Presidential Election 2004

Social Studies WebQuest

Introduction

By constitutional amendment, the United States has lowered its voting age to 12. You’ve been assigned to gather information for 12-17-year-olds so they can make an informed decision in the election.

Task

You will work as part of a news team to create a documentary that objectively summarizes campaign issues and candidate positions. Your team will present the results of your work to your classmates during the week before the election. Remember that your assignment is to inform rather than persuade. Be careful of individual bias. You along with other young people around the country will participate in the Election Co-nection online.

Process

Each production team will consist of five members as listed below. The team will hold a production meeting once each week for the three weeks leading up to Election Day. At this meeting they will analyze the week’s campaign news and plan for their documentary presentation.

One Group Leader/George Bush Bio

Responsible for assigning reporter resources

Chairs weekly production meeting

Assists the Assignment Manager (see job description below)

Responsible for facilitating the group presentation - gives both the introduction and conclusion to the presentation. .

Manages and creates the design of the slide show and organizes the presentation

One Assignment Manager/John Kerry Bio

Monitors reporters progress with each objective by helping them complete their portion of the project

Provides the teacher with weekly reports on the progress of his/her team

Moderates the presentation by providing transitions between reporters and tells the audience when we are switching categories

Assists with the creation of the slide show presentation

Three Researchers:

Search sources for information on the campaign.

Fill out a summary sheet with weeks campaign news for weekly production meeting.

Submit visual data for use in documentary.

Each researcher will use one assigned resource (Newsweek, Time, U.S. News and World Report).

Researchers, group leader, and assignment manager are encouraged to bring information from other sources such as television news, newspapers, or Internet sources.

Present a two-four minute presentation on one week of the campaign for the final documentary (each researcher chooses one week each)

For each of the three weeks, each researcher must include a visual (cartoon, picture, video) to be used in the final presentation

Resources

Researchers – Use the table below to enter the required data

Article Date	Name of Article/Source	List the issues described in the article and describe each candidates viewpoint	Effects on U.S. Citizens	Bumper Sticker Slogan
			1. 2. 3.	Bush Kerry
			1. 2. 3.	Bush Kerry
			1. 2. 3.	Bush Kerry

Final Presentation Components (To be presented in PowerPoint)

Introduction (Group Leader)

Biography 1 (Group Leader)

Biography 2 (Assignment Manager)

Week 1 (Researcher)

Week 2 (Researcher)

Week 3 (Reseacher)

Conclusion (Group Leader)

*Note – Assignment Manager handles the verbal transitions as each team member begins their presentation

Biography Questions

Who your candidate is. Where is he/she from?

Where your candidate went to college. What did he/she study?

What your candidate did after college. Did he/she work? What did he/she do?

What your candidate has done to prepare him/herself for the awesome role as President of the United States. Did he/she serve in Congress? Was he/she a Governor or Mayor? What other political positions has this person held.

A statement about the candidate's family life. Is he/she married? Any children?

Assigned Sources

Additional Online Sources

The Washington Post presents profiles of the different candidates and background information in detail.

The New York Times also has its own election special, of course. You can find a wide range of articles covering all the aspects connected with the elections.

USA Today has a section focusing on politics that focuses on the 2004 campaign.

Use the search feature on Biogrpahy.com for information about each candidate.

More biographical information is available from Scholastic.com.

Evaluation

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Content - Accuracy	All content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors.	Most of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that might be inaccurate.	The content is generally accurate, but one piece of information is clearly flawed or inaccurate.	Content is typically confusing or contains more than one factual error.
Use of Graphics	All graphics are attractive (size and colors) and support the theme/content of the presentation.	A few graphics are not attractive but all support the theme/content of the presentation.	All graphics are attractive but a few do not seem to support the theme/content of the presentation.	Several graphics are unattractive AND detract from the content of the presentation.
Cooperation	Group delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively all of the time.	Group delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively most of the time.	Group delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively some of the time.	Group often is not effective in delegating tasks and/or sharing responsibility.
Effectiveness	Project includes all material needed to gain a comfortable understanding of the topic. It is a highly effective study guide.	Project includes most material needed to gain a comfortable understanding of the material but is lacking one or two key elements. It is an adequate study guide.	Project is missing more than two key elements. It would make an incomplete study guide.	Project is lacking several key elements and has inaccuracies that make it a poor study guide.

Reflection

In order to evaluate what you learned from this project, each group member will write a one-page paper on what they learned during this process. Your paper will include the following:

• How was my role important in the overall campaign of the candidate?
• What was the most vital part of my job?
• Was it necessary to coordinate and cooperate with my team members? Why? How was this accomplished?
• What five things did you learn about the role of President during this project that you did not already know? Why are these five things important to know?
• How would you describe this project to someone outside of this school?
• How do you think this project will make you a better voter when you are an adult?
• A concluding paragraph endorsing one of the candidates.