Kentucky: Where You Want to Be

A WebQuest for 7^th Grade

(Interdisciplinary for Math and Social Studies)

Mendy Rue and Karen Mellon
mendy.rue@daviess.kyschools.us, karen.mellon@daviess.kyschools.us

Introduction

Your city is constantly striving to strengthen its economy. You discover that Mr. Makamoney, a wealthy businessman from Japan, has decided to relocate his multi-million dollar business to your area. Although he is not personally familiar with Kentucky, he is investigating several potential building sites throughout the state. Your job is to convince Mr. Makamoney that your city is the right city for his business. He will meet with your city council in two weeks.

How are you ever going to convince Mr. Makamoney to bring his business to your city?

What factors should you consider?

The Task

· You will be one of five members of the city council.

· It will be your job to make a presentation to Mr. Makamoney that will persuade him to move his business to your city.

· You will enlighten him about the history, educational opportunities, location, natural resources, economy, demographics, transportation, climate, and recreational facilities by researching your chosen city.

· The group presentation will include multimedia, which can consist of a PowerPoint, video, digital camera slideshow.

· Each member must submit a report of the findings in the final presentation via PowerPoint and research notes.

The Process

PROCESS

The council will consist of five members. Each member will assume the responsibility of presenting certain information about the city. The council members will consist of a historian, an economist, a politician, a geographer, and a statistician.

1. Each team member will choose a role to play.

COUNCIL MEMBERS:

HISTORIAN

The historian will be responsible for presenting the historical, cultural, and recreational aspects of your city.

ECONOMIST

The economist will discuss the transportation, local economy, and workforce.

POLITICIAN

The politician will present educational opportunities, population, demographics
and local government issues.

GEOGRAPHER

The geographer will discuss the location, region, weather and climate, and natural resources. Maps must be included in the presentation.

Statistician

The statistician will analyze the percent change in crime rate, population growth, housing growth, and business growth.

2. Each team must choose a major city in Kentucky. The team can use the list below to identify a city.

· Louisville

· Lexington

· Owensboro

· Bowling Green

· Paducah

· Florence

· Ashland

3. Each team member will research his/her chosen role responsibilities and determine the benefits of selecting that particular city.

Resources to help find information:

Information on demographics, to crime, the environment, and much more:

http://kentucky.gov/Portal/Category/fac_statistics

Population statistics:

http://www.us-news-watch.com/population/Kentucky-pop.html

Information on economics and business:

http://www.kyvl.org/html/gia/sabusiness.shtml

Information about Louisville:

http://www.loukymetro.org/

http://www.louisville-kentucky-living.com/

http://www.greaterlouisville.com/

Information about Lexington:

http://www.visitlex.com/

http://www.uky.edu/KentuckyAtlas/ky-lexington.html

http://www.lexchamber.com/

Information about Owensboro:

http://www.owensboro.com/

http://www.city-data.com/city/Owensboro-Kentucky.html

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/bizInfo.php?locIndex=4222

Information about Bowling Green:

http://bg.ky.net/

http://www.wku.edu/library/tip/bgky.html

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/bizInfo.php?locIndex=3767

Information about Paducah:

http://www.paducah-tourism.org/

http://www.ci.paducah.ky.us/

http://www.paducahchamber.org/

Information about Florence:

http://www.cityofflorenceky.com/

http://www.city-data.com/city/Florence-Kentucky.html

http://www.nkychamber.com/nkycchw/hw.dll?page&t=homepage&file=home

Information about Ashland:

http://www.ashlandky.org/

http://www.visitashlandky.com/

http://www.ashlandalliance.com/html/workforce.html

Other Kentucky information:

http://www.uky.edu/KentuckyAtlas/

4. Team members will meet with their teams to come up with a proposal idea.

5. Each team member will present his/her role to Mr. Makamoney, making sure to include a PowerPoint that emphasizes their chosen role and the importance of him coming to their city.

Evaluation

You will be evaluated by the rubric below. They will be graded in both Math and Social Studies.

Oral Presentation Rubric : Presentation to Mr. Makamoney



Teacher Name: Ms. Douglas/Mellon


Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Preparedness	Student is completely prepared and has obviously rehearsed.	Student seems pretty prepared but might have needed a couple more rehearsals.	The student is somewhat prepared, but it is clear that rehearsal was lacking.	Student does not seem at all prepared to present.
Content	Shows a full understanding of the topic, and clearly convinces Mr. Makamoney to come to their chosen city.	Shows a good understanding of the topic, and gives valid reasons for coming to their chosen city.	Shows a good understanding of parts of the topic, and gives a couple of reasons for coming to their chosen city	Does not seem to understand the topic very well.
Multimedia Resource (s)	Student uses several props (including more than one multimedia resource) to show considerable work/creativity, which make the presentation better.	Student uses 1 multimedia resource to show considerable work/creativity, which makes the presentation better.	Student uses 1 multimedia resource, but doesn't truly understand the benefits of it.	The student uses no multimedia resource OR the resource chosen detract from the presentation.
Speaks Clearly	Speaks clearly and distinctly all (100-95%) the time, and mispronounces no words.	Speaks clearly and distinctly all (100-95%) the time, but mispronounces one word.	Speaks clearly and distinctly most ( 94-85%) of the time. Mispronounces no more than one word.	Often mumbles or cannot be understood OR mispronounces more than one word.
Enthusiasm	Facial expressions and body language generate a strong interest and enthusiasm about the topic in others.	Facial expressions and body language sometimes generate a strong interest and enthusiasm about the topic in others.	Facial expressions and body language are used to try to generate enthusiasm, but seem somewhat faked.	Very little use of facial expressions or body language. Did not generate much interest in topic being presented.
Collaboration with Peers	Almost always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group. Tries to keep people working well together.	Usually listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group. Does not cause "waves" in the group.	Often listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group but sometimes is not a good team member.	Rarely listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group. Often is not a good team member.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you have convinced Mr. Makamoney to bring his business to your city. The success of your presentation has helped your city’s economy for years to come.

Geographer Economist.htm Historian.htm

Politician.htm Statistician.htm

Credits & References

Credit goes to Shirley Matula and Terri Rush who inspired our idea by creating a web quest similar to this one about Texas.

Thanks to Melissa Thompson and Marie Holder for helping with the finishing details.

Thanks to the The WebQuest Page for the ideas and set up of this web quest.

Clip Art is from Microsoft Clip Art Gallery.