Welcome to Virtual 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 town. You will be responsible for designing the perfect vacation for them.

Your client is the Smith family: Ms. Sandy Smith, (the mom), Sonny (a 5th grader), and Sara (a 3rd grader).  They have just moved here and are very interested in learning more about this country.  They need your help to plan the perfect vacation, one that is educational (by Ms. Smith's request) and entertaining (by the children's request).

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

• A Presentation that shows
  • The name of the state they will visit
  • Estimated total miles of trip
  • Stops in at least 1 or 2 other states
  • A visit to at least 2 cities: (including the capital of at least one of the states)
  • Visit at least 1 historical site of interest
  • Visit at least 1 educational site
  • Visit at least 1 other site

1. You will begin by choosing 2 or more other states that the Smiths will visit. 
2. 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.)
3. Now complete your presentation, including the following:
   • A title slide:
     • Title of the destination State
     • Virtual Travel, Inc.
     • Your Name, Travel Agent
   • A slide showing:
     • Estimated total miles
     • Stops (name of each city)
     • A map showing the trip
   • A slide covering the details on each of the sites of interest:
     • You can include interesting state information
       • State capital
       • State flag
       • Largest city
       • Governor
       • Date it became a state
       • Nickname
       • State flower, bird, song, etc.
       • Climate
   • A slide for each of the sites - historical, educational, or 
     interesting in some other way
   • A slide outlining your reasons for choosing these 
     locations/sites.
   • Please feel free to add more slides as needed for these loyal clients!
   • A bibliography slide showing what Websites you used to find 
     the information

Your final presentation to the Smiths 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:

• 50 States: Information and facts on the 50 states.
• Fact Monster: U.S. States - Links for more information on each of the states.
• Stately Knowledge - Facts about the United States from Internet Public Library
• The US50 - A guide to the fifty states
• Infoplease U.S. States
• United States & Capitals Map
• Kids Konnect - This collection of links also includes information on the U.S. States.
• State Capitals and Largest Cities from Fact Monster
• America's Story - Explore the States - from America's Library - Discover the stories of America's past...

Travel Resources:

• Fodor's - The publisher of travel books has travel info for many sites of interest in U.S. cities.
• National Park Service - Lists all National Parks in the country.
• Encarta Maps of the United States
• Mapquest - In case you need to look at a map or plan a trip
• Maps.com
• Some other safe search engines: Kids Click! and  Yahooligans!. 

PowerPoint Resources:

PowerPoint 2000 Skills

Conclusion:

Once you've completed your first assignment at Virtual 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, World's 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 jigsaw puzzle - Drag and drop the states to the correct place
  • State Capitals Quiz from Maps.com
    • Easy
    • Medium
    • Hard
• U.S. State Capitals - games from Quia
• Stately Knowledge State Capitals Game - Internet Public Library - capitalization and spelling counts in this one!

For Teachers: