Introduction
As you complete this WebQuest, you will be looking for significant events in the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China. As you research events for your timeline, you will need to decide what makes an event significant in history. As you choose events to add to your timeline you should keep in mind the following:
- Geography plays an important role in how well civilizations survive and flourish.
- The four ancient River Valley civilizations have many similarities and differences. They also had connections through these similarities and differences.
- Irrigation and other forms of environmental interaction have an effect on the development of the River Valley civilizations.
- Government was developed to provide order, structure, and organization for ancient people.
- Each of the River Valley civilizations made contributions with influenced later cultures, including modern-day cultures.
If you find an event that coordinates with one of the above statements, it is probably significant and could be added to your timeline.
Task
During this WebQuest you will complete five tasks.
- Create an online timeline of the significant events of the River Valley civilizations.
- Conduct background research to find events.
- Write a detailed description of each event and its importance.
- Create or find previously created visual aids (photos or links to video) to support the events on your timeline.
- Complete a reflection essay.
Process
The Process
This WebQuest will require you to work through four tasks as you complete your timeline.
Create An Online Timeline.
To create your timeline you will need to go the following website: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline_2/.
- After you set up the account, click on the "create" tab to create a new timeline. Do not post any photos of yourself or your friends on your account.
- Email a copy of your timeline to your teacher smithq@gcsnc.com
- As you add events to your timeline, use a letter code in the titles to keep your events easily identifiable. Use an "M" before the title for Mesopotamia, an "E" for Egypt, an "I" for India, and a "C" for China. (For example, C-The Great Wall is built.
- As you record events in your timeline, keep in mind that we don't have a lot of records from ancient history. Exact dates will be difficult to find and an approximate date is acceptable for this project.
Conduct Background Research
Before you can add events to your timeline you will need to find them. Below are some resources that you may find useful. You will need to find a minimum of 5 events for each civilization to add to your timeline (20 events total). You will need to include a link to the source of information for each event that you include in your timeline.
Mesopotamia
- British Museum - Mesopotamia
- Ancient Mesopotamia
- Mesopotamia - Fordham
- Mesopotamia - Crystalinks
- Mr. Dowling
Egypt
India
China
- British Museum - China
- History For Kids
- Ancient China - Crystalinks
- Ancient China
- Mr. Donn
- Ancient China - Historylink101
Describe Each Event
For each even that you add, you will need to write a detailed description of the event. This requires three to four complete sentences about the event and why it is a significant event in history. This may also include reasons why that event is important to us today.
Provide A Visual Aid
Each event you add will be more interesting if you add some visual interest. You are required to add a visual aid to each event. This could be a photograph or other graphic related to the event, or a video link about the event.
Evaluation
The rubric below contains the criteria that will be used to grade your project. Use this rubric to help you as you work through the WebQuest.
|
Excellent 90-100% |
Acceptable 70-89% | Needs Improvement 0-69% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timeline Events | All 20 events are included and are accurate and significant | Three to 5 events are missing. There are several errors. Some events are not significant | More than 5 events are missing or are inaccurate. |
| Description of Events | Description are extensive in detail and accurately reflect the significance of events. | Descriptions are thorough, but may be missing some detail. | Descriptions are poor or missing. |
| Visual Aids | Visual aids accurately reflect chosen timeline events | Visual aids are included, but some are not accurate. Up to 5 visual aids are missing. | More than 5 visual aids are missing or are not related to event |
| Reflection Essay | All questions are answered in detail and in complete sentences. Reflections display a high level of thinking. | Answers are lacking some detail, but have been attempted. Reflections are accurate, but do not reflect a high lever of thinking. | Answers are incomplete or missing |
Conclusion
As you finish your WebQuest, you will reflect on what you have learned. Answer the following questions and email them to your teacher. Give thorough, detailed responses.
- What patterns do you notice in your timeline?
- What similarities did you find among the four River Valley civilizations?
- What differences did you find among the four River Valley civilizations?
- What event, that you found, do you think was the most significant event in history? Explain your reasoning.