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LIFE IN THE
MIDDLE AGES
A WebQuest for
Grade 8
Designed by
J. Duthie
jduthie@sd68.bc.ca
Introduction
| Task | Process | Evaluation
| Conclusion | Credits
| Teacher
Page
Introduction
"The past is a foreign country. They do things differently
there."
L.P. Hartley
What was life really like in the Middle Ages? Was it really as crude,
smelly and unsophisticated as we tend to think? Was Hartley right,
or do we have a lot in common with our ancestors? This Webquest is
designed to help you find out.
The Task
For this Webquest, you are to work in pairs.
You have been hired to create a museum exhibit showing what life was
like in 12th century England - that is, England in the 1100s. The
museum's directors want as accurate and realistic a portrayal of the life
of the people as possible, with lots of pictures and graphics. The
finished exhibit should take the form of 12 items, 4 about the nobility,
4 about the townspeople and 4 about the peasants. Each item should
have at least 1 graphic, some explanatory text, and the source details
of all information.
Not all of this data will come from the Internet. You must have
at least one (1) item about each class (nobility, townspeople & peasants)
from conventional print sources.
You need to find out about everyday things, such as food, clothing,
housing and entertainment. The museum has far too much material on
politics, kings, wars and the like, but not nearly enough on ordinary people
and how they lived. Nor do they have enough on the lives of women,
so try to include material on this.
The Process
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Find a partner to work with.
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Log on to the Net and search the following sites for information and images
on everyday life in 12th-century England:
Wharram
Percy
Exhibits
Collection -- The Middle Ages
LAW
Medieval
England Architecture
Medieval
England
The
Marketplace
Medieval
Women
Medieval
English urban history
Medieval
Women
A
Feast For The Eyes
Misperceptions
about Medieval Clothing
Medieval
Sourcebook: Introduction
When you have found text and images that you want to use, copy and paste
them into a Word file, and save it to your h drive. For every piece
of information that you download, be sure to record the full details of
the source - the name of the original document and its author, as well
as the URL.
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Use Webcat to access the print resources of the library, and find
information. Be sure to record the details of the source in the usual
manner.
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Select the items that you want to use for your exhibit. If some of
the sources are text only, you will want to find pictures from other sources
to support the text. Remember, each item in your exhibit has to have
some form of graphic in addition to text.
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Print or copy all the images, text and sources that you are going to use
in your exhibit, and mount them on poster paper. Give the exhibit
a title and any artwork that you think appropriate.
Evaluation
|
Beginning
1 |
Developing
2 |
Accomplished
3 |
Exemplary
4 |
Score |
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Accuracy
and realism
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Fewer than half
the items give a good impression of everyday life. Some unrel-
iable sources
used.
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At least half
the items give a good impression of everyday life. Some unreliable
sources used.
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Most items give
a good impression of everyday life. Most come from reliable sources
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All items give
good impression of everyday life.
All are from
reliable sources.
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10
|
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Completeness
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Fewer than 3
classes dealt with. Fewer than 4 items per class. Inadequate supporting
text.
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Fewer than 4
items per class.
Inadequate supporting
text.
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All classes
and items, but supporting text inadequate.
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All 3 classes.
4 items per class.
Full explanatory text.
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10
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Mechanics
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Fewer than half
the sources given, or items labelled.
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Half or more
of the sources not given, or items unlabelled.
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Not all sources
given in full. Not all items labelled.
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All sources
are given in full. All items labelled. Whole exhibit has an appropriate
title
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10
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Visual appeal
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Unclear images,
poorly mounted, lacking in visual appeal
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Dull in appearance.
Lacking visual impact.
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Not all graphics
clear enough.
Lacking in colour
or visual appeal.
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Clear graphics,
illustrative of everyday life. Large enough to be seen from distance.
Striking visual
impression.
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10
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.
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Conclusion
You now know a little bit about the reality of life in 12th century
England. You could easily extend your quest to find out about other
European countries in the Middle Ages using the vast resources of the Net.
Credits &
References
Last updated
on August 15, 1999. Based on
a template from The
WebQuest Page
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