Name_______________________________________ Date __________________ Period________

Cubic Imperialism
Description of the Project:
For this project, you will research a country that was taken over because a country decided to expand its empire. While
you are researching, you will consider 3 important research questions to discover more about this country’s experiences
with the country that took control of it. After you have sufficiently completed the essential research on your country,
you will create a cubic display of what you’ve discovered.

Why an Imperialism Project?

The Age of Imperialism was a crucial time period in world history that was met with the clash of cultures and dominion
by powerful nations over others. The positive and negative effects of imperialism still are evident in societies today and
it also continues to occur in present times.

Project Process:

Step 1: Select a Country

Most countries in the world have been taken over by another country at some point during their history. Therefore, you
may choose any country to focus your research on, as long as you can find evidence of imperialism. However, keep in
mind that choosing obscure countries that few have heard about will not provide for you an abundance of resources
available to use in our school library as well as other libraries nearby. Your country choice is registered on the padlet
site for your period.

Step 2: Research and Sources

Research:
1. You will have multiple days in class to research your assigned country and compile the necessary information in
order to complete the project successfully within two weeks. The due date is Wednesday, December 14.
2. You are expected to be actively researching during class time. These research days are your only opportunities
to research in school and the rest of the research will be done on your own time.
3. Using the research questions to guide your thinking about which kinds of information you’ll be discovering.

Sources:
1. When looking up sources for your project, they must all be cited in the resource log which will be turned in.
2. You are required to have at least five separate sources of information for this project, including our textbooks
and CultureGrams.
3. You will be assessed on your ability to locate scholarly sources and explain what makes them credible and
reliable. (not Wikipedia, Answers.com, Yahoo Answers, Ask.com, etc.)

Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of WWW Resources

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Anyone, in theory, can publish on the Web; therefore, it is imperative for users of the Web to develop
a critical eye to evaluate the credibility of Internet information. Searching for sources on the WWW
involves using a search engine, a directory, or some combination of these two. Because there is so
much information on the Web, good and bad, finding what you want is not an exact science and can
be time consuming. According to Nicholas C. Burbules, "....the Web is not an ordinary reference
system; it poses some unique and, in many respects, unprecedented conditions that complicate
the task of sorting out dependable from undependable information--and even complicates the
notion that we have a clear sense of that distinction. How to differentiate credible from
fraudulent information is not a new problem, but unraveling these in the context of a vast
rapidly changing networked system is" (Paradoxes of the Web: The Ethical Dimensions of
Credibility, Library Trends, Wntr 2001 v49 i3 p441, Introduction).

Developing a keen sense of the credibility of sources, based on such clues as connection of author to
the subject, audience, source of publication, and documentation of supporting evidence, can also help
you evaluate print and other types of sources. Though many search engines rank material according to
their idea of what is relevant, that doesn't mean the material is relevant to want you want or is reliable.
These guidelines are to help you become familiar with various types of Web resources and the
reliability of the information.

1. Is there any evidence that the author of the Web information has some authority in the field about
which she or he is providing information? What are the author's qualifications, credentials and
connections to the subject?

2. With what organization or institution is the author associated? Is there a link to the sponsoring
organization, a contact number and/or address or e-mail contact? A link to an association does not
necessarily mean that the organization approved the content.

3. Does the author have publications in peer reviewed (scholarly and professional) publications, on the
Web or in hard copy? (If an author does not have peer reviewed articles published, this does not mean
that she or he does not have credible information, only that there has been no professional "test" of the
author's authority on that subject.)

4. Are there clues that the author/s are biased? For example, is he/she selling or promoting a product?
Is the author taking a personal stand on a social/political issue or is the author being objective? Bias is
not necessarily "bad," but the connections should be clear.

5. Is the Web information current? If there are a number of out-of-date links that do not work or old
news, what does this say about the credibility of the information?

6. Does the information have a complete list of works cited, which reference credible, authoritative
sources? If the information is not backed up with sources, what is the author's relationship to the
subject to be able to give an "expert" opinion?

7. Can the subject you are researching be fully covered with WWW sources or should print sources
provide balance? Much scholarly research is still only available in traditional print form. It is safe to
assume that if you have limited background in a topic and have a limited amount of time to do your
research, you may not be able to get the most representative material on the subject. So be wary of
making unsupportable conclusions based on a narrow range of sources.

