The Great Depression
A Webquest for 7th Grade
Introduction
Imagine
that you lived in the 1930s during the Great Depression. What would your life be like? Whether you lived in a city or the country,
your life would have been very different than it is today. The Great Depression caused a devastating
epidemic of poverty, hunger, and homelessness.
Just as Danny, from Nothing to Fear, had many worries and
concerns, so would you. You might ask
questions such as, “Will I get to eat today?, When will I see my family
again? Should I quit school to help my
family make ends meet? Where will we
sleep tonight?”
The Quest
What was every day life like for men, women, and children, during the
Great Depression?
The Process
In this WebQuest you will be working together in groups of three. Each
group will answer the Task or Question. We will begin this Quest by learning
some general information about the Great Depression, before assuming the roles
of different types of people who lived through it.
Phase 1 -
Background: Something for Everyone
Every group member must complete this activity first.
Use the Internet information linked below to write a comprehensive paragraph
about the Great Depression that includes the following information: When did
the stock market crash? Describe three
causes of the Great Depression. What were some of the problems that Americans
faced during the Great Depression?
You do not need to look at the first three resources at this time, because they
are photograph sites that we will use later.
·
Photographs
of the Great Depression
·
America From the
Great Depression to World War II
·
Hoovervilles
- Photograph Collage
·
The Authentic
History Center
·
Timeline of the
Great Depression
·
The Topic: The Great
Depression
·
The Great
Depression and the New Deal
Phase 2 -
Looking Deeper from Different Perspectives
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. In each group of three, each person will assume one of the three identities.
Each group must have a person assuming each of the roles.
2. Read through all of the files linked to your group, as
well as the general information. If you print out the files, underline the
passages that you feel are the most important. If you look at the files on the
computer, copy sections you feel are important by dragging the mouse across the
passage and copying / pasting it into a word processor or other writing software.
3. Note: Remember to write down or copy/paste the URL of the file you take the
passage from so you can quickly go back to it if you need to prove your point.
4. Be prepared to link what everyone in the group has learned into one
presentation that answers the main question of this WebQuest.
A Mother of Four Children
Use the Internet information linked below, as well
as the general information to complete this assignment, specifically related to
Mother of Four Children:
1. Assuming the role of the Depression mother, write five journal entries
starting with the day after the stock market crash in 1929. Date your next four
entries throughout the 1930s. Be sure to include specific and detailed
information about where you and your family live, how old your children are,
and the struggle to buy food, clothes, and other supplies for the family. Do
you have a husband? Does he have a job? Do you have a job? What are your
concerns as the Depression unfolds? What is a day in your life like? What do
you see, hear, and experience in the world around you?
·
Timeline of
the Great Depression
·
The
Despair of Unemployed Women
A Boy or Girl, Age 13
Use the Internet information linked below, as well
as the general information to complete this assignment, specifically related to
Boy or Girl, Age 13:
1. Assuming the role of this boy or girl, write five journal entries starting
with the day after the stock market crash in 1929. Date your next four entries
throughout the 1930s. Be sure to include specific and detailed information
about where you live, who you live with, and about your school. What is a day
in your life like? What do you worry about? What do you do to help your family
out of the Depression?
·
Begging
A Homeless Man
Use the Internet information linked below, as well
as the general information to complete this assignment, specifically related to
A Homeless Man:
1. Assuming the role of a homeless man, write five journal entries starting
with the day after the stock market crash in 1929. Date your next four entries
throughout the 1930s. Be sure to include specific and detailed information
about where you sleep, how you eat, and what you wear. In addition, did you
used to have a job? Why are you unemployed now? How did you become homeless?
What is a day in your life like?
·
Striking
a Chord: Railroads and Their Musical Heritage
Phase 3 -
Debating, Discussing, and Reaching Consensus
You have all learned about the Great Depression from different
perspectives.
Now, each of you should search the photograph websites to find a picture of
someone that you can imagine is in the same circumstances as the character you
played in this WebQuest. Find a picture of what you interpret to be a homeless
man, mother of four, or girl/boy age 13. This will be the face of your journal
entries. Please copy this picture into the Word document that contains your
journal.
Next, each group member should choose one journal entry, one piece of
interesting information relating to their role from one of the websites (a
letter, a quote, a amazing statistic, etc.), and their photograph to include in
the group presentation.
The first page of the presentation should have the three group members'
pictures, which are linked to pages that display the other pieces -- the
journal sample and the piece from a website.
The presenters should be prepared to read their journal entry and talk about
why they picked the Internet information that they did.
Evaluation Rubric
25
points—5 journal entries, set during 1929 stock market crash through 1930s
q
All questions
answered
q
First person point-of-vie
q
Appropriate tone
10
points—Phase 1 paragraph
q
Appropriate
background information included in a well-written paragraph
20
points—Accurate information from the Internet included
5
points—An appropriate picture is included
15
points—Presentation
q
1 journal entry and
picture from each group member put into 1 document
q
Appropriate voice
tone and volume used when presenting
q
Interesting
information about the depression (related to your role) from the Internet
included in your presentation
Credits
This webquest was created by Tara Donner with the help of the following websites:
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/webthegreakr.html
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html