Pop Goes the Culture

Introduction

While visiting a European museum, an interesting display catches your eye - the museum is accepting design proposals for a new exhibit on American popular culture, from the 1960s to the present and beyond. You are overcome with nostalgia as you remember the days that helped to shape you and the entire nation...the songs, the sites, the sounds, the events, the movers and the shakers...

You then imagine how you, given the opportunity, would design this exhibit to share with the world the odyssey of American culture...how could you effectively capture the essence of those tumultuous times for the enjoyment and enlightenment of generations to follow?

The Task

You and your colleagues form a think tank for the task. Living in an information age, you decide to harness modern technology to accomplish your design - you will construct a Virtual Museum that will introduce the exhibit on site while simultaneously being available to viewers around the globe via the Internet. After much brainstorming, you and your team decide to "divide and conquer" the awesome task of communicating the highlights of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, as well as predict what lay ahead for the nation. To do this, you will accomplish the following:

• Form small groups for each decade,
• Brainstorm and research information pertinent for each decade,
• Furnish a brief "information sheet" for the respective decade which includes one song, television show and/or movie, one event, and one person that helped to shape or define that decade,
• Prepare a "summary statement" for the decade in one sentence.

Resources

Having a momentary lapse of memory? The following Internet resources, in addition to others you may find, may be valuable:

Time Magazine Looks at the Most Important Events and People of the 20th Century

Includes an overview of the 20th century, an interactive time line, and information on the entertainers, scientists and thinkers, the builders and the titans, and revolutionaries of the century.

The 1960's Through Encarta

Covers the art, entertainment, sports, people and events, lifestyles and science/technology of the 1960s.

All About the 1970s

Yahoo's comprehensive list of links, including people, media, and events.

Once Upon a Time in the Eighties

Collaborative hypertext project from students at the University of Virginia examining the politics and trends of the decade.

Events of the 1990s

A comprehensive collection of resources from Life's Online Index.

The Internet Movie Database

A searchable database of motion pictures and television series from the 1920's through the present.

The Process

Group Task

• Open the word processing file for your respective time period.
• Review the Internet resources listed above for information about the historical climate of your time period.
• Furnish the "fact sheet" and prepare a "synthesis statement" at the bottom of the page that may be supported by the elements you have identified.
• Save the file and close the document.

Individual Task

• After each group shares information pertinent to their decade, review each response for song, television show/movie, person and event. Consider the following questions:

What is the essence of each song, television show/movie, person and event?

Can you identify any trends or patterns from the 1960's through the 1990's?

Based on this information, what predictions can you make about trends for the new millenium?

Evaluation

• Have you supplied all the information required on the fact sheet?
• Is the information accurate?
• Can your synthesis statement be supported by the information you have identified?
• Have you employed conventional literary techniques (e.g. alliteration) to enhance your summary statement?

Conclusion

You have completed an odyssey through four decades of American life and experience. How accurately do you think you can predict the future? Can you see evidence that the trends you have predicted are starting to emerge? Do the elements of popular culture - media, art, music, entertainment - seem to actually influence the events of the nation, or are they merely a barometer of the times?

Based on a template from the WebQuest page. Modified October 27, 1999  by Leslie Accardo.

Lower Hudson Regional Information Center