The+Teacher's+Page

This page is a resource/lesson for teachers that would like to use this WebQuest in their classrooms
**Introduction**:

This lesson was developed for my senior, honors government students. I created this idea to get the students interested in the beginning of the class and get them critically and analytically thinking right away. Their job is to take developed and developing countries and compare and contrast them for an in-depth understanding of those terms and different government types. I want them to use real-world information that they can connect with and find meaningful. I believe this WebQuest provides that.

**Learners**:

As I stated above, this is meant for an honors classroom and 11th or 12th grade students. The standards are found in the 9-11 curriculum of social studies and also incorporate some english skills as well as math skills depending on what they do with their statistics. This can be adapted for a regular or lower level classroom where I would probably guide them more and break down their tasks even more as well.

The students should have an understanding already about the 4 features of a state/country and GDP/GDP per capita. They should also be able to recognize the three government types and developed/developing nations.

**Government Standards**: []

-5.1.9.B: Analyze the major arguments advanced for different systems of government. -5.1.9.C: Analyze the principles and ideals that shape United States government. -5.2.9.A: Contrast the rights and responsibilities of a citizen in a democracy with a citizen in an authoritarian system. -5.2.9.B: Analyze strategies used to resolve conflicts in society and government. -5.3.9.J: Compare and contrast various systems of government
 * Liberty / Freedom
 * Democracy
 * Justice
 * Equality


 * Nets Standards: **
 * 1) Creativity and Innovation (b and d)
 * 2) Communication and Collaboration (b and d)
 * 3) Research and Information Fluency (b and d)
 * 4) Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making (a, b, and c)

**Process**:

+ Basic Steps: go to -> The Process page for an in-depth look at the different steps. The students work on most of this lesson in the classroom. It should take them about a week+ to complete this WebQuest, which includes a few days in the beginning to go over directions, choose groups and individual countries, and work on chart. The students take a couple days to work together on the group analysis questions and then the weekend to complete the final essay. I think it is important to keep a day set aside to debrief and conclude at the end as well.
 * 1) Choose roles and groups – they choose their group of 3 or 4 and then they choose which country they will research and gather data on as shown in my description on the process page - -- As shown above, I would split the class up into groups of 3+ and each person would represent one of the specific countries that I have chosen for them. This allows the students to fully participate in the WebQuest and no one can sit back and do nothing during the activity. It will make their answers important and help them feel like they have a point through the exercise. This also splits up the work and allows the group to gather information at a faster pace to save some time. Hopefully, this keeps the students on track and focused for the majority of the WebQuest.
 * 2) Complete a chart created by the teacher with links that provide the necessary data (key link CIA World Fact book) on their chosen country
 * 3) Use the information gathered in step 2 to come together as a group and discuss analysis questions provided by the teacher. This should show understanding of the major topics and get the students to really look at comparing and contrasting the three nations.
 * 4) Finally, on their own, answer the essential question into an essay based on the information and analysis that was gathered above. There is an optional assignment that the students can work on as well. Debrief as a class - you can use the debrief questions that I have already created in my conclusion or you can create your own.

The students will need access to computers for a majority of this assignment, but overall the lesson is pretty self-explanatory and I think most teachers can handle the material. It is important for the teacher to be up-to-date on current events in the chosen countries and it is also important to remind the students to use the data/statistics that they found in their chart for the analysis questions and essay.

+ Classroom set of computers or a computer lab + Government textbook + Programs and Sites:
 * Resources**:
 * My wikispace page: []
 * U.S. CIA. “CIA: The World Factbook” [Online] 17 June 2013. []. This site is probably the number one resource for the students and is created by the CIA and updated every week. It has a ton of information listed by country and gathered by that country and the U.S.
 * Word or PowerPoint - depending on how you went them to turn in their analysis questions
 * Youtube: Hans Rosling: Stats that reshape your world-view and Top 10 Most Developed Countries videos


 * Evaluation**:

+ This is an extending and refining lesson and works on their analysis, writing, government, compare and contrast, and evaluation skills. (and many more) + I will use the rubric on the Evaluation Page to assess the student learning from this WebQuest. Go to -> The Evaluation to look at the rubric. Here are the main items to be assessed:
 * Individual Chart on a country
 * Group Analysis Questions
 * Final Essay
 * Real-World Application (optional) Not part of rubric for my lesson

Hopefully, you found this WebQuest useful and I believe that this activity really gets the students thinking and processing on key material that is very important to the curriculum content.

Go to -> The Credits Go home