Westward Expansion Web Quest

Internet Research on a Unit on Western Expansion
Pinewood School - Grade 5
Mrs. Wagschall
Mohonasen Foundation for Excellence, Inc.
P.O. Box 4207
Schenectady, N.Y. 12304

Have you ever walked 5 miles in a day? Ten miles? Fifteen? In the mid-1800's over 100,000 Americans walked fifteen miles a day for nearly 2000 miles. They were moving west, and one way to get there was to take the Oregon Trail, which stretched from Missouri to the Pacific Coast. The emigrants traveled in covered wagons in a 'wagon train' from sunrise until 6:00 P.M. We will take this trip and go back 200 years in time and find out why, when, where, and how these people undertook such a trip.

Your task will be to work as a group and decide what topic you would like to research individually. Once you have decided this, you will work on your own doing your research. Upon completion, you will come back together and jointly work on a Power Point presentation to share with the class. You will be sharing this information so others will learn about the westward movement and whether they will also want to move westward.

It is 1840 and you have been assigned by the government to travel with three other pioneers. Together, you will be working to study different aspects of the westward migration: the trail, the reasons for traveling, the obstacles that were faced by the pioneers, and what they needed to take for survival on the trail. As you research information, you will contribute to the final presentation. Review the requirements of a Power Point presentation. You can use written description, clip art, interviews, and photographs to add to your presentation. The four areas of research will be:

Itinerary: (Person 1) This person will research and answer these questions:
Which trail will we take? What will be our final destination? Give examples of trail routes and maps. How long will it take? How many miles a day,etc.

Equipment and Supplies:( Person 2) This person will be responsible for purchasing equipment: what to bring, food, supplies, what kind of wagon and description,etc.

        Obstacles: (Person 3) This person will be responsible for learning about the obstacles that will be faced by the pioneers:
                1. health
                2. wild animals
                3. Native Americans
                4. food and supplies

       Motivation: (Person 4) This person will learn the reasons why people moved west:
                1. Business(banking, merchant)
                2. Gold
                3. Farming

Your research on the Westward Expansion of the many emigrants has enabled you to understand the difficulties they faced on this long journey. Has this helped you to understand the pioneers and why they moved west and do you think you could have taken this journey? Now you will get together in your group and work together on your presentation. I have included a copy of the evaluation rubric that will be used to grade your work.

You will receive an individual Social Studies Grade based upon your group presentation to class regarding your area of expertise.

	Beginning Standards 1	Developing Standards 2	Near Standards 3	Meets Standards 4	Exceeds Standards 5
Organization	Material of slide show lacks organization	The material to be presented is somewhat organized	The material is fairly well organized	The material shows good organization	The material is well organized
Content	Little or none of the requirements are met, disorganization is evident, inconsistency are noted in writing, many errors may be noted in conventions.	Some of the requirements are completed, writing maybe missing some parts all together, order maybe inconsistent, writing errors may get in the way of the content.	Most requirements are completed, some errors in writing conventions.	All requirements are completed information is complete and thorough, writing conventions do not interfere with understanding.	Exceeds standard, all requirements are met above grade level, writing conventions do not interfere with material.
Design of Presentation	Too many fonts and ones used are hard to read. Lack of a consistent format for the project. No graphics	Use of fonts inconsistent. Poor use of format for the project. Poor use of graphics	Good use of fonts but could be easier to read. Good use of format for the project. Fair use of graphics.	Fonts are used in a consistent manner throughout. Very good use of format for the project.Very good use of graphics	Excellent use of fonts. The material is easy to read. Excellent use of format for the project. Excellent use of graphics
Group Cooperation	No Group cooperation. Many arguments, or people doing their own thing.	Very little group cooperation.	Some group cooperation, but most of work done by one or two people	Good cooperation. Members have worked well together.	Excellent cooperation. All members did an equal amount of work, and contributed to the project.

Credits
Power Point Rubric reproduced with permission from Michelle Bergery.

Bonanza theme from Art Today. Available: http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/multimedia/sun-sounds/series/

Maintained according to the Mohonasen Central School District Web Publishing Regulations
by M. Wagschall, Grade 5 Teacher, 901 Kings Road, Schenectady, NY 12303, (518)-356-8430, M_Wagschall@mohonasen.org, �2001 Mohonasen Central School District-All Rights Reserved.
Last modified on 07/17/01

Oregon Trail 101	Wagons	Important Landmarks
Welcome to the Oregon Trail	What was it like to travel the trail?	Trails West
Pioneer	The American West	Covered Wagon
Westward Expansion	Trails Westward