Student Research History Fair - 7th Grade



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History Fair Project Packet

Due Date: January 20th, 2014

History Fair Project Process Overview

1. Topic: Pick a topic that clearly relates to the theme:

“Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

2. Research & Documentation:

Research: Use Primary and Secondary Sources to find information about your topic.

Annotated Bibliography: A properly cited bibliography is required using MLA format. Keep track of all the sites, books, interviews, letters, emails, etc. that you use to create your project.

*You must use at least eight different sources for an “A” project.

* 3 sources (of the 8 total) must be Primary.

Use the website to help you create the annotated bibliography. Add the annotation explaining how you used the source within your project.

Conclusion: Analyze what you learned from your research. Everything you learned in your research must be shown in your project and in your annotated bibliography.

3. Presentation of What You Learned:

Your final product (project) will display your findings neatly, creatively, accurately and in YOUR OWN WORDS. Copying blocks of information, EXCEPT FOR DIRECT QUOTES for display purposes, is plagiarism (stealing) and will result in point deductions from your project.

Project Categories

A. Exhibit Board individual or pair

B. Website individual or pair

Parent approval is REQUIRED to work in a group! “Since working in a group is optional, no exceptions will be given to groups that fail to meet deadlines. It is ultimately the responsibility of everyone in the group to see that deadlines are met as you will receive a group grade. It is solely the group’s job to divide the work. If you choose to work in a group – choose wisely. You will have to meet several times outside of class time. Make sure you can get together easily—failure to complete the project because of the group’s inability to coordinate their after school schedules is not a valid excuse and may result in a lower grade.”

Overview of Project Rules and Guidelines

Theme: “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

For more information visit:

General Rules for ALL projects.

1) Title – reflects the theme “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

2) Thesis Statement: The thesis statement is usually one paragraph that presents an argument about the topic. The body of the website or the headings and captions in an exhibit then are used to support the thesis using evidence from the research.

A good thesis statement:

• Addresses a narrow topic

• Explains what the researcher believes to be the historical significance of the topic

• Connects the topic to the National History Day theme “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

• This should be in a predominant place on your display board, or clearly apparent in your website.

3) Research: The results of your research must be explained and supported in your project. You can not include facts or research in your project unless it is documented in your annotated bibliography.

4) Impact: Information that shows how your topic has affected other events in history.

5) Presentation Categories: Specific rules will be provided in additional worksheets once you choose your presentation category.

• Exhibit Board individual or group of 2

• Website individual or group of 2

6) “The Paperwork” In addition to your presentation, you need to include the following paperwork with your project.

6a)Title Page (Project Title, Category, Student Name)

6b) Annotated bibliography, dividing primary and secondary resources. Each source must have one to two sentences explaining what you learned from the source. A minimum of 8 sources is required. At least 3 sources must be primary. Interviews conducted by email or phone are perfectly acceptable. See separate worksheet for more instructions.

7) Competition: Students who place in the top of each presentation category at the school-wide fair are eligible to compete at the Seminole County District History Fair on Saturday, February 22nd, 2014 at (TBA). Students placing in the top two of each category at District move to the State competition in Tallahassee. Students are not required to compete in the county or state competition if selected. However, if selected, students will have to complete a Process Paper in order to compete at the County or State Fair.

Process Paper (500 words or less) the process paper tells the judges you did your research. It organizes the methods of your research and helps you create your final project. You can begin working on your process paper as you conduct your research. Ultimately, the process paper will be finalized when you finish your project. See separate worksheet for more instructions.

Your Topic: Historical Context

Topics must reflect the theme “Rights and Responsibilities in History.” You can pick a topic off the list I give you or come up with one on your own. Remember, topics need to be at least 25 years old to be historically significant! Use this worksheet to jot down notes about your topic as you learn about it.

Who was involved:

What Happened:

When did this occur:

Where did it occur:

Why did it occur:

How did it occur:

Impact, how does this topic relate to the theme and impact other events in history after it?:

Your Topic: Historical Context Continued, TIMELINE:

Create a timeline of important events associated with your topic. Include events that happened before that shaped the topic and event that occur afterward that were impacted by your topic.

Research Guidelines: Primary and Secondary Sources

Theme: “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

You must use at least eight different sources for an “A” project and THREE sources (of the 8 total) must be Primary sources.

Primary and Secondary Sources will guide your research.

Like professional historians, National History Day students must ask questions about their topic's significance in history, do background research using secondary sources to understand the context of their topic, and they must interpret primary sources to answer questions about their research topics.

An annotated bibliography is required. It should contain all sources that provided usable information or new perspectives in preparing your entry. You will look at many more sources than you actually use. You should list only those sources that contributed to the development of your project. Sources of visual materials/ pictures and oral interviews must be included. The annotations for each source must explain how the source is used and how it helped you understand your topic.

Remember, you will be asked to:

1. Explain how each source was used in your project

2. Defend your reasons for naming a source as primary or secondary

“Sources are separated into primary and secondary.”

