teacherwebquest

Introduction

This webquest was developed to fulfill the requirements of Oregon's social studies benchmarks. In Oregon schools, fourth grade is usually the year students learn about the Corps of Discovery. Lewis and Clark always addressed, but other members of the Corps had important roles that are often overlooked and forgotten. The Corps is known for exploring the Louisiana Purchase, being among some of the first foreigners in the United States to see the Pacific Ocean. In groups, students will uncover the background information of a Corps member and create a unique mock interview with the person they choose.

Learners

This lesson is designed for fourth graders investigating the Corps of Discovery, better known as the Lewis and Clark expedition. It is a social studies lesson with a chance for students to practice using technology with which most are not familiar. Students may choose to create a podcast and/or written magazine article. The only technology that is required for the webquest is searching the links provided by the instructor. It is up to each group of students to decide the medium they want to use for presenting their project.

Curriculum Standards

Students will learn about a lesser known Corps member. After creating a podcast and/or magazine article, the entire class will present their project to the class. Presenting their projects to their peers acts as a reciprocal teaching technique, giving students power to educate their classmates instead of a teacher "feeding" them knowledge.

Oregon Fifth Grade Social Studies Benchmarks Addressed

Understand how individuals changed or significantly influenced the course of Oregon state history.
Understand how individuals changed or significantly influenced the course of local history.
Identify characteristics of an event, issue, or problem, suggesting possible causes and results.
Consider and analyze different interpretations of key events and/or issues in history from the perspective of Oregon.
Though it is not listed in the standards, students will be exposed to working as a team. Compromising will be an underlying theme when students begin working together.

Process

Reporters uncover information, just like detectives solve a mystery. Now it's your turn to uncover the mystery of the forgotten Corps members!

Step 1: Decide, as a group, which Corps member most interests you. Are they a military member or civilian? What was their purpose for coming on the expedition? Were they forced to go on the expedition or did they get to choose?

Make sure students pick an individual that has enough information available to adequately describe their life and role in the Corps.

Step 2: Get to know your Corps member using these handy websites:

http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/idx_corp.html
http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/LewisClark2/CorpsOfDiscovery/TheOthers/Others.htm
http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/corps.htm
http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/index.html

You may choose to split up, letting each group member search one website, and then come back together and tell your group what you have learned about your person. Make sure to write down important information and SAVE important websites and documents. You may want to use it in your newspaper article or radio newscast.

Emphasize the importance of saving information! Let them explore other sites, after previewing them, of course.

Step 3: Once you have researched your Corps member it’s time to decide how you want to present the information to ONO. Do you want to write a news article describing what they did before, during, and after exploring the Louisiana Purchase, or would you rather get your radio voice ready and record your news story? You could also make a news article to go along with a radio newscast. Decide in your group.

Step 4: Whether you are making a newspaper article, a radio newscast, or both there are some things you should include.

Answer these questions to fill us in on your Corps member’s background:

·        How and why did they become involved with the Corps?

·        Did they volunteer to join the Corps or were they forced to come?

·        What did they do before they became part of the Corps?

·        What was their job during the journey? Where they responsible for something? Were they the first to do something? What was their experience like on the expedition?

·        Name at least one thing we should remember about this person. What was the biggest accomplishment they were responsible for?

·        Include any other information you think is important about the person. Maybe mention a funny story or other fun facts!

Step 5: That should cover the background information. Now it’s time for         interviewing! Yes, ONO knows that your Corps member is no longer alive, but they are giving you a chance to be creative. Based on your research, especially after reading their journal entries, how do you think they would answer certain questions about their experience exploring the Louisiana Purchase? Think about these questions:

·        What was your job during the expedition?

·        What was your favorite part of the journey?

·        How did you feel during the expedition? Was there ever a time when you felt scared, sad, excited, or any other emotions? Why did you feel this way?

·        What was your opinion of other Corps members? Did you get along with Lewis, Clark, and others?

·        After the journey, what did you do?

·        What is one thing you want to be remembered for?
This is the creative portion of the activity. Let students have fun and answer these questions to the best of their knowledge and abilities. They may need to make up some answers, but encourage them to remain as realistic as possible. This portion of the webquest should begin after researching their Corps member's background.
Step 6: Create a rough draft of your news article or radio newscast. Even if your group is choosing to make a radio newscast you can make a rough draft script. A script is a written plan of who will be speaking and what they will be talking about in the radio newscast.
        Step 7: Have another person proof read your draft. Use our usual revision and editing procedures.

Step 8: Save all of your documents and images to a group member’s student folder.

Step 9: When your group feels that they have completed a finalized draft of your magazine article and/or interview inform your teacher, and they will save the document to a disc or jump drive. If your group is creating a radio newscast begin recording with a microphone provided by the teacher.

In groups, students will begin with research using the links provided. Enough information should be gathered to address the questions they will need to answer. Some members of the Corps do not have an extensive amount of information available, so students should be encouraged to choose a member who has a good amount of research available to students.

Variations:

If teachers want to emphasize multicultural aspects of the lesson they may choose to limit the list of Corps members. The Corps had a diverse group of members, though not proportionally.
If there is limited technology, you may choose to have students create a written magazine article, rather than a podcast. If you have a access, students could create video newscasts outlining their Corps member.

Resources Needed

A computer for each group, with an Internet connection

Digital voice recording device
A audio editing program for each group's computer (GarageBand is one example)
These websites:

The teacher's roll in the activity is that of an adviser. This project is student centered and student directed. The instructor should be available to answer questions about the technology, and, therefore, should be familiar with the technology students will be using.

Evaluation

See the students webquest for the rubric.
Students will be evaluated on their organization, ideas and content, and participation presented in their group projects. The projects will be either a radio podcast or written magazine article. Both will feature background information on their Corps member, as well as a mock interview with the group's Corps member.

Conclusion

It is important for students to understand that Lewis and Clark were not the only stars in the Corps of Discovery. Many individuals contributed to the accomplishments attributed to Lewis and Clark. With each group investigating a Corps member and creating something other students can learn from, this webquest allows for students to learn something about many members of the Corps of Discovery.

Credits & References

Image borrowed from http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/archive/maps/map2_b.html

Last updated on November 22, 2007. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page