Finding the Facts: The Czech Republic
A WebQuest by Stephen Bruce
Introduction|Task|Process|Evaluation|Conclusion|Credits
Introduction: Greetings! Welcome to the Finding the Facts: The Czech Republic WebQuest. This activity is designed to familiarize you with the geography and culture of the Czech lands. As you proceed through the WebQuest, you will learn more and more about the country and its people, and by the time you finish, you should be an expert! Did you know that there is a chapel in the Czech Republic made almost entirely of human bones? The WebQuest will tell you where it is, and a lot of other interesting information.
Task: The purpose of this project is to familiarize the student with information concerning the geography and culture of the Czech Republic. The student will obtain information by completing the WebQuest and utilizing the links and information contained therein.
Prior to this activity, students should be familiar with basic web navigation, as well as PowerPoint software. The concluding activity for this product will take the form of a PowerPoint presentation. After the WebQuest is completed, students will present their presentations to the class using PowerPoint. These PowerPoint presentations will be "electronic" travel guides that the students will create using the information taken from the WebQuest.
This product should help improve learning in several ways. First, students will be given opportunities through the WebQuest to explore geography outside of the textbook. Second, the students will (hopefully) be more engaged in this learning activity because of the amount of creative latitude they will be given in the creation of the PowerPoint presentation. Third, students will be allowed to work cooperatively on their final projects, which will encourage discussion concerning the material learned, and add different perspectives to each student's individual learning experience.
An extension of this project that could improve it might be the linking of students' PowerPoint presentations to the WebQuest's online site. This way, students could become contributors to the body of knowledge on the topic, which would give them a vested interest in their work. The Czech Republic quest is only one of the nations that I would like examine in this format. I think that creating WebQuests for every nation of the world would give students a great tool for learning about geography on the web.
Process: Your directions are as follows: You are one step away from being hired for you dream job, a writer for a company that sells travel guides throughout the world. (You may not think of this as a dream job, but consider that you'll get to travel around the world, stay in luxurious hotels, eat in the best restaurants, and buy lots of souvenirs, all on the company's tab. Doesn't sound so bad now, does it?) Anyway, in order to get this job you must provide the company with a sample of your work. This isn't just any sample, either. The vice-president of the company wants to see a comprehensive travel guide before he hires you. So..... you are going to the Czech Republic because its relatively cheap, and it was the spot on the globe that your finger stopped on. During your travels, you are to take notes of important information and take pictures because you have to present your guide using a PowerPoint presentation. If you have any questions concerning PowerPoint, send email to me and I'll send you the information you need. Now it's time to get started........
Begin your research by finding
some background information about the Czech Republic. Visit
this website to learn about some basic Czech history. See what you can find out about
the Hapsburg Dynasty up through the present.
Now it's time to find out some practical
and very useful information about this country (no, I'm not
saying that history isn't useful). Click on the map below
to find some facts about the modern Czech Republic. Make
sure that you take note of things like population, capitals,
people, etc.
Since you are writing your guide for the
traveler, take note of some helpful tips for those visiting the
Czech Republic by following this link:
Now lets find out where you should go
while you are in the country. Click on this image of Prague
Castle to find out places of interest that you and your readers
should see while in the capital city.
Now take some virtual tours of places in Prague. Be sure to look at Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, the Astronomical Clock, and the Jewish Quarter, for your readers are sure to be interested in those specific places. Click on the picture of the Vltava River below to access the tours.
Prague is not the only destination for
the traveler! Click on each image below to find out more
information to share with your future readers!
Brno Kutna Hora Cesky Krumlov
Evaluation: Now you should have most of the information that you need to write your travel guide. Before you begin, I have a few questions that I want you to answer. These questions are meant to guide you, and to let you know what kind of information I want you to include in your guide. Your grade will be taken from your PowerPoint presentation. With this in mind, answer the following questions:
What is the Czech
Republic's current population?
What languages are spoken in the Czech Republic?
What currency is used in the Czech Republic, and what is the
current exchange rate with the U.S.?
Briefly describe the Battle of White Mountain.
What
type of government does the Czech Republic have?
Name
four cities in the Czech Republic.
Tell
me about at least five things that you would go to see in
Prague. Describe each one of them.
The
Czech Republic is divided into two states. Prague is the
capital of the first (Bohemia). What is the capital of the
second state, and what are at least two things that you would do
while visiting that city?
Now for the project. These are your guidelines for your project. You must turn in to me a PowerPoint presentation of no less than nine slides. You will need a slide for history, one for traveler facts (statistics, etc.), a slide for Prague (which will probably take two), two slides for two cities of your choosing, and two slides for which you have creative license. You will also need a title slide and a slide for references. DO NOT CREATE SLIDES THAT DON'T USE GRAPHICS AND PICTURES. Be sure to make your slides visually interesting. If you have any questions at all, send email to me and I'll get back to you promptly. Have fun!
Conclusion: In this project, you were able to research information concerning the geography, culture, and people of the Czech Republic while creating a travel plan. Hopefully, many of you will get to visit this country, at some point in your life. If you are interested in international travel, and would like to learn more about the Czech Republic or another country, be sure to visit http://www.lonelyplanet.com/. This site has excellent information for the future globetrotter.
Credits: The information used in this WebQuest was taken from the following websites:
This product adheres to the following national standard:
National Geography Standards, Standard 9, Grades K-12, The geographically informed person knows and understands: the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on the earth's surface.