Alphabet Soup Web Quest
| Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Teacher's Page |
Introduction
ABCD, EFG, HIJK, LMNOP... There
may be a few more letters in the song, but we aren't singing. These aren't
just letters to the alphabet. They're a whole lot more than your favorite
Campbell's Soup. President Franklin D. Roosevelt came up with his own
special alphabet soup. You may think a President of the United States
inventing soup? How strange! Well, alphabet soup was the new
president's solution to the Great Depression.
Times were tough for everyone during the Great
Depression. People were hungry. There were no jobs. President
Roosevelt pledged to the American people a "new deal". These words were
his plan to end the Great Depression. President Roosevelt quickly got to
work to get the nation back to work. In his first 100 days in office,
President Roosevelt passed more laws than at any other time since our nation's
creation. These laws created jobs. These actions by the federal
government created a huge amount of government workers. The workers
produced job programs that became known only by their initials which became
known as "Roosevelt's Alphabet Soup".
You have been appointed to President Roosevelt's special
committee to
organize these programs so that people can find work. You and a team of
others will
gather photographs for one of the many programs so that people can get a glimpse
at their future. You will then organize these photographs in a brochure to
be passed out among the job applicants.
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Process
1. You will be placed on a team with
four or five other students.
2. Your team will need to select a program from the following list that you
would like to promote.
Select ONE Program:
Agricultural Adjustment Act
Civilian Conservation Corps
Farm Security Administration
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Rural Electrification Administration
Tennessee Valley Authority
Works Progress Administration
3. After your team has selected
a program, you will need to investigate. Using the American Memory
Collection, you will need to search for the program you choose in
(You will need to type your search topic in and then click gallery view
to see the available photographs.)
4. You will need to select photographs that demonstrate what workers would be doing with this job. Please select between 4 and 6 photographs for your brochure. Each photograph must include a caption.
5. Once your team has decided
on the photographs to use, create a brochure using Microsoft Publisher.
Click the
to view
guidelines for your brochure.
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Evaluation
Students' brochures will be graded using the following rubric.
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Conclusion
You and your team have worked hard to create a brochure that will give hope to the many who are short of hope in these hard times. The many other members of your organization have spent long hours creating brochures for the masses that will help fulfill President Roosevelt's promise of a New Deal.
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Teacher's Page
Students will need exposure to the American Memory Collection and Microsoft Publisher prior to use of this web quest.
South Carolina Fifth Grade Social Studies Standards:
5.2.5 describe the rise of the
American labor movement and how it effected social and economic change;
5.2.8 explain the effect of the Great Depression on the United States;
5.2.9 identify structures in the nation that are a result of New Deal
policies and programs;
5.18.2 explain
how government regulations influence the economic activities of individuals,
families, communities, and regions.
5.19.3 investigate why money is important to individuals, families, and
communities;