To understand and demonstrate that change is inevitable in agriculture whether living in the Middle ages or in present day.

Prior Knowledge and Skills: How to Write a Term Paper

Materials/Resources: Farah and Karls. 1994. World History The Human Experience. Glencoe/McGraw-Hill: Westerville. Chapter 11, #3, p. 279 (Linking the Past and Present) and Chapter 12, #2, p.303 (Analyzing Concept). Ohio, U.S.A..

Prince Edward Island Department of Agriculture & Forestry. 1999. "Survey Says Mechanization Most Important in Development of 20^th Century Agriculture", CornerPost, Vol.22, No. 10, page 1. Charlottetown, P.E.I...

A major requirement of History 421/Writing 521 is the formal research paper. This paper must be 1500 words in length and must include properly formatted:

Title page

In-text documentation of sources (MLA method)

Works cited page

Plain paper with all guidelines of format observed

The process of research, or finding information, and the formation of a thesis, or opinion, is extremely important and usually requires several efforts before students feel comfortable with it. Good luck with the process!!

Go through the list of history topics available and narrow down the topic choices to 3 or 4.

(Note: your topic must be an issue one that you can formulate an opinion on and can take a position. This is not a REPORT!)

Complete the Research Log. This is designed to give students an overview of the resources available. It is not the actual research!

Note: Do fill in at least 5 Search Terms to assist you in your research. (These are related word/terms that allow you to diversify your research.)

You will be required to come up with at least 5 sources of information.

This step will be the most time consuming and is the most important part of your work.

Complete the Project Matrix forms - one for each source. Notes should be taken in point form and be as complete as possible.

After gathering as much information as possible on your topic, students must determine their opinion. The Thesis is a statement of that opinion with the reasoning for it.

The Outline must follow standard format and consist of at least four sections. Each section should relate back to the thesis. The outline will be the basis of your first draft.

You must make at least 10 revisions to your paper. You must have at least one other person peer revise your paper. They must make at least 5 revisions.

You must make at least 20 editing changes. You are also responsible for having at least one other person edit your paper. They must make at least 10 changes.

You must use different coloured ink to revise/edit than the peer you are having revise/edit for you. This is the only to get credit for work done.

Submit your final paper with whatever rough notes you have.

With these guidelines in mind, create a term paper focusing on an agricultural change. This term paper should include changes that have occurred in agriculture both:

- during the times of the Middle Ages and

- during the 20^th century.

The term paper could be written addressing one of the following sample questions:

i) Chapter #11 Linking Past and Present (Question #3)

Improvements changed farming in Europe around A.D. 1000. What improvements today will increase farm productivity? What far-reaching effects will they have?

ii) Chapter #12 Analyzing Concepts (Question #2)

Innovation: Choose one medieval innovation and describe its implications for medieval society; do the same for a modern innovation and modern society.

Note: Regardless of which question above is picked, in i), the "change" could be referred to as the "improvement" and in ii), the "change" could be referred to as the "innovation". In both cases, a "change", "improvement", or "innovation" would have to be addressed in terms of both Ancient Greece and the 20^th century.

Some other examples for topic ideas include:

- the manorial system

- Agriculture during the different times: Egyptian, Greek, and Roman

- the feudal system (political aspect with kings/nobles)

- innovations or inventions in agriculture

The following information should be included in the term paper:

- a clear statement of change in the past and the present

- impact of this change to the society of the times

Independent Study

Indirect Instruction (Concept Formation)

Breakdown of marks:

100% of mark

(To be worth 30-40% of the term mark.)

6 Key Qualities in Assessing Writing

Evaluation will be based on inclusion of appropriate information stated above.

Assignment: To develop an Ancient Greek scroll (magazine article) using research of this ancient period of history to substantiate the issues, values, attitudes expressed in this written format of a magazine article/scroll for the aristocrats.

This project will be completed in groups of no more than 4 people. It will be completed on either (Date) or (Date) depending on which day your class is scheduled.

The project is meant to be creative. You will make up a scroll/magazine about the ancient Greek. The topics should be about items/events/people that we have discussed in class.

It is NOT a report, however. I do not want an essay on Plato or the Spartans. It should be articles that are like our daily magazine articles that make us understand the issues of the time. It could be an advice column, home decorating tips, things to do and see, culinary ideas for the season, hottest guy/girl in Athens, the advantages/disadvantages of the feudal system, best practices in caring for the land/bartering system, new tools in agriculture, craft guilds/ farmer’s market, culture achievements, transition to the industrial revolution, history of agriculture (Did You Know?), letter to the editor, etc..

Technology: Please present finished assignment using a word processor

Prepare article in a binder, book, scroll, package - e.g. sheets can be bound in the office for a small fee with much lead time.

Final Assignment requirements: 3 pages per person in your group - e.g. 1 person = 3 pages; 2 persons = 6 pages; 3 persons = 9 pages, etc..

You may have other magazines, pictures, books, etc. as a source of materials for your project.

You may need to do research on your topics. While I want you to have fun and be creative, articles must be historically accurate (e.g. you cannot publish a debate between Socrates and Aristotle because