thomas jefferson webquest

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The most interesting man in the world?

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The most interesting

man in the world?

Who is Thomas Jefferson ?He is the man who wrote a letter telling off a king. He is

the leader who sent explorers toward the setting sun. He is the

farmer who built a great mansion over and over again. He is a

human who owned other humans despite his own beliefs. He is

the one who bought a big land from a little man. He is so

important to our country that we cast his image on our money.

Who is this man who did all these things, and is it all even

true? By the time you are done with this webquest, you will be

able to answer these questions and decide for yourself whether

he is the most interesting man in the world.

You will research websites to find relevant information about our third President, Thomas Jefferson. First you will get into the mind of Jefferson by studying an important document that he wrote, the Declaration of Independence. Then you will choose two subjects to research on your own. Your group will come together to create a power point presentation from your research.

We will learn from each other as each group presents its powerpoint to the class. The project concludes with a short writing assignment where you get to express your opinion about what you have learned.

We will learn about Thomas Jefferson through his accomplishments, interests, and contributions to America.

9 topics will be covered:

All directions will be explained on the following activity pages.

The Declaration of Independence

President of the United States

Lewis and Clark

Louisiana Purchase

Agriculture

Inventions

Architecture

Slavery

Public Servant

Activity 1Activity 1 is a group project. The class will be divided into groups of four. For this

first activity, you will study a famous document that Thomas Jefferson wrote called the Declaration of Independence.

Activity 1 part 1 - As a group you will research the following websites. Your goal will be to evaluate the three most important facts about the Declaration of Independence and its signing. Your group will then put these facts on your first slide of your power point. The design of your power point is up to your group.

http://www.ushistory.org/DECLARATION/

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffdec.html

Activity 1 part 2 – Do the assignment on the next page and incorporate it into your power point.

Activity 1 part 2 The Declaration of Independence

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

These are very important words in American history. In order to understand what this phrase means, we must understand what each word means. For this exercise, your group will define four words in the phrase above – self-evident, endow, inalienable, liberty. Place the definitions on one slide in the Declaration of Independence section of your group’s power point. Dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/

For the definition of each word, four sentences will be written:

Sentence 1: Copy the phrase from the Declaration of Independence where the word is located.

Sentence 2: Create a sentence that provides examples of attributes of the word.

Sentence 3: Create a sentence that defines the word in your own terms.

Sentence 4: Create a sentence that reveals a personal connection with the word. Use the word in context.

Example - define the word truths: We hold these truths to be self-evident. Truths can be proven or judged as morally right. A truth is information that is factual and not false. It is a truth that I like to sleep in on weekends.

Notes: Define the word endow, not endowed. Define the word inalienable, not unalienable

Activity 2

Each student in your group will research 2 topics that are associated

with Thomas Jefferson. These topics mainly cover Thomas Jefferson’s

skills, talents, and achievements but there is also a topic of great

controversy.

Your task is to look for the most relevant and important facts

associated with these topics in order to illustrate who Thomas Jefferson was

as a person. Each student is required to create a powerpoint slide for each

of their 2 topics which contains those relevant facts. Each slide must

contain at least one picture.

The group then puts the slides together into one powerpoint

presentation. After completing Activity 3, the groups will present their

powerpoints to the class.

Research topics and links are on the next slide

President of the United States Agriculture Public Servant

Architecture Slavery

Inventions Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark

EACH STUDENT

CHOOSES 2

TOPICS TO

RESEARCHClick on pictures for links

Activity 3

For this activity your group will be creating a

talking Thomas Jefferson! You will be using a

website called Blabberize to make his mouth move

to a recording. Move the cursor over the picture to

the right and press play to see what I mean.

You can divide these tasks within your group:

1) Go to www.blabberize.com and follow the

prompts to make your picture move.

2) Record your voice completing this sentence, “I

am the most interesting man in the world

because…” Then briefly summarize at least 5

different reasons why Thomas Jefferson is

interesting. The recording should be at least 1

minute long.

3) Add your video to the groups powerpoint

presentation.

Activity 4

Each group will give their Thomas Jefferson powerpoint presentations, During this time

you must pay attention, and you might want to take some notes. As a class we will discuss the

various aspects of Thomas Jefferson’s activities and which of these makes him a contender for

“most interesting man in the world.”

Then you will complete a short writing assignment where you can state your personal opinion

about the matter. You should argue whether Thomas Jefferson is the most interesting person in the world

or if it is someone else. If you decide that Thomas Jefferson is the most interesting then support your

opinion by explaining three reasons why you think so. If you decide that someone else is more interesting

(could be a man or woman - living or dead) then support your argument with three reasons explaining why

you have chosen this other person.

This paper should be at least 2 pages handwritten or 1 page typed (double space).

5 pts 10 pts 15 pts 20 pts

Activity 1

•0 facts given

•1 sentence for

definition completed

•1 fact given

•2 sentences for

definition completed

•2 facts given

•3 sentences for

definition completed

•3 facts given

•4 sentences for

definition completed

Activity 2

•Either 1 fact given

or a power point

slide not completed

•Either 3 facts not

given or no power

point slide completed

•2 facts given for

chosen topic

•Power point slide

completed

•3 facts given for two

topics chosen

•Power point slide

completed

Activity 3

•Barely contributed

in creating animated

Jefferson/recording

•Halfway participated

in creating animated

Jefferson/recording

•Mostly participated

in creating animated

Jefferson/recording

•Fully participate in

creating animated

Jefferson/recording

Activity 4

•Listed at least one

accomplishment

•Explained 1 reason

why most important

•Explained 2 reasons

why most important

•Explained 3 reasons

why most important

By the end of this project you should know many things about

Thomas Jefferson. Even if you don’t think he is the most interesting man in

the world you can probably see why he is a contender for that title. Thomas

Jefferson is one of the most important of our Founding Fathers, and his

talents and interests actually helped form our country.

I don’t know if Jefferson would think of himself as interesting but he

did have his own ideas about which of his accomplishments were most

important. In fact, he had three of them engraved on his tombstone. Others

would probably disagree about the relative importance of these three

accomplishments when compared to what else he did. Two of these

contributions were not even studied in this webquest!

To see what Thomas Jefferson thought was so important, visit this site:

http://www.mccullagh.org/image/13/thomas-jefferson-tombstone.html