A Slice of History "We Didn't Start the Fire," says Billy Joel in his 1989 hit song.  He looks at the people, places, and things of the past 40 years and notes that the fire of history "was always burning."  Your term project is to design a scrapbook for one of the stanzas in Billy Joel's song. A.  Choose a stanza from the song.     1.  Students who wish to work by themselves should choose a single year from 1949 through 1970.     2.  Students who wish to work in groups of three should choose one of the groups of five years (1971-75, 1976-80, 1981-85, 1986-90) or they may create new lyrics for 1991-95.  (If you choose the 1990s, you must write your own lyrics for 1991-95.  Do your best to make them rhyme.)B.  Fill in the topic request form and hand it in BEFORE MONDAY, MARCH 12.  Mr. Davidson MUST approve the topic.  Since only one student (or one group) in each U.S. History class can do a particular stanza, students who hand in their topics early will have a greater chance of having their topic approved.  Be sure to indicate your second and third choice of topic on the form.  As soon as your topic has been approved, you may begin your research.C.  Design a scrapbook for your year(s).  Your scrapbook MUST include at least 10 items if you are working alone or at least 25 items if you are working in a group.  Your scrapbook will include:     1.  ALL the items mentioned in the stanza AND     2.  At least FOUR additional items that could have been mentioned for that year, but were not included in the song.     3.  Each scrapbook will be divided into three sections (categories).  Each category MUST be represented by at least TWO items.  These categories are:          a.  International news (happened outside the USA)          b.  National news (happened inside the USA)          c.  Popular culture (sports, books, movies, television, music, fads, products, etc.)D.  All scrapbooks must include the following:     1.  Title page     2.  Introduction     3.  Main body including footnotes          a.  International news          b.  National news          c.  Popular culture     4.  Conclusion     5.  Works citedE.  The main body of this project will consist of your individual items.  It should be divided into three sections (D.3.a,b,c).  You should link the items within each section together.  For each item, you should discuss the following:     1.  Briefly identify the item - Who, what, or where was it?     2.  Why do we associate the item with your project year? **3.  Why was that item important at the time to Americans?     4.  How did this item affect America?  (since that time)     5.  What did Americans think of this item?  How did they react to it?     6.  How has this item changed from your year to the present?     7.  (for items not in the song)  Why did you choose that item?     8.  You MAY include (if you want) a picture or map of the item IN AN APPENDIX.F.  Your last page MUST contain a conclusion.  The conclusion is your own analysis of your research.  You should discuss:     1.  What did you learn from doing this project?     2.  What should we remember about your year(s)?     3.  How have things changed (or remained the same) since your year(s)?     4.  What is the relationship among the items in your report?     5.  For group reports, each of the three sections should have its own conclusion, to be written by the author of that section.  Then there should be a general conclusion (to be written cooperatively) in which you link the three sections of your project.  How are your three sections related?G.  Sources of information -     1.  To obtain basic information (E.1), you may look in your textbook, an encyclopedia, a dictionary of American History, or in Chronicle of the 20th Century.  Then you can get more detailed information elsewhere.  YOU MAY NOT USE ENCYCLOPEDIAS AS YOUR SOURCE OF INFORMATION!     2.  To find out about people, look in Current Biography, Who's Who, Who Was Who, or a Biographical Dictionary.     3.  Your BEST sources of information are magazine and newspaper articles written in the year you are researching.     4.  You may interview any adult (parents, grandparents, teachers, neighbors, etc.) about THEIR REACTION to an item.     5.  You may use books (history books, biographies, etc.).     6.  For popular culture items, you can watch the movie or television show, read the novel, listen to the music, etc.H.  Source requirements -     1.  You MUST use THREE sources of information for each item.  (You may use one source for more than one item.)     2.  You MUST use magazine and/or newspaper articles for each item.  Use the Reader's Guide to locate magazine articles.     3.  You MUST interview at least THREE people as part of this project.     4.  You MAY NOT use encyclopedias as your source.  (You may, however, use a specialized encyclopedia.)     5.  You may use the internet, provided you include the full citation on your works cited page.  No more than half of your citations may be from the internet.I.  All direct quotes and ideas taken from your sources MUST be footnoted.  You should use short quotes when necessary.  But the overwhelming majority of this project should consist of your ownwords.  Demonstrate your creativity in translating the author's words into your own.J.  The last page of this project is a list of your works cited.  You MUST include ALL of your sources, listed in alphabetical order according to the author's last name.K.  THIS PROJECT IS DUE ON MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2007.  Absolutely NO late projects will be accepted.L.  ORAL REPORT:     1.  In addition to the written project, you will be required to give an oral report in your U.S. History class.  Mr. Davidson will announce the schedule of oral reports.  Each day, starting in April, two students will give a short report in class.     2.  The oral report is separate from the written report.  Each oral report will be due on a different date.  This date may be before or after the due date of the written report.     3.  Your oral presentation will consist of three items and should last no longer than five minutes.  You must describe one item in each of your three categories (C.3.a,b,c).  This presentation must be in your own words.  You may use notes, but you MAY NOT read your scrapbook word for word.          4.  Students who are working in groups must give a presentation of SIX items, two from each category.  Each student will describe two items in his/her category.M.  GRADING -     1.  All students will receive TWO grades--one for the written project and one for the oral presentation.     2.  The oral presentation grade will be based upon the overall quality of the presentation.     3.  The written grade will be based upon the following:          a.  accuracy of information          b.  quality of descriptions, explanations, and analysis          c.  appropriateness of additional items selected          d.  presentation (organization)          e.  sources of information     4.  Group reports will be graded as follows:          a.  a joint group grade for the oral presentation          b.  individual grade for each section of the written project          c.  a joint group grade for the general conclusion and overall cohesiveness     5.  If the written project is typed and proofread, you will receive 10 extra points.  Please type double spaced.     6.  The written grade will count four times as much as the oral grade.  TOTAL GRADE = 20% oral + 80% written

N.  If you have any questions or need any help, please speak to Mr. Davidson in room 101.