Named Removed The American Revolution Content Standards: HSS 8.1

Introduction The purpose of this webquest is to challenge 8th grade students to apply their knowledge of the American Revolution to explore the question of how life would be different if Americans lost the war. What if the Declaration of Independence was never signed by Congress? What if Americans lost the Battle of Saratoga? What if France decided not to help us?

Task Students will work in small groups. Students will research the key events of the war. Through this research, students will extend their knowledge of major events preceding the founding of the nation (HSS 8.1). Students will brainstorm how history would be different if those key events never happened or had a different result. Students will use analytical skills to develop hypotheses. Students will create a detailed alternate timeline of world and American history. Students will apply their research in a creative way through this timeline. Students will present their alternate timeline to the rest of the class using Prezi, an alternate program to PowerPoint. Students will learn valuable technological skills through the use of this program.

Process Step 1 As students conduct their research, they will be completing a handout in order to organize their findings. Students will be given a series of focus questions to help them narrow their research. Questions: 1) What if the Declaration of Independence failed to be approved and signed by Congress? How would that have hurt the Patriots’ chances of winning the war? 2) The Patriots won a series of key battles. What if those battles had ended differently? How would war’s end be different? 3) Our French allies played a key role in our victory. Would we have been able to defeat the British without their help? To conduct research, students will use their textbooks, as well as the following online resources: Revolutionary War Timeline Revolutionary War Battles Revolutionary War Facts More Facts

Process Step 2 Students will work collaboratively with their small groups. Students will share their findings, and brainstorm ideas about an alternate timeline. Students will then create a detailed timeline on poster paper, which will show a different history for America, as well as a different history for the world.

Process Step 3 Students will create a Prezi presentation to show the rest of the class their research on the war and how they envision an alternate timeline. The final presentation should be 5-10 minutes.

Evaluation Beginning 1 Developing 2 Qualified 3 Exemplary 4 Score Understanding of the listed events Student has not demonstrated a clear understanding of the events being discussed. Student has demonstrated a very basic understanding of the events being discussed. Student has demonstrated a qualified understanding of the events being discussed. Student has demonstrated an exemplary understanding of the events being discussed. Plausibility of alternate timeline events Alternate events listed have no basis in reality, or could not possibly occur. Alternate events listed have some basis in reality, or are unlikely. Alternate events listed have a reasonable basis in reality, or could possibly occur. Alternate events listed have solid basis in reality, or are the most logical event. Spelling and Grammar Student has 12 or more spelling and/or grammatical errors. Student has 8-11 spelling and/or grammatical errors. Student has 3-7 spelling and/or grammatical errors. Student has 0-2 spelling and/or grammatical errors. Prezi Presentation Presentation is poor, unorganized, with little creativity. Presentation is basic, lacks creativity. Presentation has basic organization, average amount of creativity. Presentation is interesting, organized, creative, engaging, and effectively executed. Presentation Length 2:00 minutes or less 2-4 minutes 4-6 minutes 6-10 minutes

Conclusion The purpose of this WebQuest is to challenge students to extend and apply their knowledge of the American Revolutionary War. Students are also challenged to employ higher order thinking as they hypothesize alternative outcomes to the war. Students apply their knowledge of the war to how it impacts them personally. They are pushed to think about how their lives may be different if certain historical events had alternate results.