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8. On what kind of Web site does the information appear? The site can give you clues about the
credibility of the source.

Here are some types of Web sites:

 Personal Home Pages - maintained by individuals. They are often informal. Individuals can
post their resumes, link to favorite sites, showcase their interests and ideas. Some personal
Web sites also serve as professional sites. For example, many professors publish their syllabi,
course material and, in some cases, their scholarship, on their personal Web pages.
Entrepreneurs often advertise their services on "home" pages.

 Special interest sites - maintained by non-profit organizations or activists dealing with special
issues, such as environmental concerns, legalization of marijuana, etc. They can be relatively
mainstream or radical in interests and vary widely in credibility of information. Special interest
sites are, by their nature, biased. When using such sources, your readers should be aware of the
source's special interest.

 Professional sites - maintained by institutions/organizations, sometimes by individuals. They

can include research, reference sources, fact sheets. Many institutions provide such services to
the public. The credibility of the institution or professional credential of the individual
providing the facts gives clues as to the reliability of the information. Is the site just linking to
sources? If so, the credibility of the information is connected to the originating sites.

 News and Journalistic sites (E-zines) - which include national, international news, online
newspapers, magazines, and "homegrown" Web publications. Anyone can publish his or her
own "news," on the Web. What do you know about, or what can you find out about, the
reputation of the periodical? Is it an electronic version of a credible print publication? As in
print - just because information is published does not necessarily mean it is true. If a periodical
article has an ISSN number (International Standard Serial Number), it will probably have more
authority.

 Commercial sites - Although many legitimate businesses have Websites, some are not
legitimate. Companies, with good and bad reputations, are in the business of making money
and acquiring and keeping customers. They are naturally biased in favor of their own products,
so watch out for inflated claims for performance and quality. Companies will not showcase
their competitors' products. If you are, for example, comparing products, get impartial reviews,
not company information. Many entrepreneurs use "rented" Web space to create their own
Web sites to sell their services or products - buyer beware! Can you track the reputation of the
company?

9. Deconstruct the Web address (URL) to find out the source of the information (and the server on
which it resides). What do the different parts of a URL, divided by "/" symbols mean? URL addresses
are hierarchical. For example, the URL address:
"http://www.gmu.edu/facstaff/policy/administrative/60.html", broken down into its components, is
(from the lowest to highest): the file "University Policy #60" - Responsible Use of Computing
("60.html"), is linked in a Web page called "University Administration Policies" ("administrative").
The "University Administration Policies" page is linked on a Web page called the "Faculty/Staff
Information" ("facstaff"), which a link on MasonLink the GMU home page, which server is called:
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 "www.gmu.edu."

Web sites serve different purposes. There are reliable and unreliable Web sites in most categories of
Web sites. A personal Web site, which expresses the interests and biases of its author, is a legitimate
use of a Web site, as long as the Web site owner is up front about his or her identity. Like any other
source, the authority of the author helps determine the value of the information. Be wary of sites
which publish information without letting you know if the information is a personal viewpoint. If the
information is not a personal viewpoint, does the author tell you the original source? Is the original
source credible? Web sites can masquerade as one type but may have a hidden agenda. Any group can
give itself an official sounding name or logo.
Some Common Domain Names

.edu - education sites

.gov - government sites

.org - organization sites

.com - commercial sites

.net - network infrastructures

There are other extensions, such as the abbreviation of a country,

ie. .jp for Japan
The Internet addresses (Domain Names), which end in such extensions as those above, correlate to
the server which Is the "home base" for that Internet address. It gets confusing when dealing with
personal Web pages. Independent providers, such as AOL, are not responsible for the content of
individual's Web pages, anymore than a university is responsible for the Web pages of students
(Though, in extreme cases, you can be cut off if your content does not fit certain standards). If a
person named "Doe" had a Web page on America Online, the address might be
http://www.erols.com/doe/. Even though the site is commercial (AOL), Mr./Ms. Doe has bought
Web space for a personal Web page. Some universities, like GMU, provide Web space to faculty
and student, so personal Web pages can reside on an education site.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Directions: Use these 3 research questions in the process of finding information on your assigned country.
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1. How was your country imperialized?
a) Who took control of your country?
The British took over Kenya

b) When did they take over?

