Are there Aliens and Terrorists among Us?

A webquest that explores the effects of racial prejudice and war hysteria.

Jeffrey Sims

Fabius-Pompey Elementary School

jsims@fabius.cnyric.org

Introduction

Imagine sitting in a classroom in California on February 19, 1942. You have just found out that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt has issued Executive Order 9066. There is a lot of commotion over this news and no one fully understands what it all means, but you hear that four of your classmates are being removed from school. Later, you discover that the families of these children are being relocated to an internment camp. What is going on?

Vocabulary Booster Executive Order- a rule or order that is issued by the President and has the status of law. It does not require congressional action to become law, but can be overturned by the Supreme Court Internment Camp- A camp for enemy aliens, political prisoners or prisoners of war.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Task -- By working in groups, you will complete a graphic organizer based on the four AHPPA steps as discussed in class. When finished, the class will collaborate to determine the accuracy of the information and then create a corporate graphic organizer. Each group will then design a story board that will cover one of these steps in regards to the use of internment camps in the U.S. during WWII. When the story boards are arranged in order, the class will have completed a detailed analysis of a challenging topic. Based on this historical information, you will then write a paper concerning present and future applications of this knowledge.

Process -- The class will be split into 4 groups by the teacher. Each group will complete the provided graphic organizer. GO The following specifies the information that should be obtained.

Step 1-- Indentify the Problem

Explore what the conditions were before the time of Executive Order 9066. What was happening in our history to create the fear and animosity (hatred) toward those of Japanese descent in the USA? Find at least three reasons that were used to justify moving this population to internment camps. Please be specific.

Step 2 – Gather the evidence of the Problem

Now that you have identified the problem, what was the validity of it? Was there justification for moving those of Japanese descent to internment camps based on the reasoning that was used? What evidence was there to back the claims?

Step 3 – Determine the Causes

The feelings of mistrust toward those of Japanese descent did not just occur overnight. Some of the cause of this went back 40 years earlier and involved issues of immigration, economics and laws such as the “Oriental Exclusion Law”. Research and determine the causes that fed the resultant mistrust.

Step 4 – Evaluate the Policy

Executive Order 9066 was the culmination of many factors. What were the effects of this Order in terms of costs and benefits? The costs would include both economic and social facets and the benefits would be related to the achievement of the objective. Consider how these two relate. Here are some scenarios:

- Benefits obtained at reasonable cost.

- Benefits obtained at too high of a cost.

- Benefits not obtained due to lack of funding, support, etc.

- Benefits not obtained and costs were still too high.

When you have thoroughly completed the graphic organizer, we will meet to discuss the results and prepare for the next phase of the project.

Resources – here are websites that will assist you in your search for information. Please use a variety to ascertain the validity of the facts.

~ http://www.infoplease.com/spot/internment1.html

~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment

~ http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/japan_internment_camps.htm

~ http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/index.html

~ http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/japanese-internment.html

~ http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/internment/

~ http://americanhistory.about.com/cs/worldwarii/a/internment.htm

Evaluation – Below is a rubric that I will use to grade your completed graphic organizer. Consult it first to determine the various criteria.

Identify the Problem Pts. 4 - At least 3 reasons are present with details 3 – 3 reasons are present with limited details 2 – 3 reasons are present w/ no details 1 – less than 3 reasons are given with details 0 – less than 3 reasons, not details	Gather the Evidence Pts. 4 – Evidence is presented that backs the claims. *This evidence may not be accurate in terms of historical perspective / insights. 3 – Evidence is presented that backs the claims, but not thoroughly 2 - Evidence is given, but not convincingly 1 – Some evidence given, not convincing 0 – No evidence given
Determine the Causes Pts. 4 – Causes are strong and correlate with the attitude of the times 3 – Causes are sound and correlate 2 – Causes relate, but lack correlation 1 - Causes somewhat relate, no correlation 0 – No causes are given	Evaluate the Policy Pts. 4 – Strong reasoning for the costs and benefits of the policy 3 - Sound reasoning for the costs and benefits of the policy 2 – Some points relate to the cost and benefits of the policy 1 – Few points relate 0 – No points concerning cost / benefits

Total Points: / 16 Comments:

Conclusion – This webquest was designed to ascertain the conditions and motives for moving an entire population to internment camps during a time of great stress and apprehension. The extending question is: Could this ever happen again? What conditions / motives should we be alerted to in order to prevent this from occurring again?

Standards

The following state standards were considered and covered in the creation of this webquest.

English Language Arts

§ Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

§ Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a
variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

Social Studies

§ Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

§ Standard 2: World History
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate
their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.