History Fair Project



History Fair Research Project

DUE DATE: Friday – DECEMBER 13, 2013

Theme: Rights and Responsibilities in History

You will research a topic related to this year’s theme and it must be involved primarily with United States history. According to NHD “You need to keep the entire theme in mind as you begin your research. With rights come responsibilities, whether they involve exercising rights within specified limits or ensuring the rights of others. You might find it tempting to focus mostly on rights in your project, but remember that this year's theme also encompasses responsibilities. Learning about and explaining the correlation between rights and responsibilities might in fact help you become a better researcher and writer, in addition to deepening your understanding of your topic.” Think about topics that interest you. Visit for more information about this year’s theme and topic ideas.

Project Categories:

Exhibit

Documentary

Historical Paper

Web Site

THESE ARE INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS, NO GROUPS!

By Friday, October 11th you must turn in your Topic Proposal Form signed with the selected category of your project. You may change your topic after this deadline if you decide there is not enough information; remember the due date of December 13, 2013.

Written project updates will be due Thurs. October 15th and Thurs. November 8th explaining what you have accomplished on your project. This should be one paragraph and signed by your parents.

All projects require paperwork. Exhibits, documentaries, web pages and performances require title page, process papers and an annotated bibliography. Historical Papers require title page, research paper (with end or footnotes) and an annotated bibliography. Make sure you read the requirements carefully!

Research & Documentation

Research: You are to research your topic using both Primary and Secondary Sources.

All projects must use a minimum of 10 sources, at least 5 of which are primary.

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 six different sources for an “A” project. Use the websites or to help you create your bibliography. Add the annotation explaining how you used the source within your project. Remember that at least two of your sources must be Primary.

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.

Project Information

Create a project that displays your findings neatly, creatively, accurately and in YOUR OWN WORDS. “COPYING and PASTING” large blocks of information, EXCEPT FOR DIRECT QUOTES for DISPLAY purposes, will result in a violation of the SCPS honor code and a 0 for the final project.

Brief Project Timeline

September 23-27th –Complete a review requirements, packets and parent emails go home

October 4th – 3 Ideas Brainstorm Worksheet due Form due PAGE 5

October 11th –Topic Proposal Form due and Signed PAGE 6

October 15th – 1st written update (one paragraph what you have done) with 5 sources PG.9

October 23rd –Thesis Introduced work on draft of thesis in class

October 30th- Thesis due

November 8th – 2nd written update (one paragraph what you have done) with 5 additional sources due PG. 11

November 25th-26th – Complete Rough Drafts due

December 2nd-3rd – Rough Drafts passed back

December 13th – Final Project DUE

January- SSMS History Fair

February 22nd- SCPS County History Fair

History Fair Research Project

Rules and Guidelines

Theme: Rights and Responsibilities in History

General guidelines for ALL projects - For complete rules and ideas visit

1. Title – reflects the theme, be creative

2. Title Page – (Project Title, Category, Student Name, Junior Division)

3. Process Paper – (500 Words or less – not required for historical papers)

The Process Paper tells the judges how 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 are conducting your research. Ultimately, the process paper will be finalized when you finish your project.

4. Annotated Bibliography – divided into primary and secondary sources

Each source must have a one to two sentence explanation about what you learned from the source. Every effort should be made to have primary, first hand resources (i.e. – interviews, letters, and journals) as part of your research. You must have a minimum of 10 sources, and at least 5 of them must be primary sources.

5. Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is usually one sentence that presents an argument about the topic. The body of the paper or website, the script of the performance or documentary, the headings and captions in an exhibit are used to support the thesis using evidence from your research. Your thesis should be in a predominant place on your display board, or clearly apparent in your documentary, performance, website, or historical paper.

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

6. Conclusion – your proof and results of research and what you learned

On a display board, it is recommended to put it on the bottom right. It may be placed elsewhere, but careful consideration should be given as to the placement.

7. Presentation Categories – a brief summary of the rules will be provided separately

Exhibit – 500 word maximum, large exhibit board, must include 3D component

Documentary – 10 minute video documentary

Historical Paper – 1500 to 2500 word paper with in-text citations

Web Site – no more than 1200 words

8. Research

The results of your research must be explained and supported in your project. You cannot include facts or research in your project unless it is documented in your annotated bibliography.

