Summary
Students are provided with an historical event and several causes to analyze. After an analysis of the content, students determine a percentage to represent the impact of each cause. They then create a pie chart and explain their reasoning for each of the percentages in the chart.
Procedure
Decide whether students will work alone or in small groups of two to three.
Provide each group with a blank pie chart or a blank piece of paper for students to draw a circle.
Present an event to students and a description of several causes for the event.
Have students create a pie chart that divides the causal factors into percentages.
Have students write a summary that explains the reasons for the percentages or have students present their pie charts orally to the whole class.
Social Studies Example: Students might be given World War I as their event. The causes could be identified as militarism, the alliance system, imperialism, nationalism, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. After analysis and discussion, students determine the degree of impact each of the causes had on the start of World War I. They then create a pie chart showing the percentage assigned to each cause and explain the reasoning they used to make their determinations.