Introduction:
Representatives
from each of the four major river civilizations (India, Egypt, China, and
Mesopotamia) met in response to their common problem of river flooding. All
recognized the benefits of their rivers and the fertile soil its flooding
brought to their people, but their concern centered on the devastation caused
by those same floods. How could they control the floods to serve their needs
and save lives? In order to fully answer this question they examined their
methods of controlling their respective rivers and prayed to their respective
gods for a report on flood control from the future. The answer to their prayers
will come from your research. It is your job to examine their methods and
prepare a report on our current methods to avoid death and destruction in these
greatly influential civilizations.
Task:
Every student will be assigned one river civilization. You will
research the ancient methods of controlling their river and the current
procedures in place to control that same river.
By the end of this project you will:
Use the internet to find information regarding your topic. Helpful
websites are listed below, but you will also be responsible for using search
engines to find other websites.
Save pictures, maps, graphs, and any other pertinent resources
about your river or civilization.
Fill out a web diagram with the ancient and modern solutions to
the problem of flooding for your river. Each entry on your web will have a
brief explanation of the solution.
Write an editorial on the effectiveness and feasibility of modern
solutions to the problem of flooding.
Film a newscast depicting a major flood taking place in an ancient
civilization
Or
Create either a blueprint or poster about the one of the dams you
have studied in your research
Process:
Before
each class session begins, you will have 5 minutes to speak with your group
members. You meeting should include dividing up that day’s work evenly. Every
member should complete one portion of that day’s assignment. Don’t be afraid to
ask Mr. Campione, your group members, or students in your area for help.
Day 1: Use the internet search engines listed below to find
appropriate websites for your task. Bookmark all of the sites that you think
will be useful in your report for the ancients. If you see a particular
diagram, map, etc., that would help your cause save it to the hard drive for
future reference.
Give each member of your
group two of the items below to research.
Look
for websites with the following information, which fulfill the first three
steps of the PPA:
- Evidence that flooding
existed in ancient civilizations
- Evidence that flooding
still exists in these civilizations
- Causes of the floods in
ancient times
- Causes of the floods in
modern times
- Solutions to flooding
in ancient times
- Solutions to flooding
in modern times
Day 2: Using the sites that you
bookmarked yesterday, fill out the web diagram given to you at the beginning of
class. Half of the sheet will be for modern civilizations and half will be for
ancient civilizations. The large circles will be for evidence, causes, and
solutions. In the attached boxes put brief descriptions of each. Print out any
materials that would be essential to completing the following steps. You may
work in groups to help each other fill out the web diagram.
Day 3: Go to the worksheet for Step Four
of the PPA. Using the websites from your previous research, from your group
members, and from the resources below, complete the worksheet and print it out.
Find different opinions on your policy.
Day 4: Meet in your assigned groups to pool your
information to complete the next assignment. Each student will write an
editorial on the effectiveness and feasibility of modern solutions to the
problem of flooding in the style we have studied in class, which will be
delivered to the representatives of the ancient civilization. Use the
information you have previously gathered individually and as a group. While in
groups during days four and five use your structured thinking skills to
organized your information properly. Parts to whole, web diagram, categorizing,
and compare contrast sheets will all be available.
The
editorial/dialogue is due on December
, 2001
Beyond
the Classroom: This portion of
the project is for work at home or after school. You have two choices and you
may work in your same group or alone.
Project
1: Film a newscast
depicting a major flood taking place in an ancient civilization. Discuss the
negative effects and the possible solutions. One member of the group obviously
needs to own a camcorder. Each member will be given a role. Some examples are
cameraperson, reporter, anchorperson, and witness. All members must take part
in writing the script. This must be done on your own time.
Project
2: Create a
blueprint or poster of a major modern dam from your studies. This project
requires time at the library, researching the particular dam. Collect as much
information as possible. Your poster should be creative and informative.
This project is due on January
, 2002
Resources:
Search
Engines:
Web
sites on flooding:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/floods/floods.html
http://www.btinternet.com/~k.brockwell/louthtown/ndisaster/flood.htm
Websites
on Ancient Civilizations:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html
http://www.harappa.com/har/har0.html
http://www.cis.umassd.edu/~gleung/
PPA
Tutorials:
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips.html
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ppa/intro.html
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/PPA/ghppai1.html
Evaluation:
Days 1 –
4 will be graded on a five point scale:
Day 1: Web site list
|
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Find many appropriate sites for all 6 steps |
Find some appropriate sites for all 6 steps |
Find some appropriate sites for less 6 steps |
Find irrelevant sites for some of the 6 steps |
Irrelevant sites |
Day 2: Web diagram
|
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Web filled with relevant and accurate info for all aspects |
Web mostly filled with relevant and accurate info for all aspects |
Web mostly filled with some relevant and accurate info for all aspects |
Web partially filled with some relevant and accurate info for all aspects |
Web partly filled with inaccurate information |
Day 4: Editorial
|
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Well written, strong opinion, supported by numerous facts |
Well written, strong opinion, some facts |
Less organized, no apparent opinion, some facts |
Disorganized, no apparent opinion, little facts |
Very disorganized, no facts |