9. Competition - Only the top four projects from each school qualify to move onto county.

History Fair Project Type Requirements

(Complete rules are on the NHD website. If you are not sure of something, please look there.)

ALL PROJECTS REQUIRE A MINIMUM OF 10 SOURCES, AT LEAST 5 BEING PRIMARY SOURCES.

Historical Paper:

• Length – 1500-2500 words; double spaced; one inch margins on all sides; pages numbered

• Citations are required (footnotes or endnotes)

• Paperwork should be stapled in the following order:

▪ Title Page, Research Paper, Annotated Bibliography

Exhibit:

• Display is within size limits – maximum is 40” wide, 30” deep, 6ft high; must have a 3D display; 500 word limit on student-composed written material in/on the exhibit

• Paperwork should be stapled in the following order:

▪ Title Page, Process Paper, Annotated Bibliography

Documentary:

• Meets time limits (these are maximum) – 5 minute set-up; 10 minute presentation; 5 minute break-down

• Windows Media Player and Photo Story work well. PowerPoint is acceptable but must have voice and video clips.

• Paperwork should be stapled in the following order:

▪ Title Page, Process Paper, Annotated Bibliography, Script

Web Site: Individual or Pair

• Contains no more than 1,200 visible, student-composed words.

• All pages are interconnected with hypertext links.

• Web site uses no more than 100MB of file space and is virus-free.

• is the recommended site.

• Paperwork should be stapled in the following order:

▪ Title Page, Process Paper, Annotated Bibliography

History Fair Research Project

3 Ideas Brainstorm

DUE DATE: Friday, October 4th

Theme: Rights and Responsibilities in History

Name: ________________________________________ Class: _____________________

|Theme |Topic | |Issue |Historical Impact |

| | |Person | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

Possible Project Category (check one):

□ Exhibit – 500 word maximum, large exhibit board, must include 3D component

□ Documentary – 10 minute video documentary

□ Historical Paper – 1500 to 2500 word paper with in-text citations

□ Web Site – no more than 1200 words

History Fair Research Project

Topic Proposal Form and Signature

DUE DATE: Friday – October 11th

Theme: Rights and Responsibilities in History

Name: __________________________________________ Class: ___________________________

Project Category (check one):

□ Exhibit – 500 word maximum, large exhibit board, must include 3D component

□ Documentary – 10 minute video documentary

□ Historical Paper – 1500 to 2500 word paper with in-text citations

□ Web Site – no more than 1200 words

Proposal Description- Who / What do you want to study?

Why are you interested in the person /event / idea?

Historical Impact: Describe why this person / event is important-explain. State your reasons why this was important to history at the local, state, national, or international level.

Rights involved:

Responsibilities:

“I have read the National History Day worksheets. / have read the expectations of the projects. II understand this is an at-home project. Due 12/15/13.

Parent Signature: ________________________________________________

History Fair Research Project

Primary and Secondary Sources

Theme: Rights and Responsibilities in History

“Each primary and secondary source must be annotated.”

Use the directions from this handout to complete Bibliography Work-up Handout. Before you start thinking about the design and layout of your final project, organize your research. Keep track of your research. There are 3 things to consider as you conduct your research:

1. Is this source primary or secondary? Is this source giving you enough powerful 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 challenge you to think about Turning Points in History? Does the source support your conclusions? Does the source provide a historically significant outcome?

3. How are you going to annotate your source? Do you understand the difference between 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 - first Primary, 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. Two of your sources must be Primary. All your sources must be in a 12-point font, either Times New Roman or Arial. Do not copy and paste different fonts and colors on to the bibliography.

Websites: You may not use all websites for your sources. You must use different materials for source documentation: Books. Interviews. Articles. Journals. Speeches. If you find a primary source on the internet, cite the original text. Do not cite search engines. Ask Jeeves, Yahoo, Google and Wikipedia are not primary or secondary sources. They are not sources—do not cite them in your bibliography!

Use 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 Library Links on the bottom right of the webpage. You will be directed to all the district links for approved databases and searches.

