Mongol WebQuest

For

Mr. Stanton's AP World History Class

INTRODUCTION

You have all seen either ads for or the film Mulan. Who is this horde she is fighting? Where do they come from? What do they want? They are the Mongols. You may have heard about Genghis Khan, the Forbidden City, the Taj Mahal or Xanadu. These are all related to the Mongols. Your job will be to learn about their culture and their effect on other cultures. They were the most powerful army of their time and no country could defeat them. The Mongols controlled the largest land empire in human history.

THE TASK

Answer the following Essential Questions:

What areas did they conquer?
What was the impact of the Mongols in the areas they conquered?

Group Organization:

Students form teams of anthropologists/researchers (see The Process section below).
Each team member should divide up their duties, as defined in the "Process" section.

Student Activities:

Each team must include the following 3 parts:

MAPS

BIOGRAPHIES

ANWERS TO KEY QUESTIONS

THE PROCESS

Students work in teams of 2

All team members work on completing the biographies, gathering of maps, completing the questions, and the completing the final document.

EACH GROUP SHOULD PRODUCE AND PRINT A DOCUMENT THAT HAS THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS

1. Four, one paragraph biographies, on 4 different famous Mongols.
2. Pictures or Drawing of the 4 famous Mongols. (If available)
3. Maps of the four famous Mongols conquest, & a map of the 4 Khanates (kingdoms). (That's 5 Maps Total)
4. Complete answers to the 10 Key Questions below.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING 10 KEY QUESTIONS

How did geography contribute to the success of the Mongols?
What was the nature of the military organization established by Genhis Kahn?
What forces led to the rise of the Mongols?
How were a nomadic people able to conquer more advanced civilizations?
What was the impact of the Mongol conquest of Russia and the Islamic heartlands?
Why was the Mongol defeat in Japan significant?
What were the positive aspects of the Mongol conquest?
What was the impact of the Mongol conquest on Chinese society and political structure?
How did the conquest of Timur-i Lang (Tamerlane) contrast with those of the Mongols?
What forces led to the fall of the Mongols?

Please Note: You need to use Microsoft Word to put your final Document together. If you do not know how to attach pictures to a word document, or if you have difficulty doing so, you may print your pictures and maps separately from your biographies and the answers to the ten questions.

RESOURCES

A. PRINT RESOURCES

POOLESVILLE HIGH SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER:

MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES:

B. INTERNET LINKS TO USE:

Ancient China: The Mongolian Empire -

[Online] available http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/later_imperial_china/yuan.html

Information about the Yuan dynasty in China from 1279-1368.

Genghis Kahn

[Online] available http://www.nationalgeographic.com/genghis/index.html

The National Geographic Homepage takes you on a trail to learn about the great Genghis Kahn and the history of Mongolia.

Genghis Kahn:Treasures of Inner Mongolia

[Online] available http://www.pma.edmonton.ab.ca/vexhibit/genghis/intro.htm

Top Biography has online biographies on many famous people.

Kublai Kahn

[Online] available http://members.tripod.com/improvized/kubla.html

The Mongols Book

[Online] available http://www.questia.com/Index.jsp?CRID=mongols&OFFID=se1

Type in "The Mongols" at the search prompt and you will get a great wealth of information on the Mongols.

The Mongol Empire

[Online] available http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2532/index.html

A well researched website that includes a timeline, maps, an overview of the empire, biographical information on Genghis Khan, and also information on where the Mongols are now.

Mongol Maps
[Online] available http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/mongol1.html
Good maps to use for this project from Hyperhistory.com.

Mongolian Interlude
[Online] available http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/imperial3.html
The subjugation of China by the Mongols

National Geographic Map
[Online] available http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/genghis/trail.html
Excellent maps of the Mongolian empire from National Geographic.

The Great Mongol Khans
[Online] available http://www.friesian.com/mongol.htm
A list of Mongol rulers.

Pax Mongolica
[Online] available http://www.silk-road.com/artl/paxmongolica.shtml
An excellent overview of the effect of the Mongols on the Chinese history by Prof. Daniel C. Waugh, University of Washington, Seattle for the Silkroad Foundation.

The Realm of The Mongols
[Online] available http://www.coldsiberia.org/ - General information about the Mongols, written and maintained by Per Inge Oestmoen, Norway

Yuan Dynasty
[Online] available http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHEMPIRE/YUAN.HTM
A brief history of the Yuan Dynasty.

Encyclopaedia Britannica
[Online] available http://www.school.eb.com/ - Online encyclopedias are a great place to start your research.

Background Notes

[Online] available http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/mongolia_0498_bgn.html

Information on Mongolia From the US Department of State: A compilation of demographic information including a concise history of the country. Document date: April, 1998

EVALUATION

Students will be evaluated according to the following:

INDIVIDUAL GRADE FOR COMPONENT
GROUP GRADE FOR FINAL PRODUCT
FINAL ASSESSMENT UNIT II TEST

THE CONCLUSION

I hope that you have enjoyed your journey back to the ancient Mongolian Empire and that you were able to answer the essential questions. You should now have an understanding of how the Mongol Empire became the largest continuous land empire the world has ever seen.

SPECIAL NOTE
This lesson is based on one found at: http://www.gananda.k12.ny.us/library/mshslibrary/mongolwq.htm
A special thank you goes out to it's originator.