Illinois Travel, Inc.

Illinois Travel, Inc.
Nancy Slonneger - Technology Integration Specialist

Integrating Technology into Today's Home, Office & Classroom

Illinois Travel, Inc.

a WebQuest for 4th - 8th Grade

Introduction

Welcome to Illinois Travel, Inc.! You are our newest employee, and we are happy to welcome you to our team. We've assigned you to your first client, a family newly arrived in Illinois. You will be responsible for designing the perfect Illinois vacation for them.

Fortunately, the Internet makes the life of a travel agent very easy, so you'll be able to find plenty of information for your client. Read on to learn more about your new job. And once again, welcome to the team!

The Task

Your client is a family that is interested in Illinois. They may move here and are very interested in learning more about Illinois. They need your help to plan the perfect vacation, one that is educational (by the mom's request) and entertaining (by the children's request).

Here is what you will need to prepare for the Smiths:

A Presentation that shows

	Three cities in Illinois that they will visit
	A visit to at least 3 cities: (including the capital)
	Visit at least 1 historical site of interest in each city
	Visit at least 1 educational site in each city
	Visit at least 1 other site in each city
	A Bibliography that tells where you found your information

The Process

You will begin by choosing 3 cities that the Smiths will visit, one of which must be the capital.

Now plan your trip. Use the storyboard (available here) (Download by right-clicking and choosing "Save Target As" - Also, print it as handouts, 3 slides per page to give students a great place to record their research.)

Now complete your presentation - at least six slides including the following:

A title slide:

	Three Remarkable Illinois Cities
	Illinois Travel, Inc.
	Your Name, Travel Agent

A slide showing an overview:

	City Names
	A map or maps showing the cities

One slide for each city (one of which must be the capital) covering the details on each of the cities
of interest:

You can include interesting city information such as population, famous people who came from there,
historical significance, notable landmarks, pictures, etc.

Please feel free to add more slides as needed

A bibliography slide showing what Websites you used to find
the information

Your final presentation to the client will explain their trip in detail using Microsoft PowerPoint.

See a sample here. (You can download this PowerPoint file by right-clicking and choosing "Save Target As".)

State Resources:

	Fact Monster: Illinois
	Learn Illinois - Illinois Capitals
	Enjoy Illinois
	Things to Do in Illinois
	Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
	Roadside America - Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions
	Living in Illinois
	Illinois Clicks
	Some Famous Illinoisans
	Stories About Illinois
	Fodor's Chicago
	MapQuest - Illinois - Top 20 cities

Project Resources:

	Sample Illinois PowerPoint presentation
	Illinois PowerPoint storyboard

PowerPoint Resources:

How to save an image from the Internet

PowerPoint Tutorials - from Electric Teacher

PowerPoint in the Classroom

PowerPoint 2000 Skills

Conclusion:

Once you've completed your first assignment at Illinois Travel, Inc., you will be a certified travel agent! Congratulations! You are now wonderfully prepared for any other assignments your employer may throw at you (state reports, State Fair, that sort of thing). Don't forget, you can visit this site and use these links any time you like. Good luck!

Fun Activities:

	Where is That? - The game where your mind is your map.
	Kid's Corner Games - US State Capitals Quiz
	Maps.com - Games
	U.S. State Capitals - games from Quia
	Stately Knowledge State Capitals Game - Internet Public Library - capitalization and spelling counts in this one!

For Teachers:

	Learning Tools 50states.com
	Capitals of the United States - lesson plan
	Unit on Great Lakes States for 4th grade

Based on a template from The WebQuest Page

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