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**thanks to Florida State University for this idea**

 

Electronic Time Capsule
A Web Quest of the 1940s  


 

Introduction      Task          Procedures    Resources  Evaluation     Conclusion

Introduction

It is now 2004--more than 60 years after Gene graduates and leaves Devon School.  Imagine that  Gene  once again returns to Devon School and reflects on his experiences as a sixteen-year-old boy attending the preparatory school in 1942 during World War II.  

 

To help Gene remember his life as a sixteen-year-old, find information that was relevant to his life at the time. Consider things like:
World War II
The draft
Political leaders
Top songs
Popular authors, singers, actors, etc.
New inventions
New Hampshire
Preparatory schools
Fashion

 

 

Task

Your job will be to create a  PowerPoint-formatted electronic time capsule for Gene that will help him  remember the summer that changed his life. You will burn your time capsule onto a CD. Your PowerPoint presentation should be 15-20 slides in length (not counting works cited slides).

   

 

Procedures

You will collect a variety of information on 1942. With the data you find, you will develop a list of items to include in an electronic time capsule that will give an overall representation of the time.

 

You will have two class days to complete the time capsule project and may work with two other people.  Groups of three will be able to complete the assignment in the computer lab during the two days announced by Mrs. Adams.

 

 

To help Gene remember his life as a sixteen-year-old, find information that was relevant to his life at the time. Consider things like:

 


Search the websites provided and decide what will be important to a junior in high school in 1942. Make a list of what you will include in the electronic time capsule. Compile the materials to create a PowerPoint presentation of your research.


 
Resources

http://www.exeter.edu
Homepage of Exeter Academy.

http://library.exeter.edu/dept/separate_peace/article.html

Article by John Knowles discussing his time at Exeter.

http://library.exeter.edu/dept/separate_peace/essay.html
Photographic essay of the moods and setting of A Separate Peace.

http://www.exeter.edu/library1/separate_peace/defense.html
Description of Exeter's response to the coming of World War II.

http://www.exeter.edu/library1/separate_peace/war.html
Discussion of life at Exeter during World War II.

http://www.exeter.edu/library1/separate_peace/program.html
Changes made at Exeter to meet special circumstances caused by the draft.

http://www.exeter.edu/library1/separate_peace/labor.html
How labor entered the curriculum at Exeter.

http://www.exeter.edu/library1/separate_peace/knowles.html
John Knowles discusses his novel.

http://www.exeter.edu/library1/separate_peace/forties.html
Faculty perspective of life at Exeter in the forties.

http://newdeal.feri.org
An educational website dedicated to the New Deal and surrounding times that contains links to speeches, photos, letters, and interviews.

http://newdeal.feri.org/texts/subject.htm
A subject index for the New Deal Network. May be useful to search for specific subjects.

http://www.wizvax.net/nisk_hs/fdr/index.html
Approximately 30,000 political cartoons about Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.

http://www.academic.marist.edu/fdr/
Homepage for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum

http://www.corbis.com/experience/FDR/fsa/map.html
Photographs of the Great Depression.

http://www.corbis.com/scripts/FDRscrpt/ww2.pl
Photographs of World War II

http://gopher.nara.gov:70/Oh/inform/dc/audvis/still/ww2photo.html
Pictures from National Archives of World War II.

http://www.davison.K12.mi.us/academic/hewitt9.htm
Links to timelines and information on Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the New Deal.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html
Photographs from the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection of America from 1935-1945.

http://heismanmemorialtrophy.com
Heisman Award winners.

http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/archive/stories/1942.html
Article on
TIME magazine's "Man of the Year" in 1942..

http://worldwariihistory.info/WWII/Pacific.html
Summary of battles in Pacific between U.S. Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy.

http://www.vincasa.com/

Information on Casablanca.

http://classicfilm.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa070698.htm
Information on Roy Rogers.

http://www.oscars.org/awardsdatabase/index.html

A list of movies from various time periods.

http://classicfilm.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa051798.htm
A list of World War II movies.

http://americanhistory.miningco.com/library/weekly/bl112897.htm
Random facts about American history.

http://classiccar.chooseyouritem.com/classics/files/ClassicCarspriorto19500.html

Pictures of Cars from the 1930s and 1940s

http://www.santas.net/whitechristmas.htm
Lyrics to "White Christmas."

http://www.filmsite.org/index.html
A guide to the Oscars of 1942.

http://www.choochoo.com/index.shtml

  History of the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

http://www.glennmillerorchestra.com/history.html
Information on the Glenn Miller Band.

 

www.google.com

A good search engine for finding information not provided by previous links.

 

 

Evaluation

 

 An "A" capsule must include at least these  components:

 

CONTENT: 70 points

 

TECHNICAL: 30 points

 
Conclusion


As a concluding activity, be ready to upload your PowerPoint onto the school’s website for six weeks for other folks to learn from.  In class, we’ll look at everyone’s PowerPoint presentations and offer feedback.

 

 

Many thanks to Florida State University which provided the original idea for A Separate Peace web quest.  I have adapted their web quest for my classes.

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