Picture this: you and your family are standing on the deck of a ship that is leaving for America from a far away land. Already you are lonely for old friends and family from your native country. Some close friends have made you promise that you will write to them about your experiences in America. On the long trip you decide to write down some questions that your friends might want answered in the letter that you will write to them. This is the information you will send to them in your letter from America. The Quest will consist of you finding out this information.

The following information will be obtained through web sites that specialize in the immigrant experience. After you have explored some of the sites you will need to decide where your family is from. Keep this in perspective as you answer the web quest questions for your letter home.

• Where is your family from?
• What hardships in your homeland did you flee from?
• When did you reach the United States?
• What did you do in your homeland before you moved to the United States?
• What was your trip on the ship like?
• Where did you enter the United States?
• Explain the process that immigrants must go through at Ellis Island and Angel Island to enter the United States.
• Where do you live now in the United States?
• Can you find a graph to send to your friends to better explain the number of immigrants that moved to the United States during the 1800’s?
• What jobs were your parents able to find?
• What is school like in the United States?
• Did you experience any racism or prejudice when you moved to the United States?

The information that you have uncovered during the web quest will be used to write a one-page letter to your friends back in your native homeland.

Use the following weblinks to help you in your research: