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World War II Webquest

The purpose of this webquest is to help you get a feel for World War. The war took place in two arenas, or theaters, the Pacific with Japan, and Europe with Germany. This webquest does not attempt to sugar-coat what happened during this war.  Some of the readings and pictures can be disturbing.  If they bother you, just answer the question and move on. The point is that this was a war where millions of people were injured or killed.  There isn't a way to really soften the realities of war.

Directions:  You are to explore each website and write your answers and any other notes you want on this paper. There are 15 questions, which mean you should try to get through 3 each time we come to the computer lab. You can use additional paper if you need to. 

To navigate through the webquest, you may need to use the back and forward arrows at the upper left hand side of your screen.

Read about  the after-effects of World War I  and the  Treaty of Versailles
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_versailles.htm
How many people were killed?’

Who were the big three?





What were the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles?







What was German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles?






2.  Go to the following site and scroll through the timeline.  http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm#stpaul

  1. What year did Adolph Hitler become the leader of the National Socialist Nazi Party?  (Hint - look in the 1920's)

  2. Go to 1925.  Click on Mein Kampf.  What does Mein Kampf mean?  (Third or fourth paragraph)



  1. What is an Aryan, according to Hitler?  (Around the fourth paragraph)



  1. Look at the bottom of the article, when did this book become hugely popular? To answer this, you have to read the article, and then go back to the timeline to find out when Hitler became Chancellor.



  1. What year did the Nazis hold a book burning? List some authors whose works were destroyed.





  1. Scroll down to 1941.  Look at December.  What happened on Dec. 8 and Dec. 11?




  1. Scroll to the very end.  Click on the Statistics of World War II.  Which country had the             most fatalities?    How many countries were involved with World War II? 

 

3.  Look at this website and write the definition of Fascism in your own words. If this website doesn't help you, find your own definition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facism


4.  Read through this website for an overview of World War II and see if you can find the definition of totalitarianism.  http://americanhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiioverview.htm


If, after reading through that website, you still need help, check out http://www.bartleby.com/65/to/totalita.html


5.Now go to http://www.besthistorysites.net/WWII.shtml   
A. Scroll down until you see a link titled Japanese American Internment.  Click on that and then click on “The Camps”.  Where were the Internment camps in Arizona located?


B. Go back and scroll down to “Shootings”.  Read that section.  What were the prisoners told who asked about the two sick prisoners that had been separated from the group?  



6. Go to http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/nrule.htm  and read through this site.  When you are done exploring, click on the Nazi Propaganda tab at the top. Which American writers were banned, why, and by whom?





7. Go to the following website.  http://www.lclark.edu/~history/HIROSHIMA/  Click on The Gallery.  Go to collection 3. Hiroshima Collection.  Click on pictures that interest you, esp. #2 and # 18.  Read the captions under the pictures.  Explain your thoughts on how the Japanese must have felt immediately after the Atomic Bomb was dropped on them.
   

8.  The next website is about a female spy during the war.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/violette_szabo.htm

How old was she when she died?  What was her occupation, besides spying?  What do you think motivated her to become a spy?   


9.  Navajo code talkers.
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmcode1.html  This site has information about the Navajo code talkers.  Who came up with the idea to use Navajo?  Why?  Why were the code talkers heroes?




10. Just an interesting site.
http://www.manataka.org/page637.html This website has a code talker dictionary.  If you are interested in how the code worked, click on this site.

 

11.  Concentration camps.
A.http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blmap.htm  This site has a map of all the concentration and extermination camps.  What was the camp to the furthest point north?



**   http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/timeline/camps.htm  The site has a lot of links and photos of the camps.  Some are very disturbing and sad.  This site has lesson plans and a teacher's guide.

B. http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/holocamp.html  You will find more information about the camps at this site.  There is a chart of how many were killed at each camp and how.  Which two camps had the highest rate of deaths?  Where are they located on the map?



C.  http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blchart.htm  This chart shows all the camps, concentration and extermination.  What was the difference?  Are any still open?  How many did the U.S. shut down?




12. D-Day  http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/world/d-day_/newsid_3754000/3754731.stm  What was D-Day?  Why was it called D-Day (use the link)?





13.  Battle of the Bulge  http://ice.mm.com/user/jpk/battle.htm

Click on the link and scroll through the site just to get an idea of how immense it was.  At the end, there is a link to the Veteran’s index page.  Click on that and read either Buchholz or the Suicide Patrol account.  Write your response to what you read.







14.  Iwo Jima/ Okinawa Hiroshima and Nagasaki Go the following link and watch the video.  (You have to suffer through a commercial first.)

http://www.history.com/media.do?action=clip&id=gahq_aw_teri_garr_broadband


  1. What is your response?




  1. How did racism and intolerance contribute to World War II? Give examples of it.





  1. You have reached the end of this webquest. 


 Extra - Check out the following website.  After you have explored it, select an activity to complete. http://www.42explore2.com/worldwar2.htm




Now the real fun begins.  By doing this webquest, you should now have a pretty basic idea of what caused World War II, which countries participated in it, what the outcomes were, etc. At this point, you are to work in pairs or groups of three (no more than three). Pick a topic of interest and make a poster that you will: (a) list 10 interesting facts about your topic, (b) have a picture or map (or any other graphic) about your topic, and (c) your team will present it to the class at the end of the activity. The more involved and created you get the better.

Topics: these are only suggestions; you are not limited to these.

* Hitler-rise to power *Mussolini- rise to power *Nazi Propaganda *Pearl Harbor-how the US entered the war *Causes of WWII *Atomic Bomb- why it was used and its effects *Holocaust * D-day