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Causes of the Great Depression and
the birth of the New Deal

A web quest for 11th Grade (United States History)

Designed by

Maria Dolores Gonzalez

 


Introduction

In 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was faced with one of the greatest economic turmoils. The years prior to Roosevelt were years of prosperity and overconsumption. Then the  economy took a turn that would change the course of history forever. The combination of high consumer and farm debt, overproduction of manufactured goods, declining trade and then insult to injury, the crash of the stock market in 1929.Unemployment began to spin out of control and hunger was ubiquitous.The people needed change and Roosevelt was the man that would bring this county out of its economic abyss. As a newly elected president, he began to act quickly to end the suffering of the people. In 1933 President Roosevelt delivered one of his many famous fireside chats. He addressed relief, recovery, and reform programs the were referred to as "The new deal". This promised to create government policies that met the needs of all citizens affected by the Great Depression.In this web quest you will research the causes and important events of the Great Depression.The question that you must keep in mind as you research is, Did the new deal improve the lives of all Americans? The net profile is to identify a complex global issue,develop a systematic  plan of investigation , and present innovative sustainable solutions.(1,2,3,4)

 http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/Profiles/NETS_for_Students_2007_Profiles.htm


The Task
 There will be four groups. Each group will  analyze the information gathered and evaluate the data collected. You  will be given several links. Each group will research and collect the information relevant to the assigned task. From the information gathered you will create a time line using MS-word. You will also create a graph to compare and contrast information using MS excel.   You will also create a power point presentation of photographs to present. You will use MS-powepoint to present to the panel of peers. The purpose of each groups task is to present all the causes and effects  of the Great Depression. It is also to present the human suffering and how it was capurted through art and photographs and that each told a story of how the event affected the subjects life. Your group will also evaluate the social programs that were created and compare them to present day. The question the group will ask and research is if these programs are still relevant.

 


The Process
1. The first step will be to assign you to a group.There will be four groups. There will be four student to a group.
2. You will also have the opportunity, if you decide you want to research a key player in Roosevelt administration. You will have the choice to select Mary Mcleod Bethune, John Collier, Dennis Chavez, or be part of the Brain Trust.
3. Once you have established where your role will be, I will provide links for each of the named groups as well as the names  of the individuals to be researched.
4. For the key players of the administration, you will act out what their role was. You will address the class as if you are that person and explain what purpose and role you played. You will describe the social programs established by you and if they are still in existence today and if they continue to have relevance.
5. For the Brain trust you will explain why it was named that and the importance of that group of individuals. Your group will each play a part and explain your role as a Brain trust. http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/brains-trust.htm
6.The names of the groups will be: Economist. If you are in this group you will create a graph of the spending habits of the people before the Depression and after. You will use MS-excel. You will use a pie chart to illustrate this. You will use the links provided:
Bureau of Labor Statistics-CPI inflation calculator
 http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
Slouching Towards Utopia? The economic history of the Twentieth century.
  http://econ161.berkeley.edu/TCEH/slouch_crash14.html
7.Historians - This group will gather information and create time lines of the social events leading up to the Depression using MS-word.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rails/timeline/index.html

8. Photo analysis- In this group you will research the art in America and photos. You will create a power point presentation using MS-power point. In the presentation you will address the following questions: a. what is happening in this picture. b. what circumstance does the photo or mural represent? c. what is unique about the image that the photographer or muralist wanted to capture or depict?Use the following links for photos:
 New deal art project http://www.wpamurals.com
 Prints and photographs reading room: http://www.loc.gov./rr/print/

9. The following links will be for the individuals:
 Senator Dennis Chavez of New Mexico
  http://www.dennischavez.org/archives/view/56/index.html
  John Collier-Social worker
 New Deal -Roosevelt study center: http://www.roosevelt.nl/smartsite.dws?ch=rsc&id=3217

Mary McLeod Bethune- Her role in the Roosevelt administration
 http://www.ncnw.org/about/bethune.htm
 
10. Every group will use these sites as well as the other sites listed above as they also contain relevant information that each group can use:


 10a  Franklin D. Roosevelt
 http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562953_4/franklin_d_roosevelt.html
 10b The Great Depression and the New Deal
 http:www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/4/98.04.04.x.html
10c The Great Depression and New Deal,1929-1940s
http://iws.ccccd.edu/kwilkison/online1302home/20th%20century/depressionnewdeal.html
10d American History-Depression
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/greatdepression/great_depression_new_deal.htm
10e Fire side chats
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fdr-fireside






Evaluation -- NOTE: All web quests have an evaluation. Most use a rubric for this. We will not include an evaluation here. This will be done for the next assignment. For the next assignment you'll be creating a rubric. Leave out the evaluation section for this assignment. 


Conclusion
After finishing all the research you will gain an understanding of the causes of the Great Depression. You will also understand why all the programs  were created as a result of the New Deal started under FDR and his Brain Trust. You will also understand the power of coming together as you did in your groups to gather information and present the facts and data using technology.

After you have read all the causes that led to the economic turmoil, my question to you is: Do you think we can have another Great Depression? In our current economic conditions, How similar are the conditions of then to now?


Last updated on January 25, 2009 by Dr. Penny Semrau.
Based on a template from The web quest Page