A WebQuest for 9th Grade Moral Education

Designed by

Naved Bakali
naved.bakali@mail.mcgill.ca

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page

The Middle East has been an area full of conflict for years. Why do these conflicts continue to plague this region? Are these conflicts religiously motivated? Will there ever be peace in the Middle East?  For this assignment imagine that you have been appointed to the United Nations' conflict resolution committee. Your task as a member of this committee is to analyze the three major world religions that originated from this part of the world (ie. Judaism, Christianity and Islam).  At the end of this assignment you must give your opinion, as a member of the conflict resolution committee, if you believe there can be peace in the Middle East. Explain why.

In this assignment you will be required to gather information about the beliefs, origins, practices and rituals of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Once this has been done you will be required to describe how these religions differ and how they are similar. For example, all three of these faiths believe in God but do all three faiths have the same understanding of who or what God is? This is just one of many possible points  you can discuss when comparing and contrasting these faiths. Upon completing the analysis of these faiths and comparing and contrasting them, you will be required to discuss what you think the source of these conflicts are and then write a report as a member of the United Nations conflict resolution committee on whether or not you believe peace can be achieved in the Middle East and why. You will have a total of 4 weeks to complete this project and you must work independently. 

Here's how you should go about working on this assignment: 

1. Gather information about Judaism. Your research in this area should be focused on identifying the basic aspects of this faith. Include information about the Jewish concept of God, rituals, holidays, and important figures.
2. Gather information about Christianity. Your research in this area should be focused on identifying the basic aspects of this faith. Include similar information as above
3. Do the same for the religion of Islam. (Information about these religions can be found in encyclopedias, and reliable websites. Below are a few websites that will help you in your research)
4. Upon completing the research make write ups about each of these three faiths. This write up should be approximately 4-6 pages. 
5. Now that you've gotten information about these faiths and have recorded the information, analyze these three faiths looking for similarities and differences. This section should be between 2-4 pages long.
6. The final part of this project is the conflict resolution report on whether you believe there can be peace in the Middle East. This section should link what you learned in the previous sections (research on religions and comparison/contrast). This section should be between 4-5 pages long. 

Online Resources:

www.jewfaq.org

http://judaism.about.com

http://geneva.rutgers.edu/src/christianity/

http://christianity.about.com

www.beconvinced.com

www.islam-guide.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.religioustolerance.org

www.mideastweb.org

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Research on Judaism	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays All information is properly referenced	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays Important figures and events in history All information is properly referenced	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays Important figures and events in history Grammatically sound and coherent All information is properly referenced
Research on Christianity	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays All information is properly referenced	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays Important figures and events in history All information is properly referenced	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays Important figures and events in history Grammatically sound and coherent All information is properly referenced
Research on Islam	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays All information is properly referenced	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays Important figures and events in history All information is properly referenced	Identifies the Important beliefs and rituals Major holidays Important figures and events in history Grammatically sound and coherent All information is properly referenced
Analysis of the 3 Faiths (compare and contrast)	Discusses the 3 faiths at a basic level.	Basic analysis of the 3 faiths. Identifies the similarities and differences.	Accurate analysis of the 3 faiths. Identifies the similarities and differences. Demonstrates basic understanding of the essential aspects of the 3 faiths.	Thoughtful analysis of the 3 faiths. Identifies the similarities and differences. Demonstrates a good basic understanding of the essential aspects of the 3 faiths. Grammatically sound and coherent
Conflict resolution Report and informed opinion	Report identifies areas in which these 3 faiths have been in conflict and the reasons for the conflict. An opinion whether you believe that there can be peace in the Middle East amidst these conflicts.	Report identifies areas in which these 3 faiths have been in conflict and the reasons for the conflict. An opinion whether you believe that there can be peace in the Middle East amidst these conflicts. Opinion makes reference to research	Report identifies areas in which these 3 faiths have been in conflict and the reasons for the conflict. An opinion whether you believe that there can be peace in the Middle East amidst these conflicts. Opinion makes reference to research. Grammatically sound and coherent.	Report identifies areas in which these 3 faiths have been in conflict and the reasons for the conflict. An opinion whether you believe that there can be peace in the Middle East amidst these conflicts. Opinion makes reference to research. Grammatically sound and coherent. Report has a professional appearance.

Upon completing this assignment you should have a basic background knowledge of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. In addition to this you should be able to identify how these religion are similar and what major aspects define them to be different from one another. Based on your analysis you can draw conclusions as to whether or not these faiths are in fact the same religion in essence or if these three faiths are completely different from one another.