The 1980's and You!

A WebQuest for 8th Grade History

Designed by

Deanna McDaniel
mcdanied@pobox.westerville.k12.oh.us



Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits


Introduction

What year were you born?  How old were your parents?  What was happening in the world and what did they think of it?  How did it affect your life? This webquest will let you look at some of the landmark events of this decade and find out how the world and your parents reacted to them.  You will also give your own personal opinion of what happened and see how closely it does (or does not) match the reaction of the rest of the world.
 



The Task

By the end of this webquest you will have two things:  an interview with one of your parents or some  other adult who remembers the event, and a personal response paper to the event.  You may choose the format of the interview.  It could be in video format, audio format, a newspaper, or some other creative form. The interview should include the following:  what happened, how it affected the world, and how it affected your parent (or other adult.) The response paper should include your own reaction to the event and your reasons for your reaction.  You should compare your reaction with that of your parent's and the rest of the world.
 



The Process

The first part of the assignment will be browsing the links and looking at some of the landmark events that occurred in the 1980's. Spend some time looking at the following links and decide which one event interests you the most.

THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER ACCIDENT
 

The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident 1986

Challenger Accident

The Reagan Home Page Speeches The Challenger Disaster Speech

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AIDS

History of AIDS from 1981-1986

The Origin of the AIDS Virus

THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER

Chernobyl Legacy of a Meltdown

Chernobyl Ten Year Later

Chernobyl a Nuclear Disaster

SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR

National Women's Hall of Fame:  Sandra Day O'Connor

Glass Ceiling Biographies:  Sandra Day O'Connor

Oyez Oyez Oyez:  Sandra Day O'Connor

THE ERUPTION OF MT. ST. HELENS

Mt. St. Helens and Other Volcanoes

Mt. St. Helens Images:  1980-1986

Mt. St. Helens May 1980

THE ERADICATION OF SMALLPOX

World Health Organization Declares Smallpox Eradicated

The Eradication of Smallpox:  Humanity's Great Success Story

A Dose of the Pox

The second part of the assignment will be to document the details of the event (remember, students younger than you may not even know that it happened!).  Be sure to tell exactly what happened, when it happened, what the world's reaction to it was, etc.  This should be done with a word processing program, with at least one paragraph for each section (making for a total of at least three paragraphs).

The third part of the assignment will be to interview an adult who remembers the event. Before you actually conduct the interview, go to the following link and go over the interview process.
The Interview Process

When you are ready to conduct your interview, print out the following checklist to be sure you cover the basic questions:

Checklist

The fourth part of the assignment will be to produce a reaction of your own.  What is your opinion of the event?  Was it good?  Was it bad?  Does it affect your life in any way?  Could it have been prevented?  Did it have lasting consequences? Your reaction may be in any format.



Evaluation

At the end of this project you should have turned in the following:

1.  Document describing the details of the event (at least three paragraphs in length).

2.  Interview with an adult who remembers the event.

3.  Personal response from you about the event.

Your grade will be based on:

Completion of all activities: 20 pts.
Spelling and punctuation:   20 pts.
Thoughtfulness of response:  20 pts.
 


Conclusion

By the end of this lesson you will have seen how history relates to your own life.  Did you learn some other family stories along the way? For more history, you might want to try the following links:

Celebrate the Century

The History Channel
 
 


Credits & References

Animation Factory

Bimsan

Another Version of the Webquest Template

Process Guide #6:  Interview Techniques
 

Last updated on August 15, 1999. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page