Countries of the Middle East
 

a Web Quest by Bill Bowen

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

                       Introduction  |  Task  |  Sources  |  Process  |  Guidance  |  Conclusion 

Introduction:  

  There is little doubt that in current times the focus of the modern world is on the Middle East.  The governments of the United States and Great Britain are very concerned about a critical shortage of recognized Middle East experts. Additionally, many business interests are also highly interested in future prospects for investment in the region. Government and private agencies are vigorously seeking consultants to fill immediate needs.  At a recent college recruiting fair, the Central Intelligence Agency encouraged graduating high school seniors to consider preparing for a future with the CIA.

   As high school students with a love for History, World Geography, and Economics, you have decided to get an early start on what you are certain will be a exciting and rewarding career. To facilitate this preparation, you will assume the role of  CIA Field Agents in Training (FITS). Your classroom is the field office to which you have been assigned. At an unspecified time and location you will be joined by 2 FITS. FITS team members will compliment individual areas of expertise and fulfill all mission requirements.  Good luck!  

Task: 

  Your assignment is to research the Middle East and report back to your field office within 45 days. The front office is particularly interested in geopolitical, economic, and historical facts that may help determine the probability of potential economic or physical threats to the United States and the U.K. The President of the U.S. and the Prime Minister of Great Britain are under tremendous political pressure to demonstrate to their respective nations that economic stability is at hand. Beyond more obvious economic interests, citizens demand reassurances that public safety is at a high level since the War on Terror began. For security purposes, all communication with the field office is on an emergency basis only.

  Official  directive from the front office outlines the following learning expectations.

Tennessee State Standards for World Geography, World History, and Economics.

Social Studies: World Geography

                 1.1 understand the complex nature of culture and how cultures influence the characteristics of places and regions.
                 1.2 understand the relationship between physical environments and culture.
                 1.3 understand how cultural perspective impacts perceptions of places and regions.

Social Studies: World History

                 1.1 understand the multi-cultural components to world culture.
                 1.2 understand the development and migration of art, architecture, language, religion, music and theater.
                 1.3 understand the ways in which individuals and groups contributed to changes in social conditions. 

Social Studies: Economics  

                 1.1 understand the complex nature of culture and how cultures influence the characteristics of places and regions.
                 1.2 understand the relationship between physical environments and culture.
              

   In pursuit of this quest, you will use the pictures and other recourses provided within this Web Quest document to link to data provided by veteran agents who may still be in the field. However, the front office is rarely certain of specific locations of field agents, and since their personal safety is always a foremost concern, precise coordinates are never guaranteed. You must use personal initiative and conduct separate analysis of potential points of interest.  This quest will test your higher level thought processing skills. 
 

Sources:

Microsoft Corporation. (2004). MSN Encarta - On line encyclopedia. Retrieved April 3, 2004, from http://encarta.msn.com/default.aspx

The Middle East Times. Retrieved March 29, 2004, from                                                                                                    http://www.metimes.com                                                                                                                                         

Tennessee State Standards. Retrieved March 29, 2004, from http://www.state.tn.us/education/ci/cistandards2001/ss

The University of Texas at Austin. General Libraries. Retrieved March 29, 2004, from  http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/yemen_admin_2002.jpg

http://www.hot-maps.de/middle_east/irak/irak/homede.html

Central Intelligence Agency/Director of Central Intelligence. Retrieved March 29, 2004, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/reference_maps/europe.html

  http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html

Allied Media Corp. Retrieved March 29, 2004, from http://www.allied-media.com

The WebQuest Page at San Diego State University. Retrieved March 29, 2004, from http://webquest.sdsu.edu

Process: 

   Your mission is as follows:  Using the links provided in this Web Quest document, as well as others you may choose, you are required to:

• Create a PowerPoint presentation with which to demonstrate your advanced ability to conduct research, compile data, and present that information to your peers in a class setting.  

• The information in your presentation must be a combination of any two or more of the following topics:  historical facts, economic facts, population data, military facts, and or terrain features that might contribute to the region's historical or economic status; i.e., a country that has no access to the sea, or a country that is locked in by mountain ranges.

• Each person will provide a personal presentation. Individual presentations shall be no longer than 10 minutes. The total time for team presentation shall not exceed 20 minutes. Members may present simultaneously.  

• Pictures, graphs, statistical data, and historical facts are critical to the credibility of evidence provided. 

• A formal report, void of intended bias, of 20 or more single-spaced pages, in thesis style, will be prepared as a support document.

• Pictures, charts, graphs, and data not included in the PowerPoint slide presentation, but deemed essential to your research, are required in this document.

