A
webQUEST of discovery
(Adapted
from a WebQuest by Chery Dobbs )
Introduction Task Process Resources Evaluation
Explorers from every era have braved the unknown to discover new lands. Religious fervor, greed, trade, empire building, and a thirst for knowledge have all played parts in the motivation of these explorers and the countries who sponsored them. The world we know today has been shaped by their adventures and continues to be expanded by those continuing the quest for new discovery. As important as these explorers have been and continue to be in the world's history, they are largely forgotten outside the classroom. In today's modern age we travel without a thought across vast oceans which once posed seemingly impenetrable barriers to the known world.
In
the interest of preserving the heritage of these brave explorers, TOP CARDS™
has decided to launch a new line of trading cards to honor them. According to
market research, Explorer Trading Cards™ could possibly be the next collecting
mania to sweep the nation. TOP CARDS™ has opened their project up to the
eighth graders of the world, inviting them to participate in a contest to
nominate explorers from the 1400's-1600's and help design this new line of cards. You are now
invited to take part in this contest.
TOP
Congratulations!
You have been given the opportunity to nominate an explorer for the latest
series of trading cards by Top Cards™.
Working alone or in a group, you will search various resources to find
information on an explorer of your choice from the 1400's to 1600's time period. Once you have gathered your
information, you will create a trading card for that explorer to submit to Top
Cards, and a persuasive essay to convince them of your explorer's worthiness.
Only 15 explorers will be chosen for the first pack of cards to be produced, so
be convincing!
TOP
Process
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If you are working alone, choose an explorer you wish to nominate, and narrow down his achievements to a particular voyage you wish to highlight. If you are working in a group, choose an explorer for the group to nominate, and each person in the group should choose a different voyage from that explorer to present in card form. If your group has more people than the explorer has voyages, you may pair up to create your cards.
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Using at least three websites listed under Resources, fill out the information on the Explorer Worksheet. Use this information to create a trading card on your explorer's voyage. You may make your own trading card design, or use the one provided on the Card Instructions and Samples page.
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As you search through internet and print sources for information on your explorer, be on the lookout for a picture or painting of him or her to be used both on the trading card and as an illustration on your essay page.
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Write a persuasive essay about your explorer's voyage, detailing why your explorer deserves to be included in the Explorer's Trading Card pack. More information on how to write your persuasive essay can be found here. Be sure to include a picture or two that you find in your research.
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Create a bibliography of the resources you used in your research, including websites.
Resources
Explorers
A to Z - Hundreds of links organized
alphabetically by explorer
Explorers of the Americas : easy to use, alphabetically, by region, or by time period http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/america.shtml
Discoverers Web – great resource and information is listed many ways including alphabetically http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/index.htmlExplorer’s Hall of Fame- A Thinkquest emtry, includes some of the explorers on the list, but not all. http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/4034/hall_of_fame.html
Mariners Museum Age of Exploration Menu – arranged by topic with several links to many famous explorers. http://www.mariner.org/age/menu.html
Gander Academy's European Explorer's Resources on the World Wide Web - This website has dozens of links to websites on every explorer. Organized by country for which they explored.
Homework Central - Search this site using "explorers."
Classroom
Clip Art of historical figures, mostly black and white and slow to load,
but interesting pictures. Free to use if in educational , non-commercial setting
http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Explorers
TOP
The following criteria will be used to grade your assignment and decide which of the cards and essays will be submitted to TOP CARDS™. All of the guidelines must be followed carefully for entrance into the contest.
| 50 Points | 25 Points | 12 Points | |
| Research (50 pts) | Well researched using at least three websites. Completed Explorer Lab Worksheet, Bibliography completed. On task lab behavior. | Partially researched, incomplete Explorer Lab Worksheet, bibliography not complete. Mostly on task lab behavior. |
Poorly researched, factual errors, incomplete Explorer Lab Worksheet, bibliography incomplete. Off task lab behavior. |
| Essay (50 pts) | Followed guidelines, convincing, well written. | Missed two or fewer parts of guidelines, shaky argument, awkward writing | No attempt to follow guidelines, poorly written. |
| Card (50 pts) | Tight, neat, and complete | Lacking detail, two or fewer errors in information. | More than two factual errors, no picture, lacking neatness, incomplete information. |