Civil War & Reconstruction Project

Civil War & Reconstruction Project

Spring 2013

With the end of the marking period drawing closer, instead of a comprehensive final exam for this course I am going to have you complete a final project instead. Along with larger final exams comes test anxiety and many hours of study and preparation. Instead of compiling a marking period’s worth of text questions and testing you on it, I want you to showcase your creativity and intelligence for all things Civil War in a variety of different ways.

You have the option of choosing from different projects about different topics associated with the Civil War and what we have learned in this class

You will have three full class periods to think about the particular project you will want to complete. You must have your project approved by me (this means youMUST run any specific ideas you have regarding certain project topics like Civil War replicas of military items by me first before you began to work on your project – plain and simple!)

After you have decided on which project you will complete I will give you the specific grading rubric that goes along with your project

All five different project topics are worth the same amount of points – 200 Points

These projects will count towards your final grade for the class

Grading:

As mentioned above - The project will be worth 200 points.

Research: 100 points: This is where you show that you completed the research required to make your project. Your research will be in-depth and showcase supporting information (facts) about your particular project.

Difficulty of Task: 50 points: How authentic does your project look? If you decide to make a Civil War military replica such as an iron clad ship or a cannon, I expect it to look like it would have in the 1860’s. If you choose to design a cereal box, I expect the cereal box to look like a real cereal box that would be on sale on shelves at grocery stores across the country. If you choose to design a replica battlefield site be sure to include specific dates and times of the battle, etc…

Completion on Time: 25 points: For every day late you will lose 10 points up to TWO DAYS. At that point you can only get points for creativity/research and difficulty of task.

Presentation: 25 points: You will present your project to the class giving a brief summary of what you created and the premise (reasoning) behind it.

Civil War Project Topics

1.)Create a PowerPoint presentation addressing new inventions of the Civil War. The Civil War resulted in many new inventions and has been called the first modern war. Research and compile a PowerPoint of Civil War “firsts.” Explain how each of these “firsts” impacted the lives of Americans during and after the war. How did military technology change during the course of the war? How did the advancement of military technology during the Civil War impact future wars? Your PowerPoint presentation should be 12-15 slides.

2.)Create a tri-fold poster board presentation in which you provide an in-depth look at the lives of soldiers for BOTH the Union and Confederate armies. Your poster board presentation should include pictures for visualization and good descriptive bullet points of facts arranged in a professional manner. Your presentation should include a detailed description of a typical soldier’s uniform. It should discuss what most soldiers typically travelled with in their knapsacks. You should include what soldiers did for leisure time while in their encampments. You should discuss how encampments/tents differed depending on the soldiers rank. Be sure to include anything you find to be unique or interesting regarding the lives of the soldiers for both sides as well.

3.)Create a military item replica or battlefield replica of the Civil War. Unless you choose to make a battlefield replica, all military items MUST be approved. It can be a replica of an iron clad naval ship, cannon, military uniform, or anything unique/interesting you can think of. Your replica must be of a decent size – nothing extremely small and non-time consuming to construct. If you choose to make a battlefield replica remember to be sure to include specific dates and times of the battle. Along with your replica you must submit a two page research paper on the replica you created. You will have to present your replica as well as an explanation on how you made it and why to the class.

4.)Create an A-Z Alphabet Book pertaining to the Civil War and everything we’ve learned in the class this marking period. Your alphabet book should include/explain some of the terms, people, events, battles, places, and concepts associated with this dramatic era of history. You are to use meaningful words or phrases taken from the materials used in class, assigned readings, class discussions, and your own research. For each letter of the alphabet, you will need one entry. Each must be on a separate sheet of paper and utilize the front side only. Use plain white or colored paper (NO LINED NOTEBOOK PAPER). Each entry should include the word associated with the letter as well as 1-2 paragraphs of researched information. You will then present your alphabet book to the rest of the class.

5.)Create a historical cereal box. You are to use an empty cereal box as your base. Cover the brand of cereal with either white or colored paper. Decorate it with paste-ups. Make it colorful (no pencil written only cereal boxes). You’re cereal box should reference either a famous individual or battle from the Civil War. The requirements for the historical cereal box project are a cereal name, cereal character, cereal slogan, cereal manufacturer and symbol, ingredients, nutritional value, and additional features (games – mazes, puzzles, word search, coupons, etc…). You will present your cereal box to the class and explain why you choose what you did to put on your cereal box and how it relates to the Civil War.

HOW WILL YOU BE GRADED?

Total Points = 200

Mechanics (grammar, punctuation, etc…)40 Points

Meets Requirements (length, appropriate topic, etc…)10 Points

Content (accurate, organized, etc…)100 Points

Overall Project (effort, neat, creative, etc…)25 Points

Presentation25 Points