Introduction to the Civil War

Web Quest Introduction:

The purpose of this web quest is to offer students a brief survey on the timeline, causes, events, people, and results of the US Civil War. When students have completed the web quest they will have a basic foundation on which to add new facts, events, and concepts. The US Civil War was a very broad and complex event that still shapes our society today.

Process:

Students will visit up to nine web sites to gather information for a collection of assignments or tasks in this introductory survey of the US Civil War. Each task focuses on a different question on the US Civil War. By the end of this web quest students should have an understanding of basic facts and events of the Civil War.

Tasks:

When did the war take place?

Find the exact date, time, and place the war started: The Civil War Timeline www.civilwar.com

Design a poster announcement of the start of the war with a brief background article. Find information at this site on the start of the war: Fort Sumter National Monument (National Park Service) Try to include pictures or graphics of the place where the war started (you can search for other sites for more info and graphics).

Where did the war take place?

Print a copy of a map of the US in the 1860s from this website: http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/us1860.pdf .Use the following information from Civil War.com to learn which states were involved in the war. Color those states that were involved in the Civil War.

Why was the war fought?

Go to Causes of the Civil War to find information and write a summary of the long term (Revolution era and earlier) and short term (near to the start of the war) causes of the US Civil War.

Who was involved in the war?

Choose any one Union leader and any one Confederate leader and explain in about 250 words why you think these two people were the most important people on their side’s cause. You can choose from Presidents, Generals, other military leaders, civilians, and others.

What were the results of the war?

Read Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877) to learn about the immediate end of the war. From a Northern perspective, in what ways was the Civil War successful and unsuccessful? Create a chart showing successes and failures of the US Civil War. Survey all of the information you have gathered in this web quest to:

Create categories for your chart

Determine success or failure in each category

Resources:

Causes of the Civil War http://www.swcivilwar.com/cw_causes.html

CivilWar.com http://www.civilwar.com

Civil War and Reconstruction http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/timeline/pres_era/3_656.html

Civil War Leaders http://www.us-civilwar.com/leaders.htm

Civil War People http://dir.yahoo.com/arts/humanities/history/u_s__history/by_time_period/19th_century/military_history/civil_war__1861_1865_/people/

National Park Service Ft. Sumter: http://www.nps.gov/fosu/

Outline Maps:http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/us1860.pdf

Evaluation:

A Each task completed following all directions, extra time taken for a well thought out result, no spelling or grammar errors, writing is very clear, products are

organized and neat.

B Each task completed following all directions, planning and thoughtfulness apparent, few spelling or grammar errors, writing is clear, products are organized and neat.

C Each task completed following directions closely, shows some effort toward results, few spelling or grammar errors, writing is at an adequate level, good

organization and neatness.

D Some tasks completed following directions, some care for final product shown, several spelling errors, writing is sometimes unclear, organization and neatness

are fair.

E One or no tasks are completed, little care for final products shown, many spelling and grammar errors, writing is often unclear, shows lack of organization and neatness.

Conclusion:

After completion of the web quest, please fill out an evaluation form and answer the following questions on the form:

On completion of this web quest:

1. did you learn new facts about the Civil War? ___________

2. did you clarify information you already knew about the Civil War? _____________

3. was the information on web sites clear and understandable? If not, please list the web sites you found unclear:____________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. were the tasks clear and manageable to complete in the time given? If not, please list the activities that were not manageable. _________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Other comments: in the space below please include anything else you would like me to know about the web quest.