Citing Sources: ( or ) Use this website to create the MLA formatting for your source. Save each citation in a Word document. Then save the Word document on your flash drive, your floppy disk or even email it to yourself. Nothing hurts more than losing your sources and having to re-do your bibliography

History Fair Research Project

Annotated Bibliography Guidelines

Theme: Rights and Responsibilities in History

“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 creatively interpret primary sources to answer questions about their research topics.

An annotated bibliography is required for all categories. 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 entry. Sources of visual materials 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.

“Sources must be reliable and authentic.”

A story posted on about Rosa Parks is not a primary or secondary source. An article about Rosa Parks on may be a legitimate secondary source. 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 on the bibliography.”

Primary Sources - the most basic definition of a primary source is that which is written or produced in the time period students are investigating. Primary sources are materials directly related to a topic by time or participation. Primary sources are firsthand historical materials. 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 or period and who base their interpretation on primary sources, research, and study.

“Each primary and secondary source must be annotated.”

For example: Here is an example of a primary source cited in MLA format with an annotation. When you look at the annotations beneath each cited source, you will notice each student included the following three things in their annotation:

1. Identify the source—interview, book, article, etc.

2. Explain what you learned from the source

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

History Fair Research Project

Primary and Secondary Sources Worksheet

DUE DATES: October 16th (Along with this page, you must also turn in a typed paragraph summary stating what you have accomplished on your project as of these dates.)

Name: _______________________________________ Class: ___________________

Source #1 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? (What makes it a primary or secondary source?) ____________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #2 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #3 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: _________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #4 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #5 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #6 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

You need to make sure that you have at least 2 primary sources. Strong research includes a variety of sources – are all of your sources the same type? Your final Annotated Bibliography must contain at least 6 sources.

Parent Signature: ____________________________________________________

History Fair Research Project

Primary and Secondary Sources Worksheet

DUE DATES: November 8th (Along with this page, you must also turn in a typed paragraph summary stating what you have accomplished on your project as of these dates.)

Name: _______________________________________ Class: ___________________

Source #1 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? (What makes it a primary or secondary source?) ____________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #2 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #3 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: _________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #4 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #5 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Source #6 ( Primary ( Secondary

Why? _________________________________________________________________

Write out in MLA format:

_________________________________________________________________________________

Identify: _________________________________________________________________________

Explain: __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Clearly State: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

You need to make sure that you have at least 2 primary sources. Strong research includes a variety of sources – are all of your sources the same type? Your final Annotated Bibliography must contain at least 6 sources.

Parent Signature: ____________________________________________________

History Fair Research Project

Process Paper Packet

Theme: Rights and Responsibilities in History

Your packet must include Title Page, Process Paper, and Annotated Bibliography.

A process paper is a description of no more than 500 words explaining how you conducted your research and created and developed your entry. You must conclude your description with an explanation of the relationship of your topic to the contest theme.

This packet must be included with all entries, except Historical Research papers. However, Historical Research papers do require a title page and annotated bibliography.

REQUIREMENTS

Title Page

• Black ink, white paper

• No pictures, borders, or school name

• Information on page must include (center your information):

▪ Title

▪ Name(s) of Participant(s)

▪ Contest Division - Junior Division;

▪ Contest Category - Individual or Group Exhibit, Documentary, or Website

Process Paper

• 500 words or less.

• First paragraph explains how you chose your topic

• Second paragraph explains the steps you took to research the your topic

• Third paragraph explains how you selected your presentation category and created your project

• Fourth paragraph must explain how your topic relates to the contest theme.

Annotated Bibliography

• Refer to example papers as to how to set this up!

Examples:

Research Resources

❖ EBSCO HOST **Can search for Primary Source documents

❖ World Book Online

❖ Salem History Reference

❖ Gale Cengage Learning

❖ CultureGrams

History Fair Sites (official information about projects)

❖ National History Day -

Read: Contest; Essential Information; Research Links; Internet Tips

❖ Florida History Fair -

Read: State Contest Information; Tips for Success; Student Handbook (this handbook explains in depth about each category and how to create your project)

Excellent Primary Source Sites:

❖ The National Archives -

❖ The Library of Congress -

Other Possible History Fair Resources:

1. Florida Electronic Library -

2. The Florida Memory Project -

3. The Florida Memory Project - has a section about Florida History Fair

4. Arts and Entertainment Networks -

5. The History Channel -

6. MLA Style Citations -

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