World War II: Major Battles Project

Modern World History

The Task: To convey the goals, course, significance, and outcomes of the major battles of World War II to your classmates. Each small group will create either a PowerPoint presentation or a short video about one of the major battles of the war for presentation to the class.

The Process: In small groups of 2 or 3 each of you will participate in the creation of a PowerPoint for one of the major battles of WWII which will be presented to the class. In it you will answer the following questions:

Ø Which countries’ armies were involved in the battle?

Ø Who were the major commanders?

Ø Where did this battle take place – you should include a map that shows the battlefield.

Ø What is the background for this battle – why here, and why on that day?

Ø What were the goals - either strategic or personal - of the opposing forces for this particular battle – no, simply saying winning the war won’t cut it.

Ø How was the battle fought, i.e. with infantry forces, tanks, planes only, etc.?

Ø Who won? Did they gain their major goals/objectives?

Ø Why is this battle considered significant?

Each presentation will consist of a minimum of one slide per question, with accompanying visual assists (pictures, graphs, charts, etc.) You need not head the slides with the questions; it would be more beneficial for you to explain the story of the battle, incorporating the answers to the questions in your narrative.

Each slide will be designed so that there is appropriate contrast so that written material can be read easily, large enough font to ensure legibility, and specific information that you want your audience to retain.

Dates: In Class Time: Friday, February 5

Library Time: Monday and Tuesday, February 8-9

Due Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Presentations: Begin on February 10, and end on February 12

Battle Choices for this Project:

Ø Battle for France

Ø Battle of Britain

Ø Battle of Singapore

Ø Battle of El Alamein

Ø Operation Torch

Ø Invasion of Italy

Ø Battle of Stalingrad

Ø Battle of Kursk

Ø Battle of Saipan

Ø Iwo Jima

Ø Okinawa