Connetquot High School
ADVANCED PLACEMENT UNITED STATES HISTORY
SUMMER PROJECT 2010
Welcome to AP United States History. In order to fulfill the requirements for entry into APUS,
each student must complete the Summer Project. Researching and creating each of these projects
will provide each student with invaluable facts and information in preparation for the APUS Exam
in May. The experience and work involved begin our look at American history.
THE ASSIGNMENT: Each student will create Document Based Questions and a Multiple Choice
Quiz, along with Answer Keys, based on an assigned decade from the later years of 20th Century
United States History.
WHAT IS YOUR TOPIC:
Your “Decade” for the summer project is based on the first initial of your last name. This is meant
to serve as a random process and will insure all the project topics are covered and there is no
“fight” over topics. All of the decades are substantial in length and include a multitude of
information for you to discover.
THE TOPICS:
If your last name
begins with the letters…..
PROJECT TOPIC
A-E
1950’s
F-J
1960’s
K-N
1970’s
O-S
1980’s
T-Z
1990’s
***The TWIN rule: If there are twins in the family both enrolled in APUS History, only one may
complete the appropriate topic. The other brother/sister can choose to complete any of the other
available topics. Any questions/concerns about this can be brought to my attention.
You will need to find 4 Primary Source Documents related to
events that occurred in United States History during your Decade.
Please note the events must pertain to the United States. For instance, discussing the construction
of the Berlin Wall in 1961 or the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 is NOT relevant. The United States,
its citizens or government must have some connection to the event.
DEFINITION:
A PRIMARY SOURCE IS……..
a document or some other evidence written or created during the time under study,
such as:

Direct traces of the event

Accounts of the event, created at the time the event occurred, by firsthand
observers and participants

Accounts of the event, created after the event occurred, by firsthand observers
and participants

Advocacy messages that are part of a controversy
EXAMPLES OF A PRIMARY SOURCE
There are several different types of primary sources.
Published Sources are created for large audiences and distributed widely.

Autobiographies, speeches, eyewitness accounts, advocacy messages found in
newspapers and magazines, interviews, transcripts, advertisements, maps, pamphlets,
posters, laws, political cartoons and court decisions
Unpublished Sources

Personal letters, diaries, journals, wills, deeds, and family histories
Oral Traditions/Oral Histories provide important historical evidence about people,
especially minority groups, who were excluded from mainstream publications or did not leave
behind written primary sources.

Interviews and recordings from people with firsthand knowledge of historical events.
Visual Documents and Artifacts

Photographs, films, paintings, and other types of artwork, coins, clothing, tombstones,
and political cartoons
DIRECTIONS FOR THE DOCUMENT BASED QUESTIONS:
 1 PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT must deal with an ECONOMIC EVENT
faced by the United States during your decade.
WHAT IS AN ECONOMIC EVENT: An occurrence that deals with the production, distribution,
and consumption of goods and services and with the finances of a country or business.

1 PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT must deal with a POLITICAL EVENT
faced by the United States during your decade.
WHAT IS A POLITICAL EVENT: An occurrence that deals with the election, governing of a
political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal affairs.

1 PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT must deal with an INTERNATIONAL
EVENT faced by the United States during your decade.
WHAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL EVENT: An occurrence that deals with United States
relations with other nations, including trade agreements, diplomacy and war.

1 PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT must deal with a SOCIAL EVENT faced
by the United States during your decade.
WHAT IS A SOCIAL EVENT: An occurrence that deals with a group, community or the public.

At least one of these DOCUMENTS must be a written account of an event.
At least one of these DOCUMENTS must be a visual account of an event.
The remaining two documents can be based solely on your personal interest
or findings.


For each PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT, you will create 2 QUESTIONS.
In total, you will create 8 Questions. In effect, 2 Questions per Document,
equaling 8 all together.
For each DOCUMENT, one question can be a RECALL Question. A Recall
question requires the observation and recall of information, knowledge of dates,
events, places, and knowledge of major ideas. A Recall question will ask to use
the content of the document to answer a question.
For each DOCUMENT, one question MUST be an ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS or
EVALUATION Question. An Analysis, Synthesis or Evaluation Question
requires the recognition of hidden meanings, the ability to predict or draw
conclusions and compare and discriminate between ideas or recognize
subjectivity.


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After creating the Questions, you will then create an ANSWER KEY with your
Answers to each of your Questions. This should be a separate packet from the
Questions, and not in anyway found on the Questions portion. In effect, one
should be able to answer the Questions without seeing the Answers.

The style of the work should match the design of a Document Based Question
found on the NEW YORK STATE REGENTS EXAM and be TYPED. Present
the document and then below the document, list your two Questions one-at-a-time
with lined-answer blanks available for a response. Only place one Document and
set of Questions per page.

When searching for appropriate documents for the project, first research the
decade, discover some of the events that occurred during this decade and then
utilize Google or any search engine to help locate the whereabouts of any
historical evidence of the event. For instance, when searching for political
cartoons regarding the topic, type in “political cartoon Lyndon B. Johnson” and
then switch to “IMAGES” to view the available visuals/cartoons.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ:
 The Quiz must include 10 Multiple Choice Questions based on your decade.
 Each multiple choice question must have 5 possible answers. (The correct
answer mixed in with 4 plausible incorrect answers.)
 The Quiz must be typed and be presented in a Test format FOR EXAMPLE:
_____ 1. What event precipitated the swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson as
President of the United States?
a. The release of 52 hostages from the US Embassy in Iran.
b. The United States invasion of Grenada.
c. The assassination of John F. Kennedy.
d. The Tet Offensive in Vietnam.
e. The introduction of the Great Society domestic initiative.

