Dominant Force:WWII

A WebQuery for 8th Grade

Tim Cork
tim.cork@nwi.net

planes

Introduction

The year is 1939. Hitler has just invaded Poland and the start of the second world war is set to begin. You are the ruler of a powerful nation in Central Africa and are responsible for building an army to defend, and perhaps extend your borders during the upcoming conflict. Your mission: create an elite military force, including planes, ships, tanks, rifles, cannons, technology and soldier gear from any where in the world circa 1940 - 1945.

Task

You must choose one of three choices for youy military force:
Option #1 - Landbased force
Option #2 - Airbased force
Option #3 - Seabased force

Option #1 your choice for the best the world has to offer for your landbased force should include:
tanks
artillery
rifles and machine guns
soldier gear (boots, uniforms, knives, pistols)
fighters and\or bombers for ground support

Option #2 your choice for the best the world has to offer for your seabased force should include:
ships (battleships, cruiser, destroyers)
aircraft carrier
aircraft from carrier
submarines
cargo ships

Option #3 your choice for the best the world has to offer for your airbased force should include:
fighters
bombers
dive bombers
cargo planes
paratroopers

Please write an introduction paragraph that tells the reader about what makes your military force dominant and what you really like about it. Next, you must write a brief paragraph for each choice (tank, plane, ship) defending why it is in your military force. Finally write a conclusion paragraph giving a brief overview of your research on this project and what you learned from doing this webquery.

The Process

Creating an elite force to defend your country is an important task and will require you to research to find the best military equipment the world has to offer.

Questions to consider:

Option #1
tanks - How fast? How powerful is the cannon? How is the armor? Does is breakdown easily?
artillery - How powerful of a shell does it fire? How far can it shoot? How accurate?
rifles and machine guns - How fast can it shoot? How accurate? How much ammo can it hold? Does it jam easily?
soldier gear (boots, uniforms, knives, pistols) What material is it made of? Waterproof? Too hot? Too cold?
fighters and\or bombers for ground support - Range? Armament? Speed? Maneuverability? Low level missions?

Option #2
ships (battleships, cruiser, destroyers) - Range? Armament? Speed? Maneuverability? Accuracy of guns?
aircraft carrier - Range? Speed? Maneuverability? Number of planes? Defense weapons?
aircraft from carrier - Range? Armament? Speed? Maneuverability?
submarines - Range? Armament? Speed? Maneuverability? Technology?
cargo ships - Range? Speed? Maneuverability? Payload?

Option #3
fighters - Range? Armament? Speed? Maneuverability? Technology?
bombers - Range? Armament? Speed? Maneuverability? Technology? Payload?
dive bombers - Range? Armament? Speed? Maneuverability? Technology? Accuracy?
cargo planes - Range? Speed? Maneuverability? Payload?
paratroopers - equipment? rifles? maneuvers?

Some other questions to consider:

Where should you start to find military equipment?
What kinds of information will you need to make the best choices of military equipment?
Where can you find military equipment?
How can the info you find be organized or displayed to make it useful for choosing your military equipment?
Do you have enough information to make the best choic e for your military equipment?
If not, what else is needed?
Once you have all of the info you need, what is the best way to use it and complete your elite miltary force?
Have you checked the rubric and task to make sure that you have completed all aspects of creating an elite military force?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Resources

Here are some places to go to find ideas to create the dominant force of World War II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II
http://www.history.com/
http://www.acepilots.com/planes/main.html
http://historylink101.com/ww2-planes.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_ships
http://www.voodoo.cz/ww2car/
http://www.2worldwar2.com/submarines.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_tanks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Uniform_in_World_War_II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_artillery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_firearms

Evaluation

Mr. Cork

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Sources (Content)	All sources used for quotes and facts are credible and cited correctly.	All sources used for quotes and facts are credible and most are cited correctly.	Most sources used for quotes and facts are credible and cited correctly.	Many sources used for quotes and facts are less than credible (suspect) and/or are not cited correctly.
Accuracy of Facts (Content)	All supportive facts are reported accurately.	Almost all supportive facts are reported accurately.	Most supportive facts are reported accurately.	NO facts are reported OR most are inaccurately reported.
Support for Topic (Content)	Relevant, telling, quality details give the reader important information that goes beyond the obvious or predictable.	Supporting details and information are relevant, but one key issue or portion of the storyline is unsupported.	Supporting details and information are relevant, but several key issues or portions of the storyline are unsupported.	Supporting details and information are typically unclear or not related to the topic.
Focus on Topic (Content)	The military force is well-focused . Main idea stands out and is supported by detailed information.	Military force is clear but the supporting information is general.	Military force is somewhat clear but there is a need for more supporting information.	The military force is not clear. There is a seemingly random collection of information.

Conclusion

I hope you have enjoyed your "Dominant Force" WWII webquery. You now have a better undeerstanding of the military equipment that was used in the war. Military equipment played a major role in the outcome of the war. Do you think your military force would have stood it's ground? Or would have crawled back to your country bloodied and beaten?

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