Vietnam War Web-Based Discovery Activity
Purpose of the Activity:
The purpose of this activity is simple: I want you to become more familiar with the content of this unit, and to do so by going beyond what is provided to you in your textbook. My hope is that you will not only learn some new things that will help you to solidify your comprehension of the concepts but will, as well, learn how to use the Internet on your own in the future to “dig deeper” into topics about which we will be learning. There is so much more to what we learn in class than what is provided to you in our books and my lectures. It is now time to go and experience it!
The Task:
Access as many of the following websites as you can and in any order that you would like. In some cases you will need to record information, while, for others, all you need to do is search through and enjoy the material. Be ready to discuss at a later time what you experience during today’s activity.
Accessing the Sites:
Go to my SharePoint Page.
Go to “Student Documents” and find the “Decades of Change” folder.
Click “Vietnam War Web-Based Activity (revised 11-12)”.
Move the cursor over the following links and right-click the mouse. Select “open hyperlink” to access
the site.
The Sites
Site #1:
A. This is a somewhat lengthy (17 minutes) overview of the Vietnam War. It might be worth a visit. Fast-
forward as needed.
Site #2:
A. This is another very decent site about Vietnam. The link shown above will take you directly to the part of the site that
provides a timeline of the war.
- Use this page to navigate to the other useful parts of the site. See the menu that is shown on the left side of
the page. The topics include:
- Timeline
- Who’s Who
- In the Trenches
- Primary Sources
- Maps
- Reflections
Site #3:
A. This site provides access to some decent information about guerilla-style warfare, as well as information about the
air war over Vietnam.
1. Use the menu tabs below where it says “Battlefield Vietnam”. Get to subtopics by clicking the menu tabs
below that material.
Site #4:
- Scroll down and click “History and Government” from the menu of topics shown on the right side of the screen.
- Next, click “U.S. History” from the menu.
- A menu of topics will be shown in the “window” to the right.
- Scroll through those topics almost all the way down to the bottom.
- Find the information labeled as “Vietnam” under the headings about “Eisenhower” and “Imperial Presidency”.
Site#5:
A. Scroll about half-way down to find an interactive map (with questions) about the Vietnam War.
Site #6:
A. This is another excellent, very well organized website that provides you with both an excellent overview of the Vietnam War, as
well as very specific information about a variety of Vietnam War-related topics. Again, this site is definitely worth a look.
1. Scroll down the page to find decent information about:
- chemical warfare (Agent Orange and Napalm)- Negotiated Peace
- guerilla warfare- Operation Rolling Thunder
- Gulf of Tonkin - Tet Offensive
- Ho Chi Minh Trail- Vietnam Protest Movement
- My Lai (Massacre)- Vietnam War (overview)
- Vietnamization
Site #7:
- This site provides some interesting and straight-forward information about the Vietnam War. It should not take
long to view all of it but, nonetheless, it appears to be worth a look!
Site #8:
A.
- This link shows you a graphic organizer that provides a very decent overview of the war.
B.
- This link provides a graphic organizer that gives a decent overview of the Vietnam War’s effects.
Site #9:The “old” textbook’s website.
a) a link to practice multiple-choice quiz
b) a link to a flip-card (note card) activity regarding Vietnam-related key concepts
Vietnam Web-Based Activity
You will be scored for this assignment using the following rubric. Each category is worth 4 points for a total of 8 points. This score will then be multiplied by 2 for a grand total of 16 possible points. This will count as a 16 point quiz grade.
Assignment Rubric
4 / 3 / 2 / 1Interpretation / Answers are mostly correct and demonstrate excellent comprehension. / Answers are often correct and demonstrate good comprehension. / Answers are occasionally correct and demonstrate an incomplete comprehension of the topic. / Answers do not reflect accurate comprehension of the topic(s).
Detail / Answers are mostly complete, extensive, and include many details. / Answers are usually complete and include several details. / Answers contain some details. / Answers lack the required detail or are incomplete.
Total Score = ______/16 points
Please complete the following assignment while you visit the Cold War-related websites during our web-based activity.
- Answer each of the following questions.
A. What happens when the government loses the support of the public?
1. Be sure to relate this to the overall topic of the Vietnam War.
B. Did America move closer or further away from its founding ideals in the three decades after World War II?
2. Complete the following graphic organizer for the concept of the “Vietnam War” (make that the “Title of Event”).
3. Complete the following graphic organizer for the concept of “Tet Offensive” (make that the “Title of Event”).”
4. Complete the following graphic organizers using the video presentations that are on
5. Identify important concepts associated with the topic of the “Vietnam War” that you learned from today’s lesson.
6.Cause and Effect
Topic: Decreased Support for the War
Topic: Vietnamization
7.Opposing Viewpoints
- Complete the following graphic organizer. Focus on the question:
“According to the “Hawks” and “Doves”, what were the primary reasons for (“pro” and
against (“con”) being involved in the Vietnam conflict?
Pros (“Hawks”): Cons: (“Doves”)
1.1.
2.2.
3.3.
8.a) What information that you came across surprised you the most? How so?
b) So far, what is your favorite topic related to the Vietnam War? Why? Be specific.
c) Identify 3 interesting, surprising, or useful statistics concerning the war that you found during the activity.
d) Identify 3 new things that you learned as a result of the activity that you did not previously know.
9. “One way the people or events learned about in today’s lesson have impacted our
society today …______
______
______
______
______
______.
10.Complete the following graphic organizer as a means of “wrapping-up” our web-based activity
about the “Early Cold War”.