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Who
Started the Fire?
A WebQuest for
11th Grade American History
Designed by
Julie Haines
jhaines@jcs.k12.oh.us
Introduction
| Task | Process | Evaluation
| Conclusion | Credits
Introduction
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning,
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire
Well, we didn't light it,
But we tried to fight it.
- Billy Joel
The above stanza is from the song "We
Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. What in the world is he talking
about? That will be your task to discover in this webquest.
In this hit song from 1989, Joel names key historical events from 1949-1989.
By examining the events in the song, you and your classmates will be be
searching for the answer to the question at the top of this page:
"Who started the fire?" You will also be answering what he means
by "fire."
The
Task
Your group's task in this assignment
is to research a section of the song and then present to the class in news
show format an analysis of that section. Your individual task in
this assignment is to answer a series of questions following the class
presentations.
The
Process
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First you'll be assigned to a team
of 4-5 students. Your team will be given certain years from the song
to research.
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Within your team, you will assume
one of the following roles:
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Culture Reporter
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Your job is to research
and analyze those items within
your years that apply to culture.
This would include sports, entertainment, literature or any other topic
that is not politically-oriented.
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Political Reporter
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Your job is to research
and analyze those items within
your years that apply to politics and
government. This
would include leaders of countries,
wars, political events
or any other topic that is politically-oriented. |
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Geography Reporter
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Your job is to plot
on a map the items from your groups'
years. Your role is similar
to a weather reporter, but you
just give locations of events, people,
etc. During the presentation you will use an overhead transparency
of a
world map, but to do your preliminary
plotting, you can
print
this world map .
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Fire Tracker
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Your job is to decide
why Billy Joel chose to include each
item as a contributor to the "fire."
You must analyze the
facts your group has gathered about
your items and determine what makes them significant, especially to
our lives today.
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Once you've picked a role to play,
you will begin your research. You will have three days for computer research.
The Culture Reporter and Political Reporter will need to work together
to determine who needs to research what. The following links in the lyrics
of the song will function as your starting points:
1949
, 1950 , 1951
, 1952 , 1953 , 1954
, 1955 , 1956 , 1957
, 1958 , 1959 , 1960
, 1961, 1962, 1963,
1964-1989
1949
Harry
Truman , Doris
Day , Red China
, Johnnie Ray ,
South
Pacific , Walter
Winchell , Joe
Dimaggio ,
1950
Joe
McCarthy , Richard
Nixon , Studebaker
, Television ,
North
Korea , South Korea , Marilyn
Monroe ,
1951
Rosenbergs
, H-Bomb , Sugar
Ray , Panmunjom
,
Brando
, The King
and I and The
Catcher in the Rye ,
1952
Eisenhower
, Vaccine
, England's
got a new Queen ,
Marciano
, Liberace
, Santayanna good-bye .
CHORUS
We didn't start the
fire
It was always burning,
Since the world's
been turning.
We didn't start the
fire
Well, we didn't light
it,
But we tried to fight
it.
1953
Joseph
Stalin , Malenkov
, Nasser
and Prokofiev
Rockefeller
, Campanella
, Communist
bloc
1954
Roy
Cohn, Juan
Peron , Toscanini,
Dacron
,
Dien
Bien Phu falls , Rock
Around the Clock
1955
Einstein
, James Dean , Brooklyn's
got a winning team ,
Davy
Crockett , Peter
Pan , Elvis
Presley , Disneyland
1956
Bardot
, Budapest
, Alabama
, Krushchev
,
Princess
Grace , Peyton
Place , Trouble
in the Suez
CHORUS
1957
Little
Rock , Pasternak
, Mickey Mantle , Kerouac
,
Sputnik
, Chou En-Lai ,
Bridge
on the River Kwai
1958
Lebanon
, Charles
de Gaulle , California
baseball ,
Starkweather
homicide , children of thalidomide
1959
Buddy
Holly , Ben Hur , space
monkey , mafia
,
Hula
Hoops ,
Castro , Edsel
is a no go
1960
U-2
, Syngman
Rhee , Payola
, and Kennedy ,
Chubby
Checker , Psycho , Belgians
in the Congo
CHORUS
1961
Hemingway
, Eichmann
, Stranger
in a Strange Land ,
Dylan
, Berlin
, Bay of Pigs
Invasion
1962
Lawrence
of Arabia , British
Beatlemania ,
Ole
Miss , John
Glenn , Liston
beats Patterson
1963
Pope
Paul , Malcolm
X , British
politician sex ,
JFK
blown away , What else do I have to say?
