A webQUEST of
discovery
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 fifth graders of the world, inviting
them to participate in a contest to nominate explorers and help design this new
line of cards. You are now invited to take part in this
contest.
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. 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!
1.
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.
2.
Using at least two books and
two 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.
3.
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.
4.
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.
5.
Create a bibliography of the
resources you used in your research, including websites..
Books:
Dreher,
Diane Sansevere. Explorers Who Got Lost. New York: Tom Doherty,
1992
Platt,
Richard. The DK Illustrated Book of Great Adventures. New York: DK
Publishing, 1999
Grossek,
Joyce. Great Explorers. Grand Rapids: Fideler Company, 1967
Anderson,
Dale. Explorers Who Found New Worlds. Austin: Raintree Steck-Vaughn,
1993
Fritz,
Jean. Around the World in a Hundred Years: From Henry the Navigator to
Magellan. Putnam, 1994
Matthews,
Rupert. Eyewitness: Explorer. New York: DK Publishing, 2000
Book
Series: These series of books often have a separate book for each explorer -
check with your librarian!
Beyond
the Horizons - Raintree Steck-Vaughn
World
Explorers - Chelsea House Publishers
Exploring
the World - Compass Point Books
Exploration
- Watts Library
Explorers
and Exploration - Raintree Steck-Vaughn
Great
Explorers - Mikaya Press
Websites
4th and
5th Grade Student Research Resources - This website has many links
to information about explorers
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.
Explorer's A to Z
- Hundreds of links organized alphabetically by explorer.
Homework
Central - Search this site using "explorers."
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.
|
|
Three Points |
Two Points |
One Point |
|
Research |
Well researched
using at least two books and two websites. Bibliography completed |
Partially
researched, bibliography not complete |
Poorly researched, factual errors, bibliography incomplete. |
|
Essay |
Followed
guidelines, convincing, well written. |
Missed two or
fewer parts of guidelines, shaky argument, awkward writing |
No attempt to follow guidelines, poorly written. |
|
Card |
Tight, neat, and
complete |
Lacking detail,
two or fewer errors in information |
More than two factual errors, no picture, lacking neatness. |
|
Group (if
applicable) |
Worked well
together, work distributed evenly |
One or two
members did most of the work |
Frequent conflicts needing teacher to resolve. |