A Web Quest for English I

A Web Quest for English I-B

By Renee Shackelford

TEKS 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,18,19

Greeks and Romans? Jumping Jupiter! How in the name of the gods and goddesses did mythology influence the world that we live in today? Plus, what does Odysseus have to do with anything? To answer all these questions and more, complete this mini-research project, and learn a little more about the trials and tribulations of Odysseus and the gods and goddesses.

TASK

Working in groups of four, each member of the group will be responsible for completing various tasks. The CARTOGRAPHER will find the locations of Odysseus’ adventures and trace his travels to Ithaca by drawing a map that shows the locations of these adventures and travels. The ETYMOLOGISTS will research the etymologies of words from mythology, make a crossword puzzle, and give a myth from which one of the words originated. The GENEALOGIST will identify a list of ten gods and goddesses, tell where the domains of each were and give their symbols, plus create a family tree. The ADVERTISER will find advertisements in today’s society and how it relates to mythology and to the Greeks and Romans.

RESOURCES

Use the following links for the individual tasks.
Cartographer:
http://www.vacation.net.gr/p/greece.html
http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/places/places.html

Etymologist:

http://www.greekmythology.com

http://www.milica.com.au/greek_myths/

Genealogist:

http://www.desy.de/gna/interpedia/greek_myth/greek_myth.html

Advertiser:

http://www.uvic.ca/grs/bowman/myth/index.html

Other sites:

http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/areas/greek/

http://www.bulfinch.org/fables/welcome.html

PROCESS

Each member of the group will be responsible for the following tasks.

Cartographer:

Locate these bodies of water…Mediterranean Sea, Adriatic Sea, Atlantic ocean, German Sea, Tiber River, Ebro River
Locate these mountains…The Alps, Mt.Vesuvius, Mt. Etna
Locate these places…Gaul, Italy, German states, Spain, Libya (now Africa), Carthage, Rome, Syracuse, Pompeii, Greece, Illyria
Locate these islands…Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia, Straits of Gibraltar
Put all of the things that have been located on a map of ancient Rome

Etymologist:

Find the following words and give the origin of each word and how it relates to mythology.

cereal volcano martial

harpy January panic

trident narcissism iris

mentor tantalize Herculean

vestal odyssey titanic

Make a crossword puzzle from the words that are listed.

Choose one of the words and prepare a PowerPoint using the myth from which the word originated.

Genealogist:

Make a PowerPoint of the family tree of the gods and goddesses.

Also, in the PowerPoint, give the domains and symbols of the major gods and goddesses. (Use the list.)

Zeus Poseidon Apollo

Ares Hermes Hephaestus

Hades Hera Athene

Demeter Artemis Aphrodite

Choose one of the major gods or goddesses and tell a myth about him or her.

Advertiser:

Find 5-10 advertisements that refer to mythology.
Prepare a PowerPoint that includes these ads. Include the references to mythology and how it relates to modern times.

Ex. Ajax cleanser

Ajax- A Greek hero in Homer’s The Iliad

ajax- a powerful explosive used in dynamite

After all members have completed their tasks, rejoin the group.
Work together to be sure that there is no repetition of the information that was found and that all of the work has been completed.
Decide how to present the material. Some of the material will be placed into a notebook that has a decorated cover and a Table of Contents. The rest of the material will be in PowerPoints.
Remember that the better the presentation the better the grade.

EVALUATION

There will be four grades given on the project. Three grades will be given by the teacher. By using the Teacher's Project Grading Rubric, the teacher will use the total points to determine how well each member worked individually; the second grade will be the project grade itself, and the third grade will be given by combining the observation grade, the project grad, and the member's evaluation grade. The fourth grade will be taken from the total points of the Measure Your Success Rubric

CONCLUSION

From completing this mini-research unit, group members will gain an understanding about the subjects and sources that Homer used in writing The Odyssey. By using different strategies from various links, the students will gain a knowledge about using the Internet and other resource materials. The students can also transfer this learning into other disciplines.