be evaluated, and is often in the form of a scoring rubric. The standards should be fair, clear, consistent, and specific to the tasks set.
Speaking evaluation:
excellent
- the speaker has a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to his/her field and most general topics;
- he/she can vary formulation to avoid frequent repetitions but lexical gaps can still cause hesitation and circumlocution;
- lexical accuracy is generally high though some confusion and incorrect word choice does occur without hindering communication;
- he/she uses a range of complex structures with some flexibility but rarely produces error-free sentences (grammar mistakes persist);
- the speaker is calm, relaxed, keeps eye contact.
good
- the speaker has a sufficient vocabulary to express him/herself with some circumlocutions on most topics pertinent to his/her everyday life such as family, hobbies and interests, work and current events;
- he/she shows good control of elementary vocabulary but major errors still occur when expressing more complex thoughts or handling unfamiliar topics or situations;
- he/she produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy; uses a limited range of more complex structures which are quite comprehensible;
- the speaker is a bit nervous, too fast or too slow rate of speaking but in general it doesn’t disturb comprehension.
satisfactory
- the speaker has a sufficient vocabulary to conduct routine everyday transactions including familiar topics and situations;
- he/she has a sufficient vocabulary for the expressing of basic communicative needs/ has a sufficient vocabulary for coping with simple survival needs;
- he/she can control a narrow repertoire dealing with concrete everyday needs;
- he/she produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy; uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems.
poor/bad
- the speaker has a basic vocabulary repertoire of isolated words and phrases related to particular concrete situations;
- no descriptor available;
- he/she produces basic sentence forms and some correct simple sentences but subordinate structures are rare; errors are frequent and may lead to misunderstanding.
Conclusion
Suggest ways of doing things differently to improve the lesson. Comment on your performance and Web Quest results answering the questions:
- What were the most actual aspects of the problem you’ve chosen?
- What were the most interesting and relevant parts of the Web-Quest? Why?
- What was the least interesting part of the Web-Quest? Why?
- What was the most difficult part of the Web-Quest? Why?
- What have you learnt while performing the work?
- What aspects of your Web-Quest correlate with the next topic you are to learn?