FAMILY TREE PROJECT CHOICE ELEMENT - 100 points
In looking over the choice element, please realize that the products are not set in stone..
Here are some suggestions:
COLOR-CODED FAMILY TIMELINE
The creation of this detailed timeline representing important events in your family history will really help you to see what your family was doing at various times throughout history. Your timeline should include key events
(immigration, military service, movement within the US, etc) as well as key events from United States history that were happening at the same time.
ANCESTOR ORAL INTERVIEW
Your goal in completing this interview is to go beyond the basics. You should concentrate on asking your ancestor about interesting stories from their childhood about the family. Ideas might include: a weird relative, a famous relative, a hard time in the family, a myth of the family, family traditions, items that have been passed from generation to generation (ex: furniture, books, dishes) etc. You are encouraged to record this in a digital format.
Other - FAMILY INTERVIEWS SAMPLE QUESTIONS
1.
What are some of your favorite memories from your childhood?
2.
What were your parents like? (This is a great question, especially if these
individuals have already passed away.)
3.
Do you recall any memorable family vacations?
4.
How did you and Grandpa (or Grandma, or Dad, etc.) meet? Further questions may
be helpful as they may trigger great stories, such as do you recall a best date or
what movies did you go see or what kind of car did Grandpa drive?
5.
Did you have any family pets that you recall?
6.
Where did you live throughout your childhood?
7.
Do you still keep in touch with any of your friends? If so, who and why?
8.
Did you live through any big historical event(s)? If so, what do you recall from
those days?
ANCESTRY GAME
This game will encourage you to complete research about the people, places and event that were important to your ancestors. You can select a single ancestor or a branch of your family and develop a game that highlights his/her or their movement through history. I encourage you to be creative and include a lot of content in the game.

COLOR-CODED ANCESTRY WORLD MAP COLLECTION
This portion of your project involves making a color-coded map of the world showing the immigration patterns of your ancestors. Some of your maps will be more detailed than others because you may know the exact city from which your family came. Other portions of the map will only make reference to the country. Ports of embarkation mentioned on ship manifests should also be included on your map.
“PUSH” FACTORS RESEARCH PAPER
This research asks you to research factors that influenced people to leave from one country in your heritage. Ideally, you will have an immigration year from either US Census materials or immigration records that will provide you with a date and country. You simply need to research what was happening in this country and summarize your findings, stressing reasons that your family may have emigrated from the home country.
(Bulletin Board,
FAMILY SCRAPBOOK
This project will require you to scan old family photos and lay them out in an attractive design, incorporating primary source documents and captions.
LOCAL HISTORY SUMMARIES
Every community that your ancestors lived in has a unique history. Look up these communities online and provide summaries of their histories from the time period in which your family lived in the area. You may want to include major industries or events that made these communities special.
You could demonstrate your knowledge in a paper format, a bulletin board or other approved method.
MILITARY SERVICE RESEARCH
Many students have ancestors who have fought in wars. Research not only the ancestors military records, but delve into the battles and engagements their division, regiment, battalion or corps saw action. You might demonstrate your knowledge through the creation of a detailed timeline, research paper or other medium.
GENETICS CONNECTION
Some individuals begin their ancestry research with the goal of simply finding out about various diseases, which are dominant in the family. This project allows you look at some genetic aspect of your family history (eye color or genetic dispositions for certain ailments) and complete research on it.

CEMETARY ARCHIVING
The project asks you to focus on archiving a cemetery within the area rather than simply focusing on your own family. Should you opt to complete this project, you will spend time outside of school mapping a cemetery and adding this archive to the World Wide Web for other researchers to use. The final product will probably take the form of a published online searchable database.
RADIO PROGRAM
Select a relative of choice and create a radio program from that era, complete with music, news programs, and advertisements. Your research for this project would focus on one person and the time period and location in which this person lived. It will require completing research of old newspapers and other primary sources. This project can be completed using
Audacity, a freeware program.
ANCESTOR RAP or SONG
This project asks you to complete research on your family and create a piece of rap music that incorporates not only your ancestors, but also key events from their lives and the world they lived in. (Ernestine was the name of she, across she came, across the sea. Her mama and siblings were all in tow, the name of the boat-Marsala you know)

You should record your song and or performance on video.
RECIPE BOOK
This project asks you to complete a recipe book of family recipes that are special or significant to your family history or culture. Each recipe should contain information about its background or the story behind its significance. Try to include at least 10 recipes. You may wish to bring a sample of one of the dishes to try in class.
GRAVE STONE RUBBINGS
This project asks you to complete grave stone rubbings from your family.
You should have at least 10 rubbings. Display them in some way that is creative and that you can preserve them.
COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES
Write a collection of short stories told by your family and create a booklet.
Include funny stories and or stories of importance. Be creative and include pictures if you wish.

HELPFUL WEBSITES
Here are a few sites that you might want to use to get started.
Ancestry.com
– This will be the primary source that many of you will use for completing portions of this project. http://www.ancestry.com/
Climbing Your Family Tree – Although this may look to be geared toward younger students, it offers a great deal of information and many useful links and forms to help you organize your information. This site is highly recommended by ancestry.com and even I plan to use some of the links provided here. It covers such topics as adoption and how to conduct an interview with a family member. http://www.workman.com/familytree/index.html
Connecticut State Library List of 18 th and 19 th Century American Nicknames
– This site’s name is pretty self-explanatory. It provides a useful list of first names and the nicknames that were often associated with them. http://www.cslib.org/nickname.htm
U.S. Census Bureau Genealogy – This site will allow you to search portions of the census from past years. http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/data/index.html
United States Surname Distribution – This unique site enables visual learners to see how your family name has migrated throughout the United States according to census data. http://hamrick.com/names/