Primary Sources*— A primary source is one that was written or produced in the time period of the topic that you are investigating. Primary sources are materials directly related to a topic by time or participation. Primary sources are firsthand historical materials. Example: pictures of an event, description made by a person participating or witnessing an event, diaries, census records, birth certificates, etc. You must have at least two primary sources.

Secondary Sources*—are usually published books or articles by authors who were not eyewitnesses or participants in the historical event and who base their interpretation on primary sources, research, and study. Examples: textbooks, encyclopedia entries, history books and magazines, graphs and charts, etc.

Websites: You must use different materials for source documentation: Books, Interviews, Newpaper & Magazine Articles, Journals, Speeches, etc. You may NOT use only websites for your sources.

Do not cite search engines. Google and Bing are not primary or secondary sources. They are search engines used to find information online. , , Yahoo Answers, and Wikipedia are not reputable secondary sources to cite for research, but they are useful as a springboard to get fast information that can help you refine your searches.

Databases: Here are district approved database websites.: Use these databases to conduct your internet research. Don’t forget to go to the media center or your local library to get print sources (books, journals, speeches, newspaper articles). Visit: scps.k12.fl.us. Click on the “Student” Tab and then select “Library Links” on the bottom right corner of the webpage. You will be directed to all the district links for approved databases and searches.

For all Databases: Username scpsfl Password 9301059

Annotated Bibliography Guidelines

Theme: “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

“Each primary and secondary source must be annotated and listed in your bibliography”

Use the directions from this handout to complete your Annotated Bibliography. Before you start thinking about the design and layout of your final project, organize your research. There are three things to consider as you conduct your research:

1) Is this source primary or secondary? Is this source giving you enough information to use in your project? Does this source support your thesis?

2) How are you going to use this source in your project? Does the source support your thesis? Does the source challenge you to think about the impact of your “Rights and Responsibilities” topic?

3) How are you going to annotate your source? Is it a primary and secondary source documents? Can you identify your source as an interview, article or book? Can you explain what you learned from your source? Can you clearly state how you used the source’s information in your project?

“You must have your sources in Alphabetical order— All Primary list first, then Secondary.”

Annotated Bibliography: A properly cited bibliography is required using MLA format. Keep track of all the sites, books, interviews, letters, emails, etc. that you use to create your project. You must use at least eight different sources for an “A” project. Three of your sources must be Primary. All your sources must be in a 12-point font, either Times New Roman or Arial.

Citing Sources: Use this website to create the MLA formatting for your source. Save each citation on a Word document. Then save the Word document on your USB drive, your network space if you’re at school, or even email it to yourself. Nothing hurts more than losing your sources and having to re-do your bibliography.

“Each primary and secondary source must be cited and annotated.”

Here are examples of source citation using MLA format with annotations. Annotations should include the following 2 things:

1. Explain what you learned from the source

2. CLEARLY state how each source’s information was used in the project

Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock. 1st ed. New York: David McKay Co. Inc., 1962.

Daisy Bates was the president of the Arkansas NAACP and the one who met and listened to the students

each day. This first-hand account was very important to my paper because it made me more aware of the

feelings of the people involved.

Higgins, Frank E. The Lumber Jack. The Assembly Herald. July 1913.

This was a wonderful and useful article to have because it was the actual writing of Frank Higgins and it

explained his feelings about the lumberjacks and the camps in which they lived. I quoted from it several

times.

Annotated Bibliography Rough Draft

“Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

Use this worksheet as you begin your research for the Annotated Bibliography.

Source #1 ( ) Primary ( ) Secondary Why? (What makes it a primary or secondary source)

1)Citation in MLA format ():

2) Info (What information did you find in this source):

3) Significance (How do you plan to use this information in your project):

Source #2 ( ) Primary ( ) Secondary Why?

1)Citation:

2) Info

3) Significance

Source #3 ( ) Primary ( ) Secondary Why?

1)Citation:

2) Info

3) Significance

Source #4 ( ) Primary ( ) Secondary Why?

1)Citation:

2) Info

3) Significance

Source #5 ( ) Primary ( ) Secondary Why?

1)Citation:

2) Info

3) Significance

Source #6 ( ) Primary ( ) Secondary Why?

1)Citation:

2) Info

3) Significance

Source #7 ( ) Primary ( ) Secondary Why?

1)Citation:

2) Info

3) Significance

Source #8 ( ) Primary ( ) Secondary Why?

1)Citation:

2) Info

3) Significance

(Use additional paper if needed.)

Decisions and Signatures:

Theme: “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

Student Name: _________________________________________________________________

Project Due Date: The week of January 20th, 2014________ (parent initials)

Project Type: [ ] Individual

or

[ ] Group of 2 members ________ (parent initials))*

*For Group Projects only: “I have read the National History Day worksheets and I approve my child to work in a group. I understand this is mostly an at-home project. I am comfortable with my child working with the group member below. I understand a GROUP project is NOT required.”

Partner’s name______________________________ ________ (parent initials)

Your topic is:

How is this topic related to the theme?

Why did you pick this topic/what about it interested you?

Category: I plan to present my project as:

[ ] Exhibit

[ ] Website

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