A Tale of Two Cities
Introduction
Did you know that you can wake up
in London, visit Buckingham
Palace, hop on the Eurostar
and arrive in Paris
3 hours later? While in Paris you can
climb the Eiffel Tower,
view the Mona Lisa, visit the Catacombs, and be back in London before bedtime. How exciting to
be able to visit two countries in one day!! However, it may be hard to
choose what to see on this quick trip. It will be interesting to see what
students pick as their favorite sites to visit!
Task
To better understand the
attractions of these two cities, you will produce a travelers
brochure. This will be done keeping the cultural and historical factors
in mind, as well as making the trip from London
to Paris an
exciting prospect for visitors. Remember to include in your brochure what
you feel would be the best places for travelers to see on this one day trip,
keeping in mind that they have limited time because the Eurostar
trip takes 3 hours. You will breakfast in London,
lunch on the Eurostar, and have dinner in Paris!!
Process
For this project, you will work in
groups of four. Two of you will research Paris, the other two
will research London.
Each of you will look for at least 10 places in your city that you feel must be
included in your brochure. Remember, this brochure will be for visitors
just wanting a quick view of both cities. After you have chosen your
favorite 10 places, you must decide with your partner which five places to
include. Argue your points. Why do you feel a certain place must be
included? During your negotiations, remember to look at this from a visitors prospective. After final decisions
have been made, prepare a brochure using Microsoft Publisher. Be creative
with this but keep in mind, there is limited space on brochure. Your
brochure should include places in Paris and London to visit, and Eurostar information. Include a
introduction and concluding remarks. Your brochure should mention
governments, languages, currency, culture, and entertainment. Feel free
to include anything else you feel would be worthwhile to see while on this
trip.
Resources
The following sites will help
begin your research. However, you are not limited to these particular
resources. Explore the web and other sources but remember to evaluate
sites before including them in your brochure.
London Web Sites
Buckingham Palace http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page555.asp
The London Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
London
Transportation http://www.londontransport.co.uk/?central
Theatres http://www.whatsonstage.com
The British Monarchy http://www.royal.gov.uk
Eurostar
http://www.eurostar.com
http://www.railfaneurope.net/
Paris Web Sites
The Louvre http://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htm
The Eiffel Tower http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Eiffel/
Paris Maps http://www.columbia.edu/cu/arthistory/courses/parismaps/
Currency Exchange http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic
Books
Eyewitness
Travel Guide:Paris, Alan Tillier
The
Paris Mapguide, Michael Middleditch
Frommer's Paris 2000, Arthur Frommer
Access
Paris, Richard Wurman
London to Paris:
The Eurostar Story, Jeanne Griffiths
Frommer's London 2000, Auther
Frommer
London Walking Guide, Jeanne Olerich
London for Families, Larry Lain
The
London Mapguide, Michael Middleditch
Evaluation
This project will be worth 100
points. Grading will be based on content, creativity and presentation as
follows:
Content = 35 points
Creativity = 40 points
Brochure Presentation = 25 points
A printed copy of your brochure
must be handed in to me!
Conclusion
This trip would be a wonderful
adventure for my students. Paris and London are full of
history, culture, and fun. Hopefully, after completing this project, they
will have a better concept of what to look for in a foreign country. With
so much to see, I realize this will require collaboration among the students,
another learning experience.
This webquest was created by Rebecca Harston. It was designed for middle school
students.
Last Updated April 5, 2005 by Trisha Armstrong