Introduction You and your partner are travel agents at a large Boston travel agency. You have been asked to make a presentation to prospective travelers on one state in the United States. Once you receive your state assignment, you must become an expert on that particular state. To do that, you will visit the state for 5 days to learn all you can about it. You will keep a travel journal and share it with your travel clients (classmates and parents) when you return from your trip. [Top] Task You will create a HyperStudio journal of your travels around the state. Each day of your visit will be one card in your HyperStudio stack. Each card will have text about what you did and saw, as well as pictures from places you went that day. Remember, you are "scouting" the state for people interested in going there on vacation. Keep in mind the types of places they might like to go. You must visit several specific places. They are: the state capital at least one historic site at least one recreational site (park, beach, ski area) one cultural site (museum, art gallery, theatre) For this project, you can pretend you're old enough to drive. You can drive to your state or you can rent a car when you get there to travel around. [Top] Process Review the Evaluation Rubric. Copies are available in the classroom. This explains what's expected of you for the final project. You should refer to this throughout your project to be sure you're on the right track. Print 5 of the the Travel Worksheets. Use one for each day of your trip, to take notes as you do your research. You will use these notes to create your HyperStudio cards. Collect information and pictures from the Internet and the offline resources in the Media Center. Remember to keep track of where you find your information for the bibliography. Save pictures you want to use for your final project in the computer's Scrapbook. While gathering information about your state, think about the following questions and try to include the answers in your journal. What time of year are you taking this trip? What is the climate like? When is the best time for travel to this state? How are you getting from place to place? Where are you staying? What historical events occured in this state? (Remember, you must visit at least 1 historical site.) What items are made or grown in this state? Have you seen any of these on your trip? What are the physical features of the area where you're traveling? (rivers, mountains, lakes) What makes this state interesting and fun? Why should people visit this state? When you complete your research, create your HyperStudio stack. The stack must include: a title card at least 1 card for each day of your trip a card titled "Questions" a bibliography card On the "Questions" card, think of 3 questions which came to mind as you travelled through the state. These might be questions about places you visited or about places you did not have time to get to on this trip. Remember, you should visit important places where visitors to that state would like to go. Do not spend alot of time researching the state flag, state flower, state bird, etc. [Top] Research and Information Resources • On the Internet: 50 States - States and Capitals Folders for each state. Inside each folder are many links to information about that state. Stately Knowledge Each state link gives interesting facts about that state. Check out the Historical Sites and Points of Interest. Also, other helpful links to websites about that state, such as the state's official website. The US50 - A Guide to the 50 States Use the pull-down menu to select your state. Guides to history, outdoors, tourism, events and attractions for each state. Postcards from America Postcards and photographs from a teacher and her photographer-husband as they traveled across the United States. They visited a different state each week and spent one day of each week in that state's capital. • In the Media Center: America the Beautiful (book series), published by Childrens Press (various authors) World Book Encyclopedia (CDs) First Facts About the States by David L. Stienecker From Sea to Shining Sea (book series), by Dennis Brindell Fradin States Series, published by Capstone Press Geography Department The United States of America: A State by State Guide by Millie Miller and Cyndi Nelson [Top] Evaluation Use the following scoring rubric to understand what's expected of you for the HyperStudio project. This will be used to determine your grade when the project is completed. Paper copies are available for you to refer to during your work. WOW! On your way Just getting going Mechanics Used complete sentences All spelling is correct Used incomplete sentences Some spelling is correct Used only words Most spelling is incorrect   Content Details show an excellent understanding of the topic Facts are presented very clearly Well organized and easy to follow Used resources well to locate online and offline information Details show a good understanding of the topic Facts are presented somewhat clearly Somewhat organized and fairly easy to follow Used some resources to locate online and offline information   Details show little understanding of the topic Facts are not presented clearly Disorganized and hard to follow Used very few resources to locate online and offline information   Technical Skills Used more than the 8 required cards Created additional buttons to navigate through the stack better Consistent use of fonts Creative use of background and text colors Used only the required 8 cards Created only required buttons to navigate through the stack Fairly consistent use of fonts Some creative use of background and text colors Used less than the 8 required cards Did not create all the buttons required to navigate through the stack Inconsistent use of fonts Too little use of background and text colors   [Top] Conclusion Now you are an expert on one particular state in the United States! You learned how to use the Internet to gather information and locate graphic elements. You organized your research information in a presentation format and planned a presentation using HyperStudio. Now you can travel to other states by looking at your classmates' journals. When your parents come to see your project, show them your favorite journals from other states. Perhaps you can use this as the beginning of planning a family vacation! [Top] Credits   Blue bar clip art .[Online image] Available http://www.futuresystems.com/zeldazone, December 12, 2000. [Top]