Mrs. Getrajdman
Eisenhower Middle School
Eisenhower Museum Mesopotamian Exhibit Webquest
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Introduction
A museum is a place where collections of art work, historical artifacts, or scientific objects are displayed. Have you ever visited a museum? Did you wonder where museums get the objects in their collections, how they pay for them, and who at the museum decides what objects are worthy of display?
Museums are generally non-profit organizations which means that they are not in business to make money. Rather, museums are open to educate people or help charitable organizations. So HOW do museums get the money to pay for everything? Most museums charge admission to visitors, hold fundraisers, and ask for private or corporate donations. The people or corporations that help other people or institutions, like museums, financially are called sponsors or benefactors.
Task
After extensive research and work at the ruins of ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq, Turkey, and Syria), you as teams of archaeologists and anthropologists, believe that you have made significant discoveries about this ancient civilization. Now you would like to share these discoveries with the world by creating an exhibit at the Eisenhower Museum. The problem is that exhibits in museums are costly to build and maintain, and the Eisenhower Museum does not have enough money to do so. Your team task is to prepare a presentation that will convince the museum's favorite sponsor, Moneybags Getrajdman, to give you enough money to get the job done.
Procedure
The class will be randomly broken up into home teams of four or five. Each member of the group will be asssigned an expert topic. Next, experts with the same topic will meet together and be given 3 days to complete part one of the task. Then, the experts will move back to their home teams and be given 12 days to complete part two of the task. Finally, home teams will be given 4 days to complete part three of the task.
Resources
| World Book Encylopedia | http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Login?ed=wb This is a great resource. See Mrs. G. for the log in information. |
| Ancient Civilizations for Kids | http://www.kathimitchell.com/ancivil.html This site provides a lot of different links to websites about Mesopotamia. |
| Mr. Dowling Mesopotamia | http://www.mrdowling.com/603mesopotamia.html Check this website out for general information and information on cuneiform |
| Emuseum | http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/middle_east/middle_east.html This is a good site about the Sumerian people, their economy, and their beliefs. There are also links for the different empires. |
| Ancient Mesopotamia | http://www.historylink101.com/ancient_mesopotamia.htm This site is good for pictures, myths, and information about daily life. |
| History for Kids | http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/westasia/history/sumerians.htm This website offers you informtion about government, language, beliefs, and geography. Even if yours isn't one of these topics, check this site out anyway! |
| Mr. Donn | http://ancienthistory.mrdonn.org/AncientSumer.html Mr. Donn is an awesome website for students. Here you can find a ton of information on all topics! |
| Kids Newsroom | http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/elmer/infoCentral/frameset/civilizations/meso/index.html This is another great Mesopotamian website. There is information about almost every topic including the differences between slaves and nonslaves. |
| British Museum | http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/menu.html Interesting site for geography, beliefs, and if you explore, economy as well. |
| Wikipedia | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia A good reference page. |
Assessment
You will graded both individually and as a group for this unit.
| Unit Test | 1. Individual score as part of first marking period social studies grade. 2. Averaged team score as part of class competition. |
| Group Assessments | 1. Presentation score as part of first marking period social studies grade. See Rubric. 2. Team score as part of class competition. |
Conclusion
Which team of Eisenhower Museum Archaeologists and Anthropologists were successful in squeezing the dough out of Moneybags Getrajdman? Our Team quiz and presentation scores are in. Congratulations to our winners. Click here to see the results of the test competition. Click here to see the results of the project competition.
