This activity involves using a site on the World Wide Web to learn more about the types of circumstances and conditions that existed for the people that were sent to live in Japanese Internment Camps during WWII. This activity is designed to increase the students knowledge and understanding of the environment and situations that many Japanese Americans faced during WWII so that they can make informed judgments about past events. The information relates to the strand, standard, and benchmark because it allows the students to see photographs, read information, and find research tools that discuss the conditions and circumstances that affected Japanese Americans in the internment camps. This will give them deeper knowledge to help them understand, consider, and evaluate the historical decision that was made to send people to these camps.

Skill Obiectives:

1. Students will demonstrate the ability to describe at least two pieces of new information about Japanese Internment Camps using the web site.

3. Students will demonstrate the ability to list several links associated with the site and explain the importance of these links as future research tools.

3. Students will answer higher level thinking questions.

Activities

1. Type in this address correctly: wysiwyg://204/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8420/main.html

2. When you reach the home page you will need to read the first two quotes at the very top. Discuss with your partner what the quotes mean.

Question: How does one of the quotes relate to the Japanese Internment Camps? What is your reaction to it. Please specify which quote you are discussing.

Answer: The quote I looked at was the one given by Milton S. Eisenhower that states, "How could such a tragedy have occurred in a democratic society that prides itself on individual rights and freedoms?...I have brooded about this whole episode on and off for the past three decades." I believe that this quote is talking about how terrible it is that Americans allowed other innocent Americans to be put into the Japanese American Internment Camps. The person speaking in this quote seems really upset about these past incidents. My reaction to this quote was that it made me feel upset, too. It does not seem fair that people were sent to these camps when they did not do anything wrong. In our country we are supposed to protect people from these types of things, so I also wonder how something this bad could happen.

3. Scroll down the page. As you move down you will notice a heading that says "Contents". Directly underneath it there are a list of several other sites. Take your mouse and click on the word "Gallery". It may take a minute or two for the document to be fully loaded so be patient. Once it is loaded you will be able to see many photographs. Use the arrow keys to scroll up and down so that you can view all ofthe photographs and read all of the captions. Pick two of the photographs that stand out to you. On the same piece of paper that you discussed the quotes, do the following:

a. Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences what is in each of the photos.

b. Explain in a few sentences why each photo stood out to you.

c. Describe two things from each photo that you learned from looking at them.

Answers will vary. An example might be: One of the pictures that I looked at showed two little girls waiting to travel by train to the camps. They both had ID tags attached to a string that was around their neck. This photo stood out to me because it showed little children going to the camps. Most of the time when I think about the prisoners I picture men that are about my parents age not little kids. It is hard to imagine that small children were thought of as threats to our national security.

I also learned from the other photo that the people had to wear ID tags when they were transported to the camps. The second thing that I learned or realized is what made the picture stand out to me in the first place. I can see in the photo that small children as young as two or three years old were taken to the camps with adults. I learned that even toddlers and preschoolers were expected to go to the internment camps.

4. After you have finished looking at all of the photographs and you have completed the activity click on the "Back" button near the top, left hand corner of your screen. This will take you back to the home page.

5. Once you have reached the home page, use the arrows to scroll down to the heading "Web Sites". Directly underneath this heading is a list of other sites that are related to the topic of Japanese Internment Camps. On your separate piece of paper list at least five of the sites. After you have listed the sites go and visit them by double clicking on the highighted, underlined titles.* When you reach the new site explore it. You can do this by scrolling the pages with the arrow keys and double clicking on highlighted, underlined titles or pictures that will take you to more information on the site. As you go to each site think about how you could use the information at the site in your upcoming presentation about the Japanese Internment Camps. Then do the following: a. Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences what is at each site. b. In a paragraph of at least four sentences make a note to yourself about how you could use each site as a research source for creating your own presentation. (This activity meets the requirements for completing Objective #3- Students will demonstrate the ability to list several links associated with the site and explain the importance of these links as future research tools.)

*Note: When you need to get back to the Japanese Internment Camp home page where the list is located push the "Back" button until you are there or retype the address of the home page (this is the first address that you typed in while completing step #1) in the "Go to: or Location: "box and push the enter or return key.

The answers for the activity above will vary. An example answer would be: List of Web Sites:

1. Manzanar Project by M. Leck and D. Lockett
2. The Nikkei Page by Russ Nakatsu
3. Poston Arizona Gallery
4. Internment Experience, an On-line Exhibit by Erin Kimura
5. Manzanar Relocation Camp from Earth Sun

Example of answer for descriptions of a Web Site:

Manzanar Relocation Camp from Earth Sun. This site talks about the history of the camps, focusing on the camp at Manzanar, CA. It offers photographs, poems, quotes, and other sites to visit to explain in different ways how the internment camps affected people. I could use this site to help me with my research for several reasons. First, I think that I could read the poem written by Margie Yasuko Motowaki Wong to got the attention of my audience at the beginning of my presentation. Second,

I could use the information at the site to help me describe what is being done to honor and commemorate the people that lived in the camps. Finally, I could put some of the photographs at this site on a poster board as a visual tool for my presentation.

Once you have completed step #5 you have finished the assignment. Staple your separate papers to this activity sheet. We will be discussing the information that you gained from the assignment in tomorrow's class period.