1888-1963

c) Why did they take over? What did your country have that was worth taking over?
The British wanted to take over because Kenya had people they could use as slaves and it was outlawed in
Britain so they could use them in Kenya for farming.

d) How did your parent country take over your country? Provide detailed information.
How they were going to was that some were already living there and then little by little they came in on trade
ships discreetly soon there was lots of British inside the country and when the revealed themselves Kenya could
do little to resist.

e) How was your country treated under its colonial power? Provide real life examples - an
answer simply stating “good” or bad” is not acceptable.
They were treated very badly there were slave camps and other things. They were very harsh on them and if they didn’t
do what the British wanted they would be killed. When they were working they worked tell exestuation and only got fed
the minimal amount to keep them going.

2. How did your country go about gaining Independence from the colonial parent country?
a) When did your country gain independence?

1963

b) Who was involved in the process of independence? (Countries, certain people, etc.)

How they went about this is they had a rebellion some tried the peaceful approach others were violent. Also
hunters went around teaching land workers their techniques. Also some tribes helped that usually would stay
out of it because they did not want violence the reason they helped is because hated the idea of themselves
being ruled.

c) How did your country gain independence? Be detailed here in explaining the steps as to
How your country became independent from their colonial power.
Some steps were that they Mau Mau ( A tribe) had an uprising and started rebelling and tried to kill other British then
the other people in Kenya started joining in after they had a war the British did not give up as easily as they usually
because they needed the slaves so they brought back 20,000 more soldiers. Keep in mind lots of Kenyans were dead
after the first
War and the population before the war was only about 40 million most were farmers and did not have any sort of
weapons. After the second battle and lots of struggling they gained independence.
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3. What are several positive and negative effects of imperialism on your country?
a) Explain several ways that imperialism affected your country positively.
Some ways that it impacted the country positively is that they gained independence and from then on they were
much more independent. It also helped people grow and stand for themselves. Finally it also showed other
countries that they were independent and they were respected some more.

b) Explain several ways that imperialism affected your country negatively.

Many people died fighting in the war. Without the war it would have probably been better. All of their livestock
and crops were destroyed so it was hard to gain a normally live again.

Research Word Bank

Directions: When doing research on the internet you have to search with key words, key phrases, and/or key questions
in order to find information that is relevant to your task. Look at the 3 research questions and brainstorm a list of
INITIAL words, phrases, and questions that might lead you to your treasure trove of information! Be sure to include the
name of the country you are researching. Note that once you start researching you will begin to find specific names of
people, places, and events related to the questions and this knowledge will lead you to REVISE your RESEARCH WORD
BANK.

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Step 3: Answer all 3 questions (plus their sub-questions) in paragraph format typed on a separate sheet of paper with
margins that will fit the size of your cube.

Step 4: Design a Cube between 216 and 1728 cubic inches:

1. 3 sides must explain your answers to the three research questions, one per side.
2. 2 sides must each include at least 2 visuals with captions including a map that illustrate these research questions
3. 1 side must include a project title and author as well as a color, symbol, and image – each with a caption to
explain the effects of imperialism on your country
4. Each side must be colorful and creative

Imperialism Cubic Rubric Name THEO____________________________ Period

7______
10 points per side of the cube, plus 20 points for resource credibility analysis and notes, and 10 points for overall
creativity, color, and design. Score your effort, depth, and quality of each aspect below, and reason with evidence to
explain using specific details why you would give yourself that score.

_25_____/30 points Thorough and detailed explanations of each of the research questions in paragraph form
____8___/10 Describe how your country was imperialized
I think that I gave thorough information but could have made it a little more detailed and precise.

___8____/10 Describe how your country broke free from imperialization

I think that I gave thorough information but could have made it a little more detailed and precise.

__9_____/10 Describe 2 positive and negative results from your country’s imperialism
I think I did really well explaining the pros and cons.

__16____/20 points Pictures/map – Your pictures must illustrate the story of imperialism within your country and
you must be able to provide explanation in a caption of the importance of each picture along with a key for the map.
____8___/10 Side 4 – identify illustrations first, then score and reason with evidence
Could use more description.

____8___/10 Side 5
Could use more description.

__19____/20 points Resource credibility analysis and notes – see separate rubric
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 Circle the boxes on the back of this page that best fit your analysis, then explain your reasoning for
your score out of 20 here:
19 because I think I really did well explain we they were credible.

