Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page
Introduction
You have just accepted the position as editor for a new encyclopedia. It will be featuring biographies of some of the greatest people in history. You need to research potential candidates for inclusion and recognition in the Encyclopedia of Champions. In so doing, you will be answering the following questions:
- · Who was X?
- · What is important to remember about him or her?
- · What are the marks of a champion?
You will be writing an encyclopedia article that will be posted on the BCS website. It must be well researched and documented.
Task
You have been assigned the task of editor of one of the sections of the Encyclopedia of Champions. You will be submitting an article to this section. You article must include a biography, photograph or image, and a bibliography.
Grade 8 – a person from American History class (Mrs. Thomas will give you a list to select from)
Grade 7 – a person from outside North America (Mrs. Thomas will give you a list to select from)
Grade 6 – a person from your cultural heritage
Process
The first step is to learn as much as you can about your person. You will need to conduct internet and library research, and may check in the following sources:
Sample Internet sources
Sample Written Material, etc
Encyclopedia Britannica |
Your history or social studies textbook |
Any Encyclopedia at the local library |
Check out the resource pages in your “Writing a Research Paper” handbook (p. 21-38) |
|
You must use a total of six sources, with the maximum of four on-line resources.
You will need to answer the following questions to write your article:
- 1. What makes this person outstanding in their field?
- 2. What outstanding personal characteristics did/does the person possess?
- 3. How did his or her accomplishments affect the world?
- 4. Will his/her accomplishments stand the test of time? Will people still consider him or her outstanding in his or her field 100 years from now?
- 5. Why include this person instead of someone else?
Your report/article should include paragraphs that summarize the following:
- 1. Background (the growing up years)
- 2. Education
- 3. Greatest accomplishments
- 4. Rationale (why this person deserves inclusion in the encyclopedia of champions more than anyone in the same category would)
- 5. You must include one of the following as part of your article:
- · A map, chart, or graph
- · A photo or picture of your selected person
- · A fact sheet with five of the most interesting things about the person that others might not know
Your article must be either emailed to Mrs. Hodges at kihodges@brocktonchristian.com or brought to school on a disk or CD.
Evaluation
Your work will be evaluated using the following rubric. You may earn a total of 50 points. (2 points bonus will be included.) Your score will be multiplied by 2 to translate to 100 point scale.
CATEGORY |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Graphic Organizer |
Graphic organizer or outline has been completed and shows clear, logical relationships between all topics and subtopics. |
Graphic organizer or outline has been completed and shows clear, logical relationships between most topics and subtopics. |
Graphic organizer or outline has been started and includes some topics and subtopics. |
Graphic organizer or outline has not been attempted. |
Notecards/
Research |
Multiple sources, alternate points of view.
Detailed/organized
Information.
Evaluated relevant information. |
Used multiple sources.
Detailed information.
Evaluated relevant information. |
Misinterpreted statements.
Information not relevant.
Little supporting details.
|
Not organized. Little content.
Little resources used. |
Notes |
Notes are recorded and organized in an extremely neat and orderly fashion. |
Notes are recorded legibly and are somewhat organized. |
Notes are recorded. |
Notes are recorded only with peer/teacher assistance and reminders. |
Sources /
Bibiography |
All sources (information and graphics) are properly cited and clearly identified. Bibliography included. |
Most sources (information and graphics) use proper citation, and sources are documented to make it possible to check on the accuracy of the information. |
Sometimes copyright guidelines are not followed and some sources (information and graphics) are not properly cited. |
No way to check validity of information. Resources (information and graphics) were not cited. |
Internet Use |
Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance. |
Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance. |
Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance. |
Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to navigate within these sites. |
Amount of Information |
All topics are addressed and all questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each. |
All topics are addressed and most questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each. |
All topics are addressed, and most questions answered with 1 sentence about each. |
One or more topics were not addressed. |
Quality of Information |
Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples. |
Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples. |
Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given. |
Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic. |
Organization |
Information is very organized with well-constructed paragraphs and subheadings. |
Information is organized with well-constructed paragraphs. |
Information is organized, but paragraphs are not well-constructed. |
The information appears to be disorganized. 8) |
Thesis Statement |
Introduction presents the overall topic and draws attention to the audience. |
Introduction is clean and coherent and related to the topic. |
Introduction shows some structure but is distracting and cluttered. |
Introduction is unclear, not interesting, not relevant. |
First Draft |
Detailed draft is neatly presented and includes all required information. |
Draft includes all required information and is legible. |
Draft includes most required information and is legible. |
Draft is missing required information and is difficult to read. |
Mechanics |
No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. |
Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors |
A few grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. |
Many grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. |
Paragraph Construction |
All paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence. |
Most paragraphs include introductory sentence, explanations or details, and concluding sentence. |
Paragraphs included related information but were typically not constructed well. |
Paragraphing structure was not clear and sentences were not typically related within the paragraphs. |
Diagrams & Illustrations |
Diagrams and illustrations are neat, accurate and add to the reader's understanding of the topic. |
Diagrams and illustrations are accurate and add to the reader's understanding of the topic. |
Diagrams and illustrations are neat and accurate and sometimes add to the reader's understanding of the topic. |
Diagrams and illustrations are not accurate OR do not add to the reader's understanding of the topic. |
Date Created: Sep 06, 2006 08:08 pm (CDT)
Conclusion
By completing this activity, you will have improved your research skills, written a short paper, and cited your references properly. You will have also emailed your teacher, selected a graphic, and helped complete a website page.
These skills will help you learn the basics of writing a research paper, and improve your computer skills. These are lifelong skills that you will need to be computer literate, not only in your high school years, but afterward as well!
Credits & References
Information taken from:
www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson164.shtml - Women of the Century: An Education World Webquest
We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL.
Based on a template from The WebQuest Page |