WebQuest Ahoy!!

First and foremost, I am so jealous that we didn't have WebQuests when I was in school. While I can't hope to create one at this point that would ever be considered for an award or anything, some of the examples out there that I have seen are simply amazing.
I chose to do mine on Recycling this week. Well, Reducing, Reusing and Recycling, to be more precise. I am reminded when I think of recycling, of a character named Ray Cycle. You've probably never heard of Ray Cycle unless you grew up in Connecticut, an were in elementary school there some time between 1988 and 2003. Ray Cycle was a superhero who used to come to CT elementary schools and give an hour long presentation chock full of skits and songs, to get kids pumped about recycling. (Obviously he had an impact on me!)
I think that when lessons like that are fun, they are more effective. Not all kids can enjoy every lesson. Each student and each subject has its own challenges. In creating my webquest this week, my goal is to keep it as fun as possible. The students will eventually be charged with creating their own PSAs about managing solid waste in our school through reducing, reusing and recycling.
Creating this lesson plan has certainly presented me with many challenges so far. There is so much information out there on recycling, but the target audience is stretched so thin. What I mean is that there are a ton of informational sites out there directed toward adults and teenagers, and there are a lot of interactive and fun sites out there directed toward very much younger children. So for me, the biggest challenge so far has been to find substantial material covering all the interests I am trying to present (fun, information and creative ideas) that all line up with the age range to which I am trying to present this project.
The other issue that has me concerned is focus and creativity. While Recycling is quite a broad topic, there really is only so much to be said about it. I want to give my students enough information about recycling that they feel really comfortable knowing what it is and why it's important, while at the same time leaving room for them to explore creative possibilities for improving our school's current system.
I hope that I manage to create something that would at least be a fun and productive lesson plan, if not a ridiculously talented, award-winning type webquest. But whatever the final product, I'm having fun.
Thanks,
Katie May