HONORS + ENRICHED: Influential people project

WORLD HISTORY - INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE PROJECT

***Important: This project will be the largest assignment grade of the third nine weeks.  You cannot pass the class until you have completed it.***


PART ONE (Due: Thursday, 3/10): Choose your person to research and get him/her approved. Find FIVE high-quality, informative Internet sources about your person. See the handout on “The Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation": who wrote the website, and what are their qualifications - are they a recognized expert on your person? What organization or institution runs the website - is this a professional institution dedicated to history? Does the website appear to be designed to attract money through advertising (are there ads everywhere)?

Look for websites with domain extensions .edu (university/school), .gov (government), and .org (non-profit) – these are not guarantees that the source is good, but they may provide clues.  Good sources to use as starting points: the websites of the Encyclopedia Britannica, BBC, History Channel, Biography.com, PBS.

Sites that are NOT acceptable sources for this project: Wikis (Wikipedia); “Answer” websites or forums (Answers.com, Yahoo! Answers, Infoplease); personal or student-made homepages (Geocities, etc.); and aggregator sites that simply gather information from other places on  the Internet, often without giving credit (Lucidcafe, etc.).

Write out the following about each of these sources on a table in a Word or Writer document.  Your table should include the following columns:

-Name of source
-URL (web address)
-Author
-Organization
-Why you think this source is a high-quality and credible authority on your subject

Create a source key: Number the sources on your source table (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.).  You can then cite your sources throughout your project simply by writing the number of the source you used after each answer that uses information you get from that source.

You should also use the yellow textbook in class: please add this to your sources list as source "0."  Optionally, you can use the red AP World History textbook as well.

PART TWO (Due: Wednesday, 3/16): Questions about your time period – Please type and answer in complete sentences OR write out the question along with your answer.  All answers must cite their sources.

1. When did this period take place?
2. What countries seem to be most involved in the major events of this time period?
3. What overall themes / trends is this time period known for?
4. Who were some of the most important people during this time period, and what are they known for? (list at least 5)
5. What were some of the major technological advances or inventions of this time period? (list at least 4)
6. What were some of the major changes in ideas/beliefs during this time period? (list at least 3)

PART THREE (Due: Friday, 3/18): Questions about your person – Please answer in complete sentences, in depth.  You must cite all sources.

1. Where is your person from and where did they live for the majority of their life? (City + Country)
2. What was your person's childhood like?  Who were their parents and siblings - did they have any effect on their lives/development/achievement?
3. What education did your person receive?  Did they attend school, or did they have a tutor?  Did they attend a college or university?  How did they develop expertise in their field?
4. What is your person famous for?
5. In addition to the main reason the person is famous, list 4 additional accomplishments or interesting facts about their life.
6. Think about the questions you researched about your person's historical time period.  Why are your person's life, work, and achievements considered to be a part of the broader time period?
7. Explain, with specifics, the impact or consequences of your person's life and achievements.
8. When, how, and at what age did they pass away?

PART FOUR (Due: Wednesday, 3/23): Visual presentation.

Create a visual aid to teach your classmates about your person AND the time period they are part of.  You can use a PowerPoint or Impress slideshow, Prezi slideshow (www.prezi.com), poster on large poster board, or other presentation format.  Please observe the following: Include title slide.

-Minimum of 2 slides about your time period – focus on when the time period took place, major themes/trends of the time period, and famous people and inventions.

-Minimum of 3 slides about your person – focus on what they accomplished and why they are famous, what resulted from their activities, and how they fit into the time period.

-All text on the visual aid should be in the form of short summaries in your own words (bullet points); do not copy and paste any text except quotations from your person or excerpts from their writing.  Any plagiarism will result in a zero for the project.

-Use at least six images that show something important about your person in your presentation.  Please cite sources for these.  If you choose images at random from Google Images and you accidentally choose one that has little or nothing to do with your person, you will lose points!  Please do not be careless.

-One of the six images must be a map showing something important about your person (their travels, influence, hometown, etc.)

-Your presentation must include an explanation, in your own words, of your person's time period as well as an image representing this time period.

-Find and include at least three quotations by your person that teach us something about his or her beliefs or ideas.  Please cite sources for these.

-Please include a bibliography (works cited) page at the end of your presentation or on a separate Word document.

Please let me know if you have questions!  This project will be the largest assignment grade of the third nine weeks.  You cannot pass the class until you have completed it.

Thank you,
Mr. M