Web Quest: Travel to Ancient Africa

Introduction

Imagine, you have mastered the technology of Mr. Peabody’s way back machine and can transport paying customers back to Ancient Africa. You now need to do what any cruise line; destination resort or travel agency needs to do, advertise.

The Task

Ø You will be working in groups on this project.

Ø Your group’s task will be to create travel brochures designed to attract people to certain sites and times in Africa’s past. The number of brochures designed for which locations will depend on the number of people in the group and time allotted to the project.

Ø In order to attract people your brochures need to include:

ü what wonders can be witnessed

ü what thrills can be experienced

ü people who can be encountered

ü maps that show location

ü and any other attributes that would be attractive for our history minded tourists

ü Remember testimonials from known world travelers are always helpful.

Ø You can not make things up because you’ll be sued for false advertising. And in your world a potential lawsuit is grounds for a substantial loss in credit for your project.

Format

Ø Your brochure needs to fit on a single sheet of paper which will be provided.

Ø Brochures usually fold up with a cover designed to draw attention. (see grading rubric)

Ø The inside can be a single sheet or divided into columns; whatever you think works best.

Grading Rubric

Criteria	Score
Factual Content-The information included in the brochure is accurate and interesting. (This counts three times)	times 3
Sources-Several sources of information are used (e.g., drawings, photographs, maps, and quotations) to provide information to complete the brochure.
Organization-The brochure is well organized in a logical manner, making it easy to understand the information that is being presented.
Appearance-The brochure catches the eye so that people will pick it up and read it; otherwise no one will use our travel agency.
Total

Each of these criteria will be rated according to the following point scale:

Score	Meaning
3	Excellent-These criteria have been met in every possible way, and may even exceed expectations.
2	Acceptable-These criteria have been mostly addressed; however, there is room for improvement.
1	Sub par-Some elements have been met, but most of the criteria fails to be addressed.
0	Incomplete-These criteria have not been addressed in any meaningful way or have not been completed.

Here are the Web links you need to complete your project

Ancient Ghana:

overview of Ghana’s history w/other West African kingdoms http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/4chapter1.shtml
history of Ghana again w/ timeline http://www.ghana.co.uk/history/history/ancient_ghana.htm
Ghana’s history that mentions role of camel in first sentence http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/history/ancient_ghana.php
includes a map http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ghan/hd_ghan.htm

Ancient Mali:

a good beginning of the history of Mali http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Classroom/9912/ancientmali.html
a thorough site http://www.vmfa.state.va.us/mali_geo_hist.html
history channel site http://www.historychannel.com/classroom/unesco/timbuktu.html

4. Ibn Battuta arrives in Mali (scroll down to almost the end to: Ibn Battuta judges the character of the people of Mali ) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1354-ibnbattuta.html