A Fifth Grade Webquest on the 50 States

Introduction 

Ms Frazzle's fifth grade class is studying North America. She is planning a trip to one of the regions of the United States. The bus is about to leave, but in her hurry, the Fraz has lost her lesson plans and must now decide which region to take her fifth grade class to. 

You will be doing some research and presenting it to her and her class to help her decide where to go and what to see.

The Task

In order to help Ms Frazzle with her big decision, you will need to get some information about the 50 states, then your group will research one of the five regions of the United States, and you will contribute to a persuasive essay designed to convince your audience (Ms. Frazzle and her class) to choose your region and to visit the sites you have picked out for them.

The Process

Part I Getting to Know the 50 States 

1. Using the 50 States worksheet provided by your teacher, find the information requested by visiting the following online databases and websites:

   Green Meadow Library Site (always a good place to start!) Try CultureGrams, World Book and Groliers

   Curriculum Web's 50 States section has resources on the 50 states as well as links for individual states.   

2. Use a highlighter to outline the 5 regions: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, West. For a map of regions, click here.
3. Draw lines for the time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific. For time zone map, click here.
4. Use the worksheet to enter information about bordering states.

Part II  An In-Depth Study of a Region

In order to convince Ms Frazzle and the class to visit your region, you will need to pick out some sites of interest for them to visit.

1. Your teacher will assign you to a group to study a region. 
2. You will use the Region Research worksheet provided to guide your research on the historical, geographical and cultural sites in your states.

Part III The Report and Presentation

Using the information you have learned about your state, your group will discuss each of the research categories and then you will be assigned to one of them. The group will also write an Introduction and Conclusion. Details on each part of the essay can be found on the Written Report worksheet.

Listeners

While other groups are presenting, you will take the role of the listener. Your responsibility is to listen for certain information and to complete the oral note taking sheet.