Introduction
This WebQuest will allow students to learn about the Presidents of the United States, and examine their roles, contributions, achievements, and failures during their presidency. Identifying the Presidents, along with the impacts they had made on our country is truly important, and ties directly into the political topics we’ve been discussion in our 8th grade class!
Task
At the conclusion of this WebQuest, you should have a better grasp on several of the U.S. Presidents. You should learn various goals, issues, and involvement of the Presidents, along with various facts and political information.
Process
Gerald Ford and the Presidency
- a) Go to http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ford-pardons-nixon and explain how Gerald Ford became president.
b) Why did Gerald Ford Pardon Nixon?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. Go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/geraldford and answer the following questions:
a) Gerald Ford was President number _______________.
b) Two jobs that Ford had were ______________ and ________________.
c) Ford was president for ___________ months.
d) List two facts about Ford.
Jimmy Carter
- Go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/jimmycarter and answer the following questions.
- Jimmy Carter was president from _______ to ________.
- Carter was the __________ (number) president of the U.S.
- Two large economic issues that Carter Faced were _________________ and __________________________.
- Two large foreign affair issues that Carter Faced were _________________ and __________________________.
- Go to http://www.politico.com/story/2008/01/carter-pardons-draft-dodgers-jan-21-1977-007974 and answer the following questions.
- Explain what Carter did with the draft dodgers. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Why was this controversial?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- How many people left the U.S. to avoid the draft?
______________________
- What was the predominant country draft dodgers would hide in? _______________________
Ronald Reagan
- Go to http://www.ushistory.org/us/59b.asp and answer the following questions.
- Reagan wanted to fix the nation’s economy; what three problems did he list as the issues he was trying to solve (because they hampered economic growth)?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- How did Reagan expect to fix these issues?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Explain the concept of “Reaganomics”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- List three more facts about Ronald Reagan
George HW Bush
- Go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/georgehwbush to answer the following questions.
- What years was George H.W. Bush president and what president number was he?
__________________________________________________________________
- What war ended while Bush was President?
__________________________________________________________
- Explain 2 other foreign issues that occurred while Bush was President, and what he did in response.
- ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- What political party did Bush reside?
_____________________________________________
Bill Clinton
- Go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/williamjclinton to answer the following questions.
- List two positive things/actions that occurred under Clinton’s Presidency.
- List two Legislative actions that occurred under Clinton’s Presidency.
- Describe the impeachment process for Clinton.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- List two foreign affair issues Clinton dealt with while President.
George W Bush
- Go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/georgewbush to answer the following questions.
- What major event occurred in the first year of Bush’s presidency?
__________________________________________________________________
- In response to that major event, what three things did President Bush do?
- Explain why the President’s actions were controversial.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evaluation
This will be collected and graded for accuracy and completion and will be handed back tomorrow. We will have a discussion again tomorrow to figure out if we still have any questions.
Conclusion
Congrats Class! You just learned about 5 of our nations recent Presidents! I hope you learned a great deal about these leaders, and the roles they played as the Commander in Chief of the United States of America. The leaders of the United States had some effectives ideas, and some not so effective ideas… hopefully this WebQuest helped you figure this out!