White Oak Wildcats

White Oak Elementary School
Cape Carteret, NC

The Mission of White Oak Elementary School is to cultivate strong student character, personal responsibility, and community/global involvement in a culture of learning that empowers and prepares life-long learners.

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(Geographic Regions)
 

TRAVEL AGENCY

 

 

 

A WebQuest for 5th Grade (Social Studies)
The regions of the United States

 

Introduction

Task

Process

Evaluation

Conclusion

Resources

North Carolina Social Studies Standards

 


INTRODUCTION

After 50 long years in the travel agency business, your grandfather, Mr. Getaway, has decided to retire and is counting on you to re-establish his once lucrative business.  Your first assignment is to plan a regional trip in the United States for a group of foreign exchange students.  The itinerary will include an unforgettable, month long vacation throughout one of the six regions of the United States. Upon completion of this trip, the students will have experienced everything the geographic region has to offer, including its culture, history, states and their capitals, physical features, entertainment venues, products produced, jobs available, discoveries and inventions, and sporting events.   


Task

 

Your agency has just hired four new employees to reestablish a once lucrative travel business.  Your overall task is to create a unique web site that includes an appealing company name and slogan.  Included in your web site will be the geography, historical sites, industrial, and recreational facilities of a region of the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

Process

 

  1. You will be broken up into groups of four.
  2. Your group will be assigned a region of the United States to research.
  3. Each member of the team will assume one of the roles:  geographer (states, capitals and physical features), historian (history and culture), industry manager (products, revenue, jobs, and discoveries and inventions), or recreational director (entertainment, sporting events, and vacation opportunities).
  4. Each member of the team will be responsible for one web page.  The group will make a home page together to introduce the region.  It should include the name of the travel company and a slogan.
  5. Each team member will need a folder to organize his or her research information including cited resources.

 

  The geographer will describe the states and their capitals, physical features, major cities, and seasonal attributes of each region, and locate maps for the areas of interests.  The geographer is responsible for describing all the physical characteristics of the region they are assigned.  This will include the natural settings of mountains, beaches, forests, deserts, prairies, rivers, oceans, climate, and seasons.

     The historian will provide information on famous historical locations, ethnicity and culture of the area, and national parks and monuments in the region.  This will include identifying and describing major historical sites/monuments. 

    The industry manager will provide information on industry in the the region.  This will include products and exports, sources of revenue, jobs available, and discoveries and inventions.

     The recreational director will provide activities of interest relating to the field of entertainment including sporting events, amusement parks, and other cultural events.   They will be in charge of providing information about shows and vacation opportunities.

 

 

Evaluation

At the conclusion of this lesson, you will be evaluated using the rubrics point system below.  Your grade will be determined by the number of points earned throughout the project.  You will need to refer to the grading system as you work through the process.

 

Beginning

1

Developing

2

Accomplished

3

Exemplary

4

Score
 

Research and Gathering Information

 

Research was limited and only one website was used.

Research was somewhat limited and only two websites and one text resource were used.

Research is accurate but less than three websites or less than two text resources were used.

Used three quality websites and two text resources.  Research was accurate.

 
 

Grammar/Spelling

 

 

More than six grammatical and spelling errors.

Four to six grammatical and spelling errors.

One to three grammatical and spelling errors.

All grammar and spelling is correct.

 
 

Style and Layout of Each Web Page

 

 

Web page is not complete; disorganized and no illustrations.

Information on web page is not in proper sequence; one graphic; lacks creativity.

Good use of font and color; information is well-organized; illustrated creatively with at least two graphics and ones hyperlinks on each section.

Excellent use of font and color; information is well-organized; illustrated creatively with at least three graphics and two hyperlinks on each section.

 
 

Cooperative Team Work

5  Web Pages to create a Web Site

 

Team was off task and did not work well together

Team completed tasks independently with some help from others in the group.

Team worked collaboratively on most aspects of the web site.

Members worked collaboratively on all aspects of the web site.

 

Conclusion

     Through this webquest, you have explored a particular region of the United States.  You have researched interesting geographical features, historical sites, and leisure time activities of a region.  Your knowledge of your country has been enhanced as well as your research skills.  Only by finding out specific details of each geographical area, can you appreciate the true beauty of our country.


http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/usa_blank.jpg

Resources

 

United States Geography:
http://countrystudies.us/united-states/geography.htm

 

United States Maps:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states.html

Color Landform Atlas of the United States:
 http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/states.html

Weather Forecast of the United States:
 http://www.travelforecast.com/htdocs/climate.asp

National Park Service:
 http://www.nps.gov/

New England Travel:
 http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/130.asp

America’s Most Scenic Natural Treasures:
 http://www.scenicus.com/

State History Facts:
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/es

America's Major Baseball Parks:
 www.ballparksofbaseball.com

America Amusement Parks:
 http://www.amusementresource.com/AmusementPlaces/USAportalmain.htm

United States Parks, Wildlife Departments, and Recreation Facilities:
 http://recreation.usgs.gov/state_parks.html

United States Beaches:
 http://www.goingtothebeach.com/ussearch.htm

Reports on US Trade:
http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/ustrade.html

US Department of Labor:
http://www.bls.gov/home.htm

Occupations and Salary by State:
http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=nc

Information on States:
http://www.50states.com/

http://www.usinfo.pl/aboutusa/travel/regions.htm#thes

http://sf.factmonster.com/states.html

http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/stateknow/

http://www.42explore2.com/50states.htm

http://www.infoplease.com/states.html

http://usa.usembassy.de/travel-regions.htm

Citation Machine:
http://citationmachine.net/

Northeast Scott

Middle West Scott

Southwest Scott

West Scott

Northeast Tritt

Middle West Tritt

Southwest Tritt

West Tritt

Western and Mid Western Brown

South Western and Southern Brown

Mid Atlantic and New England Brown

Mid Atlantic Merrell

South West Merrell

South Merrell

New England Merrell

Midwestern Merrell

West Merrell

 

North Carolina Social Studies Standards
Competency Goal 1 The learner will apply key geographic concepts to the United States and other countries of North America.
  Objectives

1.03 Compare and contrast the physical and cultural characteristics of regions within the United States, and other countries of North America.

1.06 Explain how people of the United States and other countries of North America adapt to, modify, and use their physical environment.

 
Competency Goal 3 The learner will examine the roles various ethnic groups have played in the development of the United States and its neighboring countries.
  Objectives

3.01 Locate and describe people of diverse ethnic and religious cultures, past and present, in the United States.

3.02 Examine how changes in the movement of people, goods, and ideas have affected ways of living in the United States.

3.03 Identify examples of cultural interaction within and among the regions of the United States.

3.04 Hypothesize how the differences and similarities among people have produced diverse American cultures.

3.07 Describe art, music, and craft forms in the United States and compare them to various art forms in Canada, Mexico, and selected countries of Central America.
Competency Goal 5 The learner will evaluate ways the United States and other countries of North America make decisions about the allocation and use of economic resources.
 

Objectives

5.02 Analyze the economic effects of the unequal distribution of natural resources on the United States and its neighbors.

5.03 Assess economic institutions in terms of how well they enable people to meet their needs.

5.04 Describe the ways in which the economies of the United States and its neighbors are interdependent and assess the impact of increasing international economic interdependence.

5.05 Evaluate the influence of discoveries, inventions, and innovations on economic interdependence.