• Presentations will be made personally to the director of the field office. Highly credible presentations will be forwarded to the front office where a briefing will be given the Congressional Oversight Panel on National Security.

NOTICE TO NEW AGENTS:  These links have been provided by veteran field agents. Use is highly recommended.

1. From these links, you must choose at least one Middle East country to research, as instructed in the MISSION  REQUIREMENTS listed above.

2. Click on the image below. Embedded in this image is an encrypted  link to a map provided by field agents. Use this to examine potential beaches and inland terrain where insurgents may choose to replicate U.S. or British targets. 

3. When you have located a specific area, as discussed in item #2, locate a similar site in the U.K. or U.S. These encrypted  links may be useful in your quest.  http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/reference_maps/europe.html.<> http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html <> http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html

4. As a field agent, you must be familiar with current events in the geographic area assigned.  Use this resource to find at least one topic of interest to you that may prove useful in your brief.

NOTE: Your research and subsequent report to your field office must be an unbiased presentation of the verifiable data compiled during your current assignment. 

Middle East Times

5. A thorough understanding of the history of a country or region, including culture, economic, and geographic,  is vital when preparing a brief for political, economic, and national security interests.

For example, the suggestions listed below may provide some seeds for thought and should limit your imagination and creativity. 

• The United States is not the first nation to attempt to influence  the type of government in Iraq. How could a historian of  Iraq advise interested parties regarding a future government in that country?

• Also, the oil industry in the U.K. and the U.S. may be interested in your research data. You may want to focus a portion of your field research on forces that may influence market forces related to oil interests.

• Perhaps, from your research, you can make a prediction about the future of oil production and export in relation to anticipated economic progress in Iraq. In what manner could your knowledge of terrain features be useful? 

The web links will provide data sources from which you will gather information to complete your presentation. You are not limited in the links you discover. This assignment is meant to stimulate your interest in your chosen field of Economics, History, or World Geography, and to demonstrate ways in each subject may be used in combination. Have fun!  And see you in 45 days.   

Guidance/Reflection

    This project is designed for 11th and 12th grade honors students in a cooperative learning class. Ideally, students from each subject area of Social Studies (History, World Geography, and Economics) will be teamed in order to provide a broad and thorough scope of research. Students should be encouraged to approach all research and documentation with as little personal bias as practical. The project could be enhanced by inviting the English Department to join in the quest. The benefits for all participants would be obvious. Prior to beginning this Web Quest, the teacher should ensure students have access to the the internet.  I stress that the intent of this quest is to stimulate junior and senior high school students to consider Economics, History, and World Geography as potential career fields beyond college. Rarely do high school students or parents consider these broad subjects as having career potential. The Central Intelligence Agency was deliberately chosen as a research site due to the obtainable data on that site, and because of the Agency's history of employing persons with advanced degrees in these  fields of study. As with any lesson plan  I design, students having fun and enjoying the time they invest in their efforts is a critical element. Fun generates greater interest! Greater interest helps ensure a higher quality product. The product is learning!   

Conclusion

    Congratulations Field Agents in Training! Upon your safe return, the Home Office sends a message of "Mission Complete." This Web Quest provided  you, the students of Social Studies (History, World Geography, and Economics) with an opportunity to participate in an honors- level research project. You were given maximum flexibility to choose, research, and develop a thesis on current global scale current events.  Additionally, to ensure that your individual initiative and personal creativity remained the motivating force in this effort, instruction and rigid guidance from teachers was minimized. Following your briefing to the field office, individual and team success will be carefully considered.  Evaluation of the the information you have provided and the degree to which you have demonstrated honors-level accomplishment will be measured using a specific grading scale.  Participants are reminded that all references will be thoroughly verified by senior agents to ascertain that all sources used have been properly credited, and that intellectual property rights, copyrights, and license requirements and agreements are honored.

    Arguably, not since World War II has an event commanded the focus of the world with the same intensity over such an extended period of time. While the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam Conflict were certainly high visibility targets for American media and many nations of the world, and recognizing the technological advances in current modern mass media, those events of the 50's and 60's did not capture the attention of the world on a similar scale as the war in Iraq and the War on Terrorism.  Indeed, world wide media  reports cite the unanticipated change in the Spanish government as a direct result of terrorist acts of violence, violence thought to be in retaliation against The Bush Doctrine. It is with this scenario in mind that the newly assigned FITS were deployed on a covert mission to gather information which may prove vital to the security of the free world.

Evaluation
 

Honors Social Studies                                                                                                                                                           Period __________

    Name/Members __________________________ (team #   ) 

                              __________________________ (team #   )

                              __________________________ (team #   )           

                                                                                                                                                                                        TOTAL                 /75

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