CHORUS
1964
to 1989
Birth
control , Ho Chi Minh
, Richard Nixon back
again ,
Moonshot
, Woodstock
, Watergate , punk
rock ,
Begin
, Reagan , Palestine
, terror
on the airlines ,
Ayatollahs
in Iran , Russians
in Afghanistan ,
Wheel
of Fortune , Sally
Ride , heavy
metal , suicide
,
Foreign
debts , homeless vets , AIDS
, crack , Bernie
Goetz ,
Hyperdermics
on the shore , China's
under martial law ,
Rock
and roller cola wars , I can't take it anymore!
We didn't start
the fire
It was always burning,
Since the world's
been turning.
We didn't start the
fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn
on and on and on and on.....
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If you still need information on
your items, do a search on one of these search engines or one whichever
one you commonly used. Use your back button on your browser to get
back to this page.
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Once your research is compiled,
your team will begin working on the presentation. You will have two
days to work on your presentation. You will need to present your
information in the style of a television news show. During your presentation,
you will follow the order that is listed in the role
descriptions . Your presentation will need to be 10-15 minutes long.
Use visual aids. Your group can do a video on your own time to then
show the class; however, this is not required, nor will it effect your
grade in either direction.
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After completion of the presentations,
you will answer concluding questions in paragraph form. You can download
and print the questions now as a Word document by clicking here
.
Evaluation
You will receive a group grade (100
points), based on research, effort, and presentations. You will also
receive an individual grade (100 points) based on your completion of the
concluding questions. Below are the standards that will be used for
your group grade.
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Beginning
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Developing
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Accomplished
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Exemplary
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Score
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Behavior
and Effort
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1
The group did not
work together nor did they behave appropriately. They created a distraction
to learning and accomplished little in class.
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2
The group worked most
of the time but additional effort was necessary. The group did need
reprimanded and reminded to stay on task.
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3
The group worked hard
and used the majority of the time provided wisely. Only general reminders
were necessary.
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4
The group worked diligently
on the assignment and used all time wisely. No reprimands or reminders
were necessary.
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Content
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2
Content is inadequate.
Group members did not accomplish the research tasks.
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4
Additional content
is necessary. The group shows evidence of preliminary research but
needs more.
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6
Content is sufficient
to the task. The group did not try to go above the required, however.
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8
Content is exemplary.
The group thoroughly researched and went above and beyond the call of duty.
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Creativity
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1
This project displays
little creativity.
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2
There
is some creativity displayed in this project, but additional effort is
required.
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3
There
is adequate creativity in this project.
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4
There
is much evidence of creativity in this project.
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Presentation
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1
Presentation was severely
lacking in interest, organization, and content.
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2
There is some evidence
of interest, organization, and content in the presentation.
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3
The presentation shows
adequate effort at interest, organization, and content.
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4
The presentation shows
mastery of interest, organization, and content.
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Overall Impression
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2
Groups' effort and
performance only shows the beginnings of effective student work.
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4
Groups' effort and
performance shows movement toward effective student work.
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6
Groups' effort and
performance shows accomplishment of effective student work.
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8
Groups' effort and
performance exemplifies effective student work.
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Conclusion
Now you know a little more about the
last half of the twentieth century and can appreciate the variety of this
era in history. What will the twenty-first century hold?
Will the fires burn out of control?
Will your name show up some day in such a compilation?
Credits
& References
Clip art courtesy of the Animation
Factory .
Last updated on April
3, 2002. Based on a template from The
WebQuest Page
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