WebQuest

The President of the United States has recently called for an international summit to be held in New York City dealing with the economic challenges facing developing nations. In order to tackle this problem, the President has asked various international organizations to send representatives to the summit. At the start of the summit, the President has requested that each organization briefly summarize what they are currently doing to battle this dilemma. Organizations that have been asked to attend the summit include: the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Union and the International Red Cross. The question that the President is asking each organization to address is:

What can be done to combat the problems that are facing developing nations throughout the world?

Please Note: This lesson aligns with the U.S. Government Core Learning Goal Indicator 2.1.2 The student will evaluate the effectiveness of international alliances and organizations from the perspective of the United States.

Your job is to report to the summit on what your organization is currently doing to help developing nations combat the economic challenges that they are facing. These challenges include hunger, poverty, famine, education, disease, and debt. Each organization needs to:

You can use any source of technology to address the summit. If you use PowerPoint, your presentation should be no fewer than six slides and no more than ten slides.

You may also create brochures, newsletters or an outline that summarizes your plan to help developing nations.

Students will be assigned a specific international organization. In groups of four, students will research that particular organization. Students will then choose from one of four different roles: team manager (keeps the team members focused and on task), secretary (records notes during research and develops a rough draft proposal), researcher (will read articles, notes, or other research. Will also guide the team through their research), encourager (will be responsible for team continuity. Will also assist the researcher with his or her assigned task). Students will be given five days to complete the assignment.

Suggestions for Using this Web Quest within a 4-Period Day Schedule:

Day One: An introduction to international organizations and the WebQuest.

What are international organizations?
Examples of international organizations.
Assignment - expectations.
Assigning groups.
Group roles.

Day Two: Teams will work on their WebQuest in the ASAP lab. Students will be given the entire period to conduct research.

Day Three: Students will be given an additional 40 minutes (half a period) to research their assignment using either the ASAP lab or other resources provided in the Media Center. The rest of the period will be independent work time in the classroom.

During the second half of the period, students will begin to work on their presentations.

Day Four: Independent work time. Groups will be continue to work on their final presentation.

Day Five: Presentations - Report to the summit.

Each group will be evaluated according to the following rubric that was created by the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Social Studies Department and revised on 5/1/00. Knowledge and Understanding indicate the degree to which the response reflects a grasp to the content, question, and/or problem presented in the Task. The response indicates mastery that progresses from knowledge to understanding.

	Minimal Knowledge 1	Knowledge 2	Some Understanding 3	Understanding 4
PBL question is answered in a logical, concise, and feasible manner	No higher order thinking skills	Little or no evidence of higher order thinking skills	Some evidence of higher order thinking skills	Powerful evidence of higher order thinking skills
Persuasive presentation that is supported with facts, provokes emotion, and is ethical	Incomplete or fragmented ideas	Basic ideas with little or no support	Accurate concepts with support	Concepts are integrated and well supported
Description of the organization and programs that it has instituted to help developing nations.	Inadequate response.	Acceptable response with some key ideas.	Complete response (may not develop all parts equally).	Complete and insightful response.
Cooperative Group Work	The group does not work well together. Little or no group cooperation.	The group works well together only when they are reminded to stay on task.	Work well together with few distractions.	Work well together with no distractions.

This WebQuest is designed for students to gain a better understanding of international organizations and the role that they play in the world today. Now, when the students hear about these organizations on the nightly news or in some other form of the media, they will have a better understanding of each. Students need to be aware of the international community to which they belong. By learning how the world comes together to help those in need, students will become effective citizens of this international community.

Kissinger, Lisa. Coordinator of Social Studies. Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Rubric Format. May 5, 2000.