-How many students know what is going on in their own state as well as other states of the United States? A United States map and video clips from the weekly news may help students as they begin to father background knowledge about other states. In this activity, students will become experts about a state of interest to them. The teacher introduces students to globes and maps as well as books that feature pictures of regions of the United States. Students browse the materials in order to make a selection.

-After the initial selection, students vote on five or six states that would be interesting to study further. Students decide which states would be most appealing and form working research groups. At this point it will be helpful for students to write down everything that they know about the selected state. The teacher may suggest that students review the outlines and information found in a print or automated encyclopedia. Basic facts may be recorded. -Students will have formed some basic ideas about the states. The teacher explains that students will have an opportunity to show their expertise in a tournament. However, before they can compete, they must prepare themselves. Preparation will include becoming current about the selected state. A sample worksheet may be provided so that students have an idea of the kinds of information they might want to collect. Students within a group will be competing against each other, so they should complete the worksheets on their own.

-The worksheet is used as the students use \'Newsbank CDJr.\' to gather two interesting pieces of information in each of the five categories. \'NewsbankCDJr.\' offers three ways to search. At Level I, a simple word search is completed. Level II allows students to search lead paragraph, headline, date, and other fields for information about their topics. The Easy Topic Search allows students to research topics. In this case, students might look for the name of their state. Level II might be used to search for the state and key words for more specific information. Students search \'Newsbank CDJr.,\' retrieve the articles, read the articles and decide on an important or interesting fact. The fact is recorded on the notesheet. Students must record the citation as proof of the information . When students have the notesheets complete, they will be ready to compete.

-The tournament itself uses a simple checker board. One student plays against another student. Each player has two player pieces. The player pieces move on the checker board on the light-colored squares.

-The objective of the game is to be first to move the two player pieces all the way across the board. A player may be bumped off the board by being jumped by the other player. When a player is in a space marked with the statement, \'Gain immunity,\' the player is safe and may not be jumped or bumped off the board.

-To move, the player uses the fact sheet to make a statement (correct or incorrect) about the selected state. The opponent listens tot he statement and decides whether it is true or false. If unchallenged, the player moves. (Teachers may choose to have students go unchallenged at first).

-If the statement is challenged, the player making the statement must verify the fact with the citation from the source. The player who reaches the opposite side first wins.

-The students can use the materials to become experts in other areas, then play others who are expert in the same topic.