Introduction
Task
Process
Evaluation
Conclusion
Credits
On a recent trip to the State Museum in Albany, NY, your class overhears a group of museum archivists arguing about Ancient Mesopotamia. Although you don't mean to eavesdrop you can't help but overhear their argument about which of the three main Mesopotamian civilizations was the greatest: Sumeria, Babylonia or Assyria. Having just learned about Mesopotamia you all begin discussing the same issue and soon you realize that you all have differing opinions about which civilization was the greatest. The archivists, hearing all of you in the hall, come out of the dark, cobweb filled room in which they were arguing and explain to you that they are trying to decide which of the civilizations to focus on in their new exhibit on Ancient Mesopotamia. Your class asks if they can help the archivists make a decision. The archivists readily agree and send you off to gather the information and evidence you need to convince all of them which civilization is the greatest.
Task:
Your class's task is to help the museum's archivists decide which of the three civilizations is the greatest. In order to do this your group will become experts on one of the civilizations (the civilization will be assigned to your group by your teacher). You will be gathering information to present to the rest of class as evidence that your civilization should be the one chosen. To help you in making your decision, link to the Mesopotamia Matrix for information on the components of a civilization - these components should be of primary consideration when you are researching your civilization. It will be your group's job to present the information you gather in a way that will convince the other groups that your civilization is the best. Your presentation must include both visual and oral components that provide your audience with enough evidence to make an informed decision.
You and your group will present to the rest of your classmates the information you have gathered in support of your civilization. You must have both a visual and oral component to your presentation. The visual may be a poster, powerpoint, scroll, crown or other creative method that allows your audience to truly understand the culture of your civilization. You need to show and tell the audience HOW and WHY you reached your conclusion as well as highlighting both the pros and cons for each civilization. Make sure you check with your teacher to get the final OK on your method of presentation. The rubric for your presentation can be found by clicking on the link.
Steps to complete the task:
- Each group will be researching the civilization they are going to become the experts on.
- Each member must contribute to the research on their civilization by gathering the type of information delinated on the Project Data Sheet - as a group you will be deciding who will be researching what aspects of your society. Remember you should be taking notes while you are researching. Your notes should be in your own words - copying someone else's work word for word is plagerism. You must also cite all of your sources using correct MLA citation format.
- Once your group has gathered reliable information about your civilization, you need to discuss how you want to present that information, designate jobs for each group member, and conference with your teacher regarding your ideas.
- You may also communicate with the other members of your group and other groups studying your civilization, via the Mesopotamia Blog. When you link to the blog site, you can add a comment by selecting the comment link and providing your name and email address. If you do not have an email address see Mrs. Collins. This is a public site and your teachers will be screening all comments before they are posted on the blog. Any inappropriate comments will not be posted and students attempting to post those comments will face disciplinary consequences!
Keep in mind the following essential questions while you are completing your research:
- What were the pros and cons of each civilization?
- Which civilization was the greatest? Why?
- Which civilization would you choose to live in? Why?
Online Resources:
- Subscribtion Databases (considered text resources)
- EBSCO Host Kids Search
- Thomson-Gale Junior Edition K12
- Britannica Online
- Citation Machine (creates your citations)
- Web Sites (selected for you by Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Collins)
- Ask (a student friendly search engine)
Book Resouces:
- OPAC - search for keywords: Mesopotamia, Assyria, Sumer, Babylon
- Encyclopedias (World Book especially)
Evaluation:
See the Rubric for this project to self-evaluate your progress.
Conclusion:
You should now be an expert on the civilizations of Ancient Mesopotamia and have the skills of locating resources, organizing information and presenting a compelling argument to an audience. You did a great job!
Credits:
This webquest was adapted, by Debbie Collins, LMS, from one created by Tammy Flam at Coleman Elementary School in the Elgin School District in Elgin, Illinois. Ms. Flam generously gave her permission to use and adapt her website - Thank you! Any errors or mis-information are definitely the fault of Mrs. Collins and not Ms. Flam.
Thank you also to Mrs. Morgan for her expert advice on the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and to Mrs. Ayers for her recommendation to include the creation for a crown as one of the options for the final product.