Grade:     This is designed as an interdisciplinary project for middle and high school classes.

Note to Instructors - This webquest is designed for students who are familiar on the use of computers to create spreadsheets, tables, and reports.

We are going to use the web to explore four West Indian Islands in the Caribbean and investigate the traditions and culture of the people of the West Indies.

We are going to answer 3 questions:

1.    What influences the culture and traditions of the island you are investigating in the West. Indies?

2.    What is the predominant cultural influence of the island?

3.    Can you see any similarites/differences between the culture you are investigating and your own?

O.K Let's Have Fun!

The Task

The class will be divided into groups of 4 to investigate the culture and traditions of four West Indian Islands.

• Identify what influences the cultures and traditions of the island you are investigating.
• Design a flyer to  inform tourists of the sights and sounds of your island.
• Produce an article to post in the student newsletter about the culture and traditions of the island you are investigating in the Caribbean.
• Prepare a 5 -10 minuter oral presentation to describe your results and your conclusions on the predominant cultural influence and how it is the same or different from your own culture(s).


Return To the Top

JAMAICA   Jamaica General Information Jamaica Today Food & Cooking	TRINIDAD & TOBAGO   Welcome to Trinidad & Tobago Miss Universe 1998 What To Do in T & T
MARTINIQUE (French Caribbean)   About Martinique Martinique/Resources & Links Martinique - Languages	ARUBA (Dutch Caribbean)   A Visit to Aruba Aruba Links

You will work in groups of 4 to complete this project. Each person in the group will choose a role to play as shown below and explore the web.  The project will be multi-disciplinary and we will work with your social studies, geography, English (reading & writing) and computer studies teachers in order to produce your report, table, and oral presentation.  You will collaborate your findings to produce the articles as listed below:

1.  Within your groups assign different roles for each member:

Technologist
Videographer
Cultural specialist( Local person from the island)
Reporter

2.    Each person's role as categorized above will start a project journal to record thoughts, questions and answers,  and ideas to investigate the culture of their island. Use web resources to learn about the island's culture & traditions.  Include historical facts, cultural influences, the role of the family, conclusions and comments.

3.    Produce a table on Culture & Traditions with the following headings and any other categories you can think of:
 

4.    E-mail kids in schools in the West Indies and find out about their family traditions, social events and current hot topics at their school.

5.    Prepare a 5-10 min oral presentation- Include pictures, videotape, reports and correspondence from the kids of the islands.  Include historical facts that you found out, and other interesting facts to support your conclusions on what influences the culture & traditions of the island you investigated.  What was the dominant culture?  Were there any  similarities/differences between their culture and your own?

Here are some links to kids email accounts on the internet:
Click here to view Thinkquest Team - email site for kids contests
Click here to view Keypals Club International - kids ages 8 to 16 from around the world get to know each other through e-mail.

Here is a link of an action plan your group can use:
Click here to view  the Action Plan.

Your final project grade will be based on the following components:

1.    Individual grade - This will be shown in the constructive use of time in class and the final presentation and reports.

2.    Group work - This is designed at the secondary grade level and is an interdisciplinary project.  The project will be a theme for the semester and work will be completed in other classes and be evaluated by teachers/students in social studies, computer science, office skills, geopgraphy and English.

• Click here to view the Individual scoring rubric for the Caribbean Quest.  This will score your individual performance and final reports.
• Click here to view the Oral Presentation report.  This is a self and teacher assessment.
• Click here to view the Team Assessment Rubric for the Caribbean Quest.  Your peers and teachers will grade you on your performance using the criteria outlined.

I reviewed this quest using the guidelines as specified by Bernie Dodge's  WebQuest site.

Click here for my WebQuest Evaluation site.

The Caribbean Island in the West Indies represents a colorful world of multiculturalism and diversity and shows how people of different races and backgrounds are blended into a melting pot of culture.

By working in groups using the web you have enhanced your learning skills in communication both technologically and interpersonally in order to answer the questions listed.

I hope this has opened the doors for further research and investigation using the wealth of resources presented on the web.

Use web resouces to answer the question of the Millenium - Do you think the world is shrinking and cultures blending with the international use of the world wide web making countries just a keystroke away from each other?