Welcome Irish Family to your adventure!  Decide what family member you will be during this journey.  For example, are you a sister, brother, mother, aunt, uncle, or baby?   After you choose your family member write down a brief description[age, what you look like, clothes etc.]  You are an Irish family that wants to go to the "new land" that everyone is talking about.  After writing your questions down from below, click here   and answer them. 

 Hint:  Scan and scroll down the page after clicking the link and look for the words, "The Golden Door"  To get back to this page, click on your BACK button.

*** Remember write complete sentences and don't forget your name!***

1.  What country is your family coming from?

2.  What happened in your country in 1845 - 1850 to make your family want to go to America?

3.  How did the answer to question number 2 make you feel?

4.  Making sure that your name is on your paper, label your folder Ireland Family, and put all of your papers in there.  Hand it in to the teacher.

1.  Go to the atlas and find Ireland.  Find a city where your family comes from and find the longitude and latitude of this city.

2. On a piece of paper, write down the longitude and latitude of your city and its name.  See what details you can find out about it.   You might refer to an encyclopedia too.  Try to answer these questions:

    What is the land like?

    What is the climate like?

Find out all you can about your city and write it down. 

Together, as a family, draw a picture of your city with your family in it.

3.  Put your papers in your folder and hand it back in to your teacher.

You will be writing a journal entry before you start your trip to the "new land".  Click on the following link and read it carefully.  As you read, be thinking of how you and your family felt in those hard times.  You may want to jot down some notes as you read.  Click here!  To get back to this page click on your BACK button.

Click on the following links and take a look at some of the pictures. Some of these pictures will take a few minutes to download.  Please be patient and don't forget to click on you BACK button to get back to this page.

Picture 1   Picture 2   Picture 3  

Picture 4  Picture 5

After reading and viewing pictures of the Irish famine, you can tell that there were lots of hard times in Ireland.  On a new piece of paper, write a journal entry of how it felt to you and your family just before you decide to immigrate to America.  Ask yourself these questions before writing:

    How did I feel when I saw my family starving?

    How did I feel when we couldn't find any food like potatoes to eat?

    How did I feel about leaving the land that I was born in?

    What hopes and dreams does America hold for me and my family?

Now at the top of your paper write:

Journal Entry Number 1.  Famine in Ireland

Now you are ready to write your first journal entry.  Be creative!   Really picture yourself back in Ireland at this time.  Capture your audience's attention! Be sure to include the longitude and latitude of where your journey started in Ireland.

You and your family are now sailing to America. Take a look at a globe. Find out where you started before you set sail to America.  Check to make sure your longitude and latitude lines are correct.  Now, find where you will be landing.   Have one of your family members write the numbers of the longitude and latitude lines down on a piece of scrap paper.  One family member put their finger on the Ireland city and another member put their finger on the American city that you will be porting.  Find the half way mark between the two cities.  Write the longitude and latitude numbers down.

Below is a link to the picture of your boat. Study the faces of the adults and children when looking at the picture. Before clicking on that picture, remember to hit you "Back" button at the top left hand side to get "back" here.  Here is the link for your picture.

1.  Get out a piece of paper.  This will be your second journal entry.  Title it Journal Entry 2:  On a Ship to America.

2.  Think about what it is like for  you and your family on this ship.  Here are few questions you might want to think about before writing:

    What is it like to be on a ship for days with so many people?

    Was there plenty of food for everyone?

    Was there any sickness around you?

    What did you do for entertainment?

After thinking about these questions, and perhaps some of your own, click on the link at the end of this paragraph, and write in your journal your feelings about sailing on this ship.  When you are finished, make sure your name is on it, put it in your family's folder and return it to your teacher.  Click here now!

Finally!  Your ship has landed in America.  Everyone is so excited. Click on the following links and read about how the Irish were treated when they got off the ship and set foot on American land. 

Be sure to make note of where they landed to see if it is where you predicted your ship would land.

1830 - 1890 Treatment of the Irish    Process of Entering America

A Picture of Your Ship Landing

Is life not what you thought it was going to be?  Was this welcome what you thought it would be?  How did you feel when you read the sign "Irish need not apply"? 

After thinking about those questions, title your last journal entry:   Journal Entry 3:  My Ship Has Landed.  Now write in your journal about your feelings and the problems you are having.  Compare and contrast those problems and feelings that you had in Ireland.  Use the globe to find out your points of longitude and latitude.  Be sure to mention them in your journal. 

Remember, you can always refer back to the links as you are writing.

Put your entries in the folder and return it to your teacher.

1.  Get out your journal entries.

2.  Proof read each one and make corrections.

3.  Get 4 pieces of white construction paper.  Get crayons, colored pencils, markers, pencils, whatever you need for drawing. 

4.  Create a cover for your journal.  This cover should include findings of what you found out during your immigration to America. Create a title for it.   Make sure your name is on it also. 

5.  With the other 3 pieces of paper, create a picture for each journal entry.  Put all the detail you can in your picture. Remember, a good picture can tell a story.

6. Put your papers in this order:

    A. Cover picture  [with a title and your name]                                                 

    B.  Picture about your first journal entry

    C.  First journal entry

    D.  Picture about your second journal entry

    E.  Second journal entry

    F.  Picture about your third journal entry

    G.  Third journal entry

    H.  Back cover sheet

Glue the picture that your group created on the front of your folder.   Hand it in to the your teacher.

Your teacher will be making sure that you have your journal entries in the correct order and looking at their contents.  Also, your teacher will be taking a look to see what you included in your pictures you created. 

After your long journey from Ireland, you now come to realize that life was not easy for immigrants and their journey was not like a journey we could take to day.   They suffered many hardships before, during and after their quest for America.

Things to think about:

• Did immigrants from Africa and China experience the same hardships? 
• How could you compare and contrast their differing experiences?
• What sources could you use to find these facts out?
• What would the time line look like for all three [Irish, African and Chinese] immigrants look like?
• How would their journal entries differ?

The End

This webquest was created by Amy Ford, technology resource teacher, for the Fayette County Schools. Please email me if you have any questions or comments aaford@fayette.k12.ky.us All graphics were used under the assumption that they are royalty free.  If this is not the case, please contact me, and it will be changed.