Let's Move the United States Capital
	Webquest
	Linda Marker Zoe Wiltrout

Introduction Task Resources Process Evaluation Conclusion

Introduction

Congress has made the decision to move the nation’s capital. There is a search in progress for the best location. Each state will form a committee to persuade Congress to move the U.S. capital to their state. You will be one of the members of this committee. Congress will be looking at the geographical, historical, and cultural advantages of your state. May the best state to become the home of the nation’s capital please step forward!

Task

After researching your state, you will plan how you will persuade Congress to move the capital to your state. You will research the geography, the history and the culture of your state. You will organize this information that you have gained into a presentation of reasons why the U.S. capital should move to your state. The final project may be in the form of a skit, video presentation, puppet show, Hyper-studio presentation, PowerPoint presentation, a brochure or a tri-fold poster. A persuasion speech or paper will be required also.

Resources

ENCYCLOPEDIAS: Check out electronic encyclopedias as well as those on library shelves.

LIBRARY BOOKS: Ask your school or local librarian for help locating books and information on your state.

MAGAZINES: Magazines often times will have articles about states. National Geographic also highlights special cities, check the National Geographic Index for articles.

TRAVEL BROCHURES: Get travel brochures from travel agencies that might help you gather information.

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OR DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM: Every state has a department that has special information available for those that ask for it. Write a letter and ask for specific information. Addresses may be found in a current almanac or on the Internet.

INTERNET : The Internet has a lot of information available to you. Below are some of the better sites are listed for you.

http://www.50states.com/


http://www.yahooligans.com/Around_the_World/
(On this site, go the U.S. States link)

http://www.ipl.org/youth/stateknow/

Process

The steps that you will have to do to complete this project are as follows:

1. You will be assigned to teams of 3. Each person will be assigned a role. Those roles are: GEOGRAPHER, HISTORIAN, & CULTURAL RESEARCHER.

2. Each person is responsible for collecting data and recording their information on their subject.

The GEOGRAPHER will be looking at landforms, climate, natural resources, and location of their state.

The HISTORIAN will be researching when their state became a state, Indian tribes that lived in the state, major historic events that happened and the name of the current capital.  Also, state trivia such as the state animal, tree, flower, motto, song and flag would be helpful.

The CULTURAL RESEARCHER will be looking at some of the interesting sites in their state, and also who some famous people where that either were born in their state, or called their state home.

Each member will explore as many resources as possible to find out as much information as they can.

3. The information that each person found will be put together to create the final project. The group must decide what is the best way to present the information found so that it will persuade Congress to choose their state.

4. A bibliography will be included in the project.

5. Each individual member will write a persuasion paper using all the information found by the committee.

Group Evaluation

Students will be given a group grade on their persuasive display using the following criteria.

FOR AN "EXCELLENT" GRADE

	Description and introduction of state is complete
	Neatly written and organized data
	Reasons for choosing this state are clearly explained
	Information from all 3 roles is balanced
	Includes a variety of visual materials
	Bibliography is complete and in the correct form
	Presentation is persuasive, interesting and eye-catching

FOR A "GOOD" GRADE

	Description and introduction of state is complete
	Neatly written data
	Reasons for choosing this state are given
	Information from all 3 roles is included
	Includes a variety of visual materials
	Bibliography is complete
	Presentation is persuasive

FOR A "FAIR" GRADE

	Introduction of state is given
	Data not organized
	Reasons for choosing this are few
	All roles are not represented
	Includes a few visual materials
	Bibliography given
	Presentation is interesting

FOR A "POOR" GRADE

	Name of state is given
	Data is incomplete and unclear
	Reasons for choosing state are not given
	Two or more of the roles are not given
	Little use of visual materials
	Bibliography incomplete
	Presentation does not persuade

FOR A "FAILING" GRADE

No effort is given to project

Individual Evaluation

Each student will be given an individual grade on a paper that will be persuading Congress to choose their state as the site for the U.S. capital.  This will be judged on:

	Content
	Information from all 3 roles
	Persuasiveness
	Neatness and organization

Conclusion

Upon completion of this project, hopefully your state will be selected to become the home of the nation’s capital. By completing this assignment, you will have learned important information about one of the 50 states that you will be able to share with others.

Last Updated March 2005 by Trisha Armstrong