Problem Based Learning Assignment
General Overview of the Assignment: For the first two assignments, members of your
group/team are leaving Europe and coming to North America. You must decide to where
you will immigrate. You must decide why you will immigrate where you choose and
why you will not immigrate to other places. In order to do this you will need to know the
history, environment, geography, society, religious make-up, etc. of the area you choose.
You will be graded as a group by how well your group solves the problem. Some time
will be given for in-class preparation but other time will be required outside of class.
Each group will make a presentation to the class. The presentations should be ten
minutes long with a twelve minute maximum
Colonial Immigration: It is 1750 and you are immigrating to the colonies from Europe.
The members of your team are not wealthy; you are coming as a common immigrant.
You must decide in which of the colonies you would settle and why. The colonies
themselves can be divided into regions of similar colonies: New England (New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut), Middle Colonies (New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware), Chesapeake Colonies (Maryland, Virginia), and
Deep South (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia). You may not choose Virginia or
Massachusetts. Material for this assignment can be found in the textbook in chapters 2-4.
This assignment, with class presentation, will be worth 25 points.
Immigration in 1850: It is 1850 and you are immigrating to the US from Europe. The
members of your team are not wealthy; you are coming as a common immigrant. You
must decide in which of the three sections you would settle and why. The three sections
are the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Frontier. In solving this problem you should
look at each region as well as the history of the United States prior to the Civil War.
Material for this assignment can be found in the textbook in chapters 10-12 and 14-16.
This assignment, with class presentation, will be worth 50 points.
Coming of the Civil War. This is a shorter assignment without the class presentation.
Each group will answer the question “Was the Civil War destined to occur?” To do this
the groups will need to look at events, cultures, and sectional development of the regions
before 1861. The group will prepare a handout similar to those given out in the two
earlier PBL assignments. The handout can be done in a bulleted format and should be
helpful in preparing for the final exam. New material for this assignment can be found in
the textbook in chapters 14-16 and in material already covered in sectionalism as well as
lecture material. This assignment is worth ten points.