Choose A City
Student Form
Level 1
Student 1 Name ______
Student 2 Name ______
INTRODUCTION
A group of foreign high school exchange students are planning to come to the U.S. for the summer. They can live either in Knoxville, Tennessee or Fort Collins, Colorado, but do not have enough information about the two cities to decide which would be better. They want you to gather information on the Web about the two cities and make a recommendation. They are mainly interested in which city would be the most fun and which has the best public transportation (which they will need because they will not have cars).
You will gather and analyze information about the two cities. Then, you will write the students a letter or create a presentation identifying which of the two you recommend, and why.
Each of the cities has a Web site with links to information about the city's attractions, services, and other characteristics. You can use those sites, but you do not have to limit yourself to them.
PART I: GATHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Your first task is to gather and summarize information from the Web about the two cities the exchange students are considering -- Knoxville and Fort Collins.
· You will start your research by clicking the two links below, which will take you to the home pages of the official city Web sites. From there, you can go wherever you want.
· In the tables below, you will write about the information you find and put the URLs of the Web pages (such as http://www.ci.knoxville.tn.us/) that take you to the information. (The URL, which means "universal resource locator," is like an address).
Click here to go to Fort Collins' homepage
Click here to go to Knoxville's homepage
FORT COLLINS
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUN / PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION1a: Look for two Web pages with information about the kinds of activities that you can do for fun in Fort Collins. In the space below, briefly summarize what you find and give at least one example from each of the two Web pages (such as how many parks there are, or what exhibits you can see at the museum).
1b: Write down the URL of a Web page you used for your summary:
1c: Write down the URL of another Web page you used for your summary: / 1d: Look for two Web pages with information about the public transportation system in Fort Collins. In the space below, briefly summarize the kinds of public transportation available. Also, give at least one detail about the public transportation from each of the two Web pages (such as the cost of riding the bus, how many bus routes there are, etc.).
1e: Write down the URL of a Web page you used for your summary:
1f: Write down the URL of another Web page you used for your summary:
KNOXVILLE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUN / PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION1g: Look for two Web pages with information about the kinds of activities that you can do for fun in Knoxville. In the space below, briefly summarize what you find and give at least one example from each of the two Web pages (such as how many parks there are, or what exhibits you can see at the museum).
1h: Write down the URL of a Web page you used for your summary:
1i: Write down the URL of another Web page you used for your summary: / 1j: Look for two Web pages with information about the public transportation system in Knoxville. In the space below, briefly summarize the kinds of public transportation available. Also, give at least one detail about the public transportation from each of the two Web pages (such as the cost of riding the bus, how many bus routes there are, etc.).
1k: Write down the URL of a Web page you used for your summary:
1l: Write down the URL of another Web page you used for your summary:
Item 2. If you had the chance to do more research, what else would you want to know about the cities' public transportation systems or opportunities for fun that you don't already know and that might help the exchange students make up their minds. Write what you would like to know in the form of a question.
My question is:
Item 3. Imagine you were going to use a Web search tool (such as Yahoo!, AskJeeves, Excite, and Lycos) to answer your question. These search tools require that you type into a text box what word or phrase you want to search on. In the space below, write what word or phrase you would search on to answer your question.
I would type in for my search:
Item 4. Go to either the Fort Collins Web site or the Knoxville Web site and find some text that sounds questionable to you. It may be questionable because it sounds biased, exaggerated, inaccurate, unreasonable, or unbelievable. Then, in the space below the links:
• Copy the sentence or sentences you find that contain the questionable text.
• Identify the words or phrases that sound questionable and explain why they seem so.
If all of the sentences on the Web pages sound completely true, explain why you are convinced of that.
PART II: MAKE YOUR RECOMMENDATION
Item 5. Make your recommendation to the foreign exchange students, in either a letter or a presentation. In your letter or presentation, check that you include the following:
a) the city you recommend
b) at least two reasons why you recommend this city (Use information from the Web pages to support your reasons. You may gather new information, if you wish.)
c) an explanation of how the city you recommend is better than the other city
Your letter or presentation should also contain:
a) an introduction
b) clear, logical organization
c) complete sentences and good grammar (i.e., correct spelling and punctuation)
d) a bibliography of sources you used
e) (if you write a letter on the computer using a program your teacher has made available to you): graphics that support your text, (if technically possible on your computer)
f) a caption for at least one graphic
g) (if you write a letter on the computer using a program your teacher has made available to you): a title that is centered AND in a different font size than the body of report
h) (if you create a slide presentation using a program your teacher has made available to you): multiple slides AND, a title that is in a different font size than the body of the presentation
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