Civil War & Reconstruction Project
Spring 2013
 With the end of the marking period drawing closer, instead of a comprehensive final
exam for this course I am going to have you complete a final project instead. Along with
larger final exams comes test anxiety and many hours of study and preparation. Instead of
compiling a marking period’s worth of text questions and testing you on it, I want you to
showcase your creativity and intelligence for all things Civil War in a variety of different
ways.
 You have the option of choosing from different projects about different topics associated
with the Civil War and what we have learned in this class
 You will have three full class periods to think about the particular project you will want
to complete. You must have your project approved by me (this means you MUST run any
specific ideas you have regarding certain project topics like Civil War replicas of military
items by me first before you began to work on your project – plain and simple!)
 After you have decided on which project you will complete I will give you the specific
grading rubric that goes along with your project
 All five different project topics are worth the same amount of points – 200 Points
 These projects will count towards your final grade for the class
Grading:
As mentioned above - The project will be worth 200 points.
Research: 100 points: This is where you show that you completed the research
required to make your project. Your research will be in-depth and showcase
supporting information (facts) about your particular project.
Difficulty of Task: 50 points: How authentic does your project look? If you
decide to make a Civil War military replica such as an iron clad ship or a cannon, I
expect it to look like it would have in the 1860’s. If you choose to design a cereal
box, I expect the cereal box to look like a real cereal box that would be on sale on
shelves at grocery stores across the country. If you choose to design a replica
battlefield site be sure to include specific dates and times of the battle, etc…
Completion on Time: 25 points: For every day late you will lose 10 points up to
TWO DAYS. At that point you can only get points for creativity/research and
difficulty of task.
Presentation: 25 points: You will present your project to the class giving a brief
summary of what you created and the premise (reasoning) behind it.
Civil War Project Topics
1.) Create a PowerPoint presentation addressing new inventions of the Civil War. The Civil
War resulted in many new inventions and has been called the first modern war. Research
and compile a PowerPoint of Civil War “firsts.” Explain how each of these “firsts”
impacted the lives of Americans during and after the war. How did military technology
change during the course of the war? How did the advancement of military technology
during the Civil War impact future wars? Your PowerPoint presentation should be 12-15
slides.
2.) Create a tri-fold poster board presentation in which you provide an in-depth look at the
lives of soldiers for BOTH the Union and Confederate armies. Your poster board
presentation should include pictures for visualization and good descriptive bullet points
of facts arranged in a professional manner. Your presentation should include a detailed
description of a typical soldier’s uniform. It should discuss what most soldiers typically
travelled with in their knapsacks. You should include what soldiers did for leisure time
while in their encampments. You should discuss how encampments/tents differed
depending on the soldiers rank. Be sure to include anything you find to be unique or
interesting regarding the lives of the soldiers for both sides as well.
3.) Create a military item replica or battlefield replica of the Civil War. Unless you choose to
make a battlefield replica, all military items MUST be approved. It can be a replica of an
iron clad naval ship, cannon, military uniform, or anything unique/interesting you can
think of. Your replica must be of a decent size – nothing extremely small and non-time
consuming to construct. If you choose to make a battlefield replica remember to be sure
to include specific dates and times of the battle. Along with your replica you must submit
a two page research paper on the replica you created. You will have to present your
replica as well as an explanation on how you made it and why to the class.
4.) Create an A-Z Alphabet Book pertaining to the Civil War and everything we’ve learned
in the class this marking period. Your alphabet book should include/explain some of the
terms, people, events, battles, places, and concepts associated with this dramatic era of
history. You are to use meaningful words or phrases taken from the materials used in
class, assigned readings, class discussions, and your own research. For each letter of the
alphabet, you will need one entry. Each must be on a separate sheet of paper and utilize
the front side only. Use plain white or colored paper (NO LINED NOTEBOOK PAPER).
Each entry should include the word associated with the letter as well as 1-2 paragraphs of
researched information. You will then present your alphabet book to the rest of the class.
5.) Create a historical cereal box. You are to use an empty cereal box as your base. Cover the
brand of cereal with either white or colored paper. Decorate it with paste-ups. Make it
colorful (no pencil written only cereal boxes). You’re cereal box should reference either a
famous individual or battle from the Civil War. The requirements for the historical cereal
box project are a cereal name, cereal character, cereal slogan, cereal manufacturer and
symbol, ingredients, nutritional value, and additional features (games – mazes, puzzles,
word search, coupons, etc…). You will present your cereal box to the class and explain
why you choose what you did to put on your cereal box and how it relates to the Civil
War.
HOW WILL YOU BE GRADED?
Total Points = 200
Mechanics (grammar, punctuation, etc…)
Meets Requirements (length, appropriate topic, etc…)
Content (accurate, organized, etc…)
Overall Project (effort, neat, creative, etc…)
Presentation
40 Points
10 Points
100 Points
25 Points
25 Points