Drinking and Driving
A Webquest
by Heather Ban Norman
11th Grade

Bardstown is a very beautiful and serene town with a population of 9,000 people. This town is best known for its major distillery. Alcohol beverage production is the livelihood of the town, making alcohol easy for teens to get. The punishment for alcohol consumption and purchases is minimal. The town is in conflict because of a recent DUI accident, in which three children ages 6, 8, and 10, were killed while walking home from school, by a 16-year-old drunk driver. This was a very serious accident and if it goes to trial, then it would affect everyone in the town. Many families' income is produced by alcohol. Many are employed by the brewery or affiliated to it in some way or another. The town is in an upheaval over the trial. 

You are a well known group of lawyers coming from Minnesota as the prosecution team. Your persuasive skills and knowledge about the facts are in the top of your fields. This is the reason the city has hired you. Your roles as lawyers from the hired law firm is to research your assigned point of view of the four (4) characters and help to decide the fate of many of those involved.

You are assigned to develop a portion of the court case brief. Each group member will select a particular lawyer. Each of the four (4) lawyers is responsible for the particular portion of the select brief. You may each select the portion of the brief you want to work on. Each of you will gather evidence to help support their case from one of the following:

* A police officer, Mr. Dunkin

* The parents of the children killed, Mrs. Madd, Ms. Upset, Ms. Sadd

* An witness, Ms. Sawit

* An EMT, Mr. Iseedeadpeople

Research the characters for your court brief, participants will prepare to present evidence in favor of the prosecution. At the conclusion of your court case, students will create a music video or commercial to be videotaped on the dangers and situations associated with drinking and driving. In addition, students will create several catchy posters to convey their message.

Statistics show that every fifteen minutes, a person is killed or seriously injured in an alcohol-related accident. Also, through unintentional injuries --- especially automobile injuries --- alcohol is the leading cause of death among people of the ages of 15 and 24. How can we make a difference for the better?

Each individual will select a particular "lawyer role" to represent one of the four (4) following characters; the prosecuting attorney that considers the aspect of the police officer, the prosecuting attorney that consider the aspect of the parents of the children killed, the prosecuting attorney that will represent the EMT, or the prosecuting attorney that will represent the witness. Think of yourselves as a team of lawyers that are working together to prove your point and WIN the case. Take into consideration all of the view points from each participant. 

While doing your research, be sure to keep in mind that in the "real-world" your character would be cross-examined. Prepare accordingly to be able to respond to questions that would be brought forth in and authentic court case. In addition, keep important notes on all activities done during your assignment. Include statistics, facts, personal interviews, computer programs, pictures from the accident, and video from the witness. You may want to look up opposing information to prepare your testimony.

1. The EMT
The EMT will take the role of the person who took the autopsies and medical reports on accident victims. The coroner is against drinking and driving . He states, "If you could only see what I see everyday, you would NOT drink and drive." EMT is a good witness for the prosecution.

The following are good websites for the EMT
           *www.traumaafdn.org/alcohol/ariv
           *www.askjeeves.com-'ask jeeves'-'what are the results of alcohol related
             accidents?
            *www.2Potsdam.edu/alcohol/info/drunkdrive/drinkingdriving.html

2. The parents of the children killed
The parents will take the role against drinking and driving and will talk about how their lives have been affected. They are strong witnesses for the prosecution.

The following are a few suggestions for the parents:
            *www.madd.org
            *www.dui.com
            *www.premier.net/~zoom

3. The witness
The witness was right at the scene and saw the entire accident. This particular witness was videotaping the store at the intersection where the accident occurred; she has it on videotape. She has important details of the accident; for example the type and color of the cars, the location of the children, noises heard, any traffic violations.
             *www.aol.com-click on maps
             *www.dps.state.mn.us/trasafe/96alcocf.html
             *www.aol.com-search for cars

4. The police officer
The role of the police officer is to provide a description of what happened. He is responsible for building the story. The police officer is to develop the report of what actually happened.
              *www.stressline.com/bogshrink8.html
              *www.weatherchannel.com
              *www.mapquest.com
              *www.madd.org/stats/default.html

Your teacher will grade you on the following:

20 points = Research. At least one note card from each web-site from each student is mandatory. The amount of note cards turned in depends on the role for which the student is responsible. You may also choose your own web-sites. In order to get your 20 points, you must synthesize information for the brief. It's important that each lawyer in the brief has resource and information collected.

50 points = Court Briefing. The teacher will be looking for knowledge of the material (20), how well the information is represented (20), and a list of interview questions and links supporting the questions.

20 points = Commercial or music video. The teacher will assess the originality of the presentation of the commercial or music video on the dangers of alcohol. In addition, creativeness and speaking skills of the members will be assessed. Each group member is required to participate in the commercial or music video.

Through this web-quest you and your group members should have a better understanding of the dangers of driving and drinking. During this web-quest, what have you learned about alcohol that you did not know before? Now are you a better advocate for not  drinking and driving? What did you learn about yourself while working with a group of people? How did the group process go? What would you change or do differently?