Mr. Reiter’s Webquest

Columbus Institute for Math & Science

GLOBAL HISTORY IV

On the morning of August 2, 1990 the mechanized infantry, armor, and tank units of the Iraqi Republican Guard invaded Kuwait and seized control of that country.  The invasion triggered a United States response, Operation DESERT SHIELD, a plan to deter any invasion of Kuwait's oil rich neighbor, Saudi Arabia.  On August 7, deployment of U.S. forces began.  The United Nations Security Council condemned Iraq's invasion and annexation and called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces.  On August 20 President Bush agreed to the plan which included the "immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all Iraqi forces from Kuwait," and the "restoration of Kuwait's legitimate government to replace the puppet regime installed by Iraq."

Another U.N. ultimatum, followed on November 29, 1990.  It said that if Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein did not remove his troops from Kuwait by January 15, 1991 a U.S.-led coalition was authorized to drive them out.  Early in the morning of January 17, Baghdad time, the U.S.-led coalition launched air attacks against Iraqi targets.  On February 24, coalition ground forces begin their attack- Operation DESERT STORM had begun.  On February 27, Kuwait City was declared liberated, and with allied forces having driven well into Iraq, President Bush and his advisers decided to halt the war.  A cease-fire took effect at 8:00 AM the following morning.

Using the TIPS Public Policy method and the internet, you will learn about the history of the area of Iraq, Kuwait, and the Middle East and some of the reasons for the problems that have occurred there.

Working in groups you will determine some of the causes of the conflict that has occurred in Iraq and why the U.S. has gotten involved in military action.

You will work in assigned groups and each group will be required to prepare a PowerPoint presentation explaining the causes, events, and results of the Persian Gulf War - Operation Desert Storm. Your PowerPoint will include 8-10 slides, including an introduction slide, slides containing your presentation information, and a concluding summary slide. Be sure to include information from the TIPS worksheets to identify the problem in this part of the world, evidence to support what the problem is, some causes of the problem, and an evaluation of the action that the U.S. has taken to address this problem.

Each member of your group will participate in the presentation.

The public policy of the U.S. regarding the Middle East is to maintain peace in this area of the world in order to protect our access to the supply of oil that the U.S. needs to operate our economy.

You will use the Internet to find material dealing with the problematic relations between Iraq and Kuwait and the importance of that area of the world to the U.S.

You will work in assigned groups and each group will be required to prepare a PowerPoint presentation explaining the causes, events, and results of the Persian Gulf War - Operation Desert Storm.

You will be required to use the TIPS Public Policy approach:

• Identify Problem
• Gather the Evidence
• Determine Causes
• Evaluate the Policy

You will identify and explain three different reasons why the U.S. viewed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait to be a major threat to our (U.S.) interests in this part of the world – the Middle East.

Use the following steps to complete your task:

Step 1. You will work in assigned groups of three students.

Step 2. You will discuss and analyze the assigned task with your group members.

Step 3. Your group members will divide up responsibilities for the completion of the task.

Step 4. You will use the TIPS public policy worksheets to identify the public policy, gather the evidence for the policy, determine causes, and evaluate the policy.

• Identify the problem: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/PPA/ghppaip1.html,
• Gather the evidence: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/PPA/ghppari1.html,
• Determine causes: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/PPA/ghppadc1.html,
• Evaluate the policy: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/PPA/ghppaep1.html,

Step 5. Your PowerPoint should include the following:

· Each presentation should include a least 8-10 slides.

· An introductory slide showing the name of your presentation and the members of your group.

· Include as many pictures, charts, graphs, etc. to dress-up your presentation.

· A conclusion or summary slide summarizing your presentation.

Step 6. Your group will present their findings by completing and presenting your PowerPoints to the rest of the class.

You can use the following websites to gather information on the assigned topic and you should be able to find additional websites.

The History of the Persian Gulf War:

www.historyguy.com/GulfWar.html

The Gulf War Debriefing Book

www.leyden.com/gulfwar/

The Fog of War

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/fogofwar.htm

Gulf War News

www.chotank.com/desertstorm.html

Articles and Resources

http://americanhistory.about.com/cs/persiangulfwar/

You should also use the following search engines:

www.Google.com

www.yahoo.com

Your PowerPoint presentation will be evaluated on a group basis.

Each individual will receive the same evaluation as the group.

You will be evaluated based on the rubric chart below for your PowerPoint.

Category	Not Acceptable	Needs Improvement	Satisfactory	Good	Excellent
Completion of the worksheets. (understood the social problem, its causes, and public policy that arose from it)	1	2	3	4	5
Facts used. (facts based on documents, website links, other sources)	1	2	3	4	5
Completion of the PowerPoint. (Include your information, pictures and charts, state and analyze the social problem, create and consider possible solutions, and evaluate the historical events and solution)	1	2	3	4	5
Oral Presentation. (communicated the information clearly and enhanced with pictures and illustrations that help to explain your presentation)	1	2	3	4	5

Curriculum Standards:

This Webquest responds to the followings curriculum standards:

Social Studies:

2:1.2:2

The student 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.

4:1

Explain how societies and nations attempt to satisfy their basic needs and wants by utilizing scarce capital, natural, and human resources.

Understand how scarcity requires people and nations to make choices that relate to costs and future considerations.

English Language Arts:

1:1

Interpret and analyze information from websites in the Internet and other sources.

Compare and synthesize information from different sources in the Internet and other textbooks.

Speaking and Writing.

Relate new information to prior knowledge and experience.

Upon completion of this project, you should have successfully accomplished the following:

You will learn about the history of Iraq and Kuwait from the 18^th century when they were part of the Ottoman Empire until 1899 when the received British protection in return for autonomy in local affairs.

You will be able to explain why upon Kuwait’s independence in 1961, Iraq laid claim to it.

You will be able to show how relations unfolded between Iraq and Kuwait after Kuwait’s recognition by Iraq in 1963.

You will be able to show how the consequences of the Iran-Iraq War and the question of oil impacted on relations between these two nations.

You will be able to explain why the U.S. decided that it must reverse the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.

You will be able to explain the reasons why Iraq invaded Kuwait and why the U.S. felt that it needed to lead a coalition of nations to reverse this action.

You will be able to explain how the importance of Oil affects all events that occur in the Middle East and the U.S. policy towards events that occur in the Middle East that may threaten the supply of oil.