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Bratwurst, Oktoberfest, and Pretzels are all images which come to mind when one hears the word Bavaria. Nevertheless, Bavaria is much more than men in Lederhosen and women wearing Dirndls. Bavaria is Germany's oldest and largest state. It is a state famous for its unique blend of tradition and technology; a state which boasts Germany's most plentiful agricultural output along side of being the headquarters of BMW and Germany's Film Institute.

The goal of this WebQuest is to engage each student in a pursuit of the complexity of the culture and inner workings of the state of Bavaria. What makes Bavaria so unique? How do Bavarians differ from the Germans who live in other parts of the nation?

Each of you will take a virtual tour of this state and will derive an appreciation for all things bayerisch.

The state ministers of Bavaria are concerned because tourism to Bavaria has been dropping off the past few years. They fear that the reason for this is that they haven't kept up with the computer age. They do not have a web page to inform the world about their state.

The state ministers have hired your team to come to Bavaria on a fact-finding mission. Your team will use this information to devise a web page to draw visitors to Bavaria. Your team will focus on all aspects of the state, including the history, political life, economy, culture, geographical features, and offerings for tourists. The web page you develop for them should answer the question:

Why would someone want to spend two-weeks in Bavaria?

Because Bavaria is a complex state, it is impossible to look at it from one perspective. Tourists come in all shapes, sizes and interests and the purpose of the web page you design is to appeal to as many people as possible. The plan, then, is to divide into different areas of expertise and to look from different viewpoints. Use the descriptions given in the table to choose the role you are most interested in. Two people will work on each role.

Student Roles	Goals of this Perspective
Historian	Present the history of the state from the beginnings to modern times.
Geographer	Present the location in Europe, major cities, population, climate, ethnic groups, and major landforms of the state.
Travel Agent	Highlight the major sightseeing places within the state, including offerings for sports and recreation.
Sociologist	Investigate the museums, festivals, monuments, dialect, regional costumes, and local delicacies.
Politician	Describe the political atmosphere of the state, including the major political parties, government type and structure, social programs, state song, state crest, and state flag.
Businessman	Describe the type of economy of Bavaria, the employment rate, types of manufacturing, agricultural production, transportation, and methods of protecting the environment.

Now that you have chosen a role for yourself and your teammates, you are ready to become an expert and to prepare your particular page of the web site. For each role, there is a set of resources and instructions to help you in your pursuit of expertise. When you are ready to begin, click on your role below and link to your page of instructions.

 

Historian	Geographer
Travel Agent	Sociologist
Politician	Businessman

 

Up to this point, you have been working in pairs on a particular aspect of the State of Bavaria. Now it is the job of your web page creation team to design that beautiful web page for the State of Bavaria. You should consider the following:

• What will you put on the home page that captures the spirit of this German state?
• What pictures and links will you include on your particular page that best represent the information you have located?
• How will you convince the State Ministry that "your" page is the one that will cure their tourism woes?

 

Once the group has worked together and designed the entire web site, a oral presentation of the site will be made to the "State Ministry" (fellow classmates). Will your design be chosen?

All students will be evaluated according to how well the web page incorporates details about Bavaria, the technological attributes of the web page, language mechanics, group cooperation, and the oral presentation to the group. For further details, check out the rubric.

We hope that by designing your web site that you have a greater appreciation for the complexity and uniqueness of the State of Bavaria. You have viewed Bavaria from a variety of angles. You know more about the area than that it is famous for a huge festival called Oktoberfest. Hopefully, you have gained an insight into the mind of the Bavarian. You have read the stories behind the majestic castles! Perhaps you would also like to travel to Bavaria? It's only an airplane ride away...