___8___/10 points Color/Symbol capturing the effects of imperialism within your country
Score the final side of your cube and explain your reasoning here.
More reasoning

__8____/10 points Creativity – Your cube should be colorful, appealing, neat, and creative. Explain scoring below.
Could use more color.

____76__/90 Project Total

RESOURCE LOG
Title of Author/Edito Date Date URL
Article r Publishe Viewe
d d
#1 12-5- http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom
16 /kenya.htm

Credibilit Credibility Reasoning (explain your evaluation of the resources credibility using the given criteria and
y rating specific evidence from the article/resource).
(draw an x
on the I think that this website is credible for many reason. One reason is that this website has other topics and
spectrum look pretty professional. Also I have crossed checked it with other sites that are credible. Also this website
from not
has many other links that lead to other information on Kenya.
credible to
credible)

Not credible
Credible

Notes

Title of Author/Edito Date Date URL

Article r Publishe Viewe
d d
8
#2 Francesca January 12-5-16 https://history105.libraries.wsu.edu/spring2015/2015/01/19/briti
19 2015 sh-rule-in-kenya/
Bates

Credibilit Credibility Reasoning (explain your evaluation of the resources credibility using the given criteria and
y rating specific evidence from the article/resource).
(draw an x
on the I think that this site is credible. The reason is because this is a school that this was a project to help
spectrum educate people. Also the web address has Edu which stands for education. Also the sources information
from not
matches many other sources. Finally at the bottom it show all the people and other sources it got its
credible to
information from. This is important because they interviewed many people from the newspaper and
credible)
people from Yale on this subject.
Not credible
Credible

Notes

Title of Author/Edito Date Date URL

Article r Publishe Viewe
d d
#3 12-8-16 http://www.kenyarep-jp.com/kenya/history_e.html

Credibilit Credibility Reasoning (explain your evaluation of the resources credibility using the given criteria and
y rating specific evidence from the article/resource).
(draw an x I think this source is credible. The reason is because I have crossed checked this with other sources and
on the the information matches. Also this whole website is dedicated to Kenya so it has currency maps and other
spectrum things which are accurate too. Also with all the information it is very thorough and is also helpful. This is
from not
why it think it is a credible source.
credible to
credible)

Not credible
Credible

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Notes

Title of Author/Edito Date Date URL

Article r Publishe Viewe
d d
#4 12-9- http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?
16 historyid=ad21

Credibilit Credibility Reasoning (explain your evaluation of the resources credibility using the given criteria and
y rating specific evidence from the article/resource).
(draw an x
on the
spectrum I think that this site is credible. The reasons because the information matches all the other sites that I
from not
have. Also this sight is a history site and as many other subjects too. Also this website looks pretty
credible to
professional and looks like it is pretty credible. Also all its information has thorough and precise. This is
credible)
why I think this site is credible.
Not credible
Credible

Notes

Title of Author/Edito Date Date URL

Article r Publishe Viewe
d d
#5

Credibilit Credibility Reasoning (explain your evaluation of the resources credibility using the given criteria and
y rating specific evidence from the article/resource).

10
(draw an x
on the
spectrum
from not
credible to
credible)

Not credible
Credible

Notes

Title of Author/Edito Date Date URL

Article r Publishe Viewe
d d
#6

Credibilit Credibility Reasoning (explain your evaluation of the resources credibility using the given criteria and
y rating specific evidence from the article/resource).
(draw an x
on the
spectrum
from not
credible to
credible)

Not credible
Credible

Notes

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Imperialism Research Project - Resource Log
Exemplary (20-18) Proficient (17-16) Partly Proficient Incomplete (13-0)
(15-14)
Considering 4+ 3 2 0-1
Different
Viewpoints –
Number of
resources (4 points) (3 points) (2 points) (1-0 points)
Building Uses a variety of Uses 2-3 criteria Uses the same Doesn’t use given
explanations – criteria (4+) for for assessing criteria for criteria.
Breadth of criteria assessing credibility. evaluation and
credibility. reasoning of each
resource.
(8 points) (6 points) (4 points) (2-0 points)
Reasoning with Includes specific General evidence Vague evidence Some/all rating
evidence – evidence and and/or reasoning and reasoning. and/or reasoning is
Specificity of reasoning. missing from the
evidence and resource log.
reasoning
(8 points) (6 points) (4 points) (2-0 points)

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