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The Multiple Choice does not need to relate specifically to the documents. You
can discuss other events from your decade.
BE CAREFUL: The incorrect answers for each multiple choice question must be
plausible. In effect, the “wrong” answers must be considered a true possibility for
the student taking the quiz.
You must provide a typed ANSWER KEY separate from the quiz. (Do not
place the answers on the actual Quiz.)
WHAT MUST YOU HAND IN:
 A printed paper copy of your Document Based Questions. (While each document
must be on a separate page, you are more than welcome to print “back-to-back” in
order to save paper.)
 A paper copy of your DBQ ANSWER KEY.
 A paper copy of your MULTIIPLE CHOICE QUIZ.
 A paper copy of your MULTIPLE CHOICE ANSWER KEY.
COMMENT ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
This is an individual project and must be completed without utilizing the direct ideas or creativity
of fellow students. Plagiarism will result in a failure on the Summer Project and prompt a
conversation regarding your removal from APUS History.
“WHAT IF I HAVE NO ACCESS TO THE INTERNET IN ORDER TO DO RESEARCH OR
MICROSOFT WORD FOR WORD PROCESSING”:
The computers at the Connetquot Public Library have the Internet and Microsoft Word available
for your use. It may be wise to save any documents you discover on an independent disk or flash
drive for safe keeping throughout the creation of your project.
WHEN IS THE PROJECT DUE:
The 4 items above must be handed in collectively on the first day of school in September, 2010.
Please be sure to place your name on all items so that there is no confusion regarding your work.
 Late projects may lead to a discussion with Guidance and your parents/guardian
regarding your placement in the AP course.
“EARLY BIRD” DUE DATE
If you would like to take the opportunity and reap the reward, you are welcome to hand in the
Project by the “Early Bird” due date of Wednesday, August 11th, 2010. This effort will reward
you with 5 bonus points on the first test of the school year in APUS. Here’s how the process
works: On any weekday before August 11th, just proceed to the Main Office at the High School
and ask one of the secretaries to place your project in Mr. Drzal’s mailbox. (Please ask for
assistance so that the work is not misplaced.) On August 11th, itself, there will be a box labeled
APUS SUMMER PROJECTS on the counter in the Main Office where the projects can be
dropped off. SOME WARNINGS:



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Make sure that your work is properly labeled with your name, the name of the work “APUS Summer Project
2010” and an e-mail address or phone number in case there is a problem with you work that needs to be
attended to.
Make sure that your work is properly placed together by staple or paperclip and is not haphazard.
Be aware that the Main Office in the High School is not open all day during the summer. Make sure that you
arrive at an opportune time. (It is not the teacher’s fault or the secretaries’ fault if the Office is closed.)
This project will NOT be accepted over e-mail due to concerns that certain visuals may not transfer well. The
project must be handed in on paper.
HOW WILL I BE GRADED:
The rubric below includes all of the graded requirements for the APUS Summer Project.
DOCUMENT #1
15 points
 Is the Document a Primary Source?
 Does the Document relate to the decade in question?
 Are the Questions “test-worthy”? (Are the Questions challenging enough and thoughtful enough to
truly be used on a Test?)
 Is there an ANALYSIS/SYNTHESIS/EVALUATION Question?
 Does the ANALYSIS/SYNTHESIS/EVALUATION Question require higher-level thinking in
order to answer?
 Is the answer found on the separate Answer Key accurate? Does the answer provide for a possible
range of responses?
DOCUMENT #2
 Same requirements as above
15 points
DOCUMENT #3
 Same requirements as above
15 points
DOCUMENT #4
 Same requirements as above
15 points
CREATIVITY/AESTHETICS/NEATNESS
10 points
 Is there a “written” document?
 Is there a “visual” document?
 Does the project follow the appropriate format for design? (Does the work look like it could be
presented to true students in a true classroom?)
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ/ANSWER KEY
 Are there 10 questions?
 Do the questions require effort
to answer?
 Are the incorrect answers plausible?
 Is there a separate Answer key?
 Are the answers correct?
30 points
TOTAL: 100 points.
(This grade counts toward
your 1rst Quarter Average.)
FINAL ADVICE AND RESOURCES:
Depending on when you receive this assignment, you are more than welcome to stop by our
classrooms (Room 244 or Room 202) if you have any questions or concerns about the project.
If you have any questions over the summer, feel free to e-mail Mr. Drzal or Mr. Nizewitz. Do not
hesitate to get in touch. Do not feel uncomfortable with any question. It is much better to get the
answers you need then sit around debating with yourself.
E-MAIL ADDRESSES:
mrj_drzal@hotmail.com
(Notice: there is an underscore _
between the terms in the address.)
nizewitz@gmail.com
If this paperwork is misplaced, this project can be found on the Connetquot High School website
under the Social Studies Department link.