Introduction
This WebQuest was designed to help students understand and explore the 5 themes of geography, understand history and the events that affect the world and our lives today, and to understand the basic concept of economics.
Welcome to Ms Artiaga’s WebQuest. You will be using this fun, internet program to learn wonderful concepts in Geography, History and Economics, all from your computer! This webquest will teach you about geography and why it is important. You will be assigned a group to work with and you will get to interview an important figure from the past and you and a friend will plan the best vacation ever. When you are ready to begin, click on the work “Task” to the left.
Task
When this Webquest is complete, you will know and understand the five major themes of geography and how these themes affect our lives. You will also understand why certain historical people and events are important to our lives, and why economics is so important to our world.
There will be a lot of information learned and explored in this webquest, but each section is valuable and connected in some way to the other.
Process
What is the definition of Geography? It is the study of the beautiful world we live in and all of its wonderful attributes. Each section or region of the world has it’s own unique qualities and features. There are 5 main themes to Geography:
Theme 1: Location, Position on the Earth's Surface.
Theme 2: Place, Natural and Cultural Characteristics.
Theme 3: Relationships within Places, Humans and Environments.
Theme 4: Movement, Humans Interacting on the Earth.
Theme 5: Regions, How They Form and Change.
Now you will work with your individual groups and research a little more about Geography. Pick a theme from the 5 themes mentioned. Within your group, research the themes and create a poster board to display and show to the class. Group 1 - Learn about the importance of the natural and cultural characteristics of where you live.
Group 2 - Learn about how the natural environment influence what people do when they live here. How have people worked with or changed the natural environment to make it a better place to live?
Group 3 - Learn about how people have moved to and from the place where you live. Why did they come and why do they leave?
Group 4 - Learn about the region in which you live. What are some of the special characteristics about this region?
Check out some of the links listed below to learn more about your assigned theme. Use the town where you live for your example.
Now, get with your group and see what you can find out about one of the 5 themes of geography.
http://www.geography4kids.com/
For this activity, ask yourself, "why should historical events and historical people be important to me?"
Think about what makes something historical. Maybe it is something that happened (an event. Maybe you are thinking of a historical figure like Ghandi or Joan of Arc. Some event that happened in the past of significance to our country or the world is historical. A person that lived long ago that made an impact on the world is also a historical figure. Why was this event or person important? What occurred or what did they do that made them important. If you are thinking about an events like the first moon landing, one of the world wars or some other historical event, ask yourself these question: Why were these events important?
Finally, I want you to think about how these people or events have contributed to your life.
Here is what you need to do for this activity.
Step 1 - Choose a person or event from history that you think was important.
Step 2 - Using the internet, research information about that person or event. If you choose a person, find out: Act like a reporter that is interviewing this person
* When did your person live?
* Where did the person live?
* What did that person do that was important?
* How has that person impacted your life and how might your life be different if that person had not been born?
If you choose to learn about an event, find out:
* When and where did the event take place?
* Who was involved?
* How has that event changed history?
* What might be different today if that even had not happened?
Step 3 - Now, you get to teach the class about the person or event you learned about. You get to work with a partner and pretend to interview this famous person from history. One person pretends they are the person your chose coming into our classroom to meet your classmates. The other person is the reporter interviewing him.If you chose Abraham Lincoln, you may want to dress up as Abraham Lincoln and you are going to pretend you are him and tell the class about the important things you did. If you chose to learn about an event such as the first moon landing, you may want to role play being an astronaut from the first landing and tell the class what it was like and why it was an important historical event. Or, you may want to role play being the actual space ship and tell the events from the ship's point of view. It is your choice. The idea is to make your presentation interesting and informative for your classmates.
Check out these websites for information:
ACTIVITY 3
What is economics? Economics is not just money. It is how all the businesses in the world work. Even if you have a yard sale or a lemonade stand, economics is how much money you make or earn. If you sell items on ebay or collect and sell things, it is also economics. Economics is paying takes and allowances. Everything in our world operates around economics. There are links at the bottom of this page for you to click on to learn more!
Now that you know a little more about economics you and a partner are going to create and plan what you think would be the perfect road trip. You will have a chauffer take you anywhere you want to go for a weekend. You will have a pretend budget of $1000.00 to spend. What would be the perfect way to spend the weekend? Will you go to the beach and a great concert in Nevada? Will you drive to the Phoenix to go shopping and get your toenails painted? How about tickets to a broncos football game in Colorado with several visits to the concession stand for food? It is your choice.
Things to think about:
How much money will it take to get there? Will you have to pay for parking or tolls?
How much will tickets cost?
Do you need to purchase supplies such as beach chairs or picnic food?
How much will you spend for different activities?
Do you have any money left over?
Now that you and your partner have decided upon how you are going to spend your money and what you are going to do, you need to write about it because you will be presenting your plan to the class. We want to know what things you considered, what was important in the decision making process, and most of all, what you consider to be the best road trip ever!
Links:
Evaluation
Evaluation
This is how your work will be evaluated.
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Beginning |
Developing |
Qualified |
Exemplary |
Score |
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5 Themes of Geography |
Students did not work together as a group. Presentation did not include appropriate information about theme. No visual aid. |
Students worked with group members. Presentation included information regarding theme. Visual aid present. |
Students worked well with their group members. The presentation included information regarding theme and visual aid was creative and neatly done. |
Students worked well with their group. The presentation provided ample information regarding theme and the visual aid was creative and neatly done. |
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Historical Event or Person |
Presentation not told from the point of view of the historical figure. Does not contain relevant and interesting information. |
Presentation told from point of view of historical figure and contains some important information regarding the person or event. |
Presentation told from point of view of historical figure, contains important information about the person or event and explains how it impacts lives today. |
Presentation told from point of view of historical figure, contains interesting and relevant information that explains how the person or event impacts lives today. |
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Road Trip |
Does not answer the questions regarding how the budget will be spent. Shows no creativity and effort. |
Discusses some of the ways the budget will be spent. Shows little |
Conclusion
Conclusion
Hope you have had fun on your webquest journey! In this quest, you have learned about the 5 themes of geography and also learned about historical events and people and why they are important to our lives. You had fun planning a roadtrip with a budget and learned about economics. I hope you have had fun learning why it is so important to be excited about geography. Geography is very important to understand the earth and where we live. It is also very important to understand the history that makes up our world today and how these people and events have affected our lives. When it comes to money, it makes this world go around it is important to almost every aspect of living in the world today. It is important to always learn about these subjects, as they are constantly changing, rotating and evolving. It is important to never forget the past because it has impacted our present and our future! Keep exploring and keep on learning!
Teacher Page
This WebQuest was designed for students in grade six to go along with the social studies curriculum.
Economic Standards:
NSS-EC.K-4.1 SCARCITY |
Productive resources are limited. Therefore, people cannot have all the goods and services they want; as a result, they must choose some things and give up others.
NSS-EC.K-4.11 ROLE OF MONEY |
Money makes it easier to trade, borrow, save, invest, and compare the value of goods and services.
Geography Standards:
NSS-G.K-12.1 THE WORLD IN SPATIAL TERMS
NSS-G.K-12.2 PLACES AND REGIONS
NSS-G.K-12.3 PHYSICAL SYSTEMS
NSS-G.K-12.4 HUMAN SYSTEMS
NSS-G.K-12.5 ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
NSS-G.K-12.6 THE USES OF GEOGRAPHY
History Standards:
NSS-USH.K-4.1 LIVING AND WORKING TOGETHER IN FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES, NOW AND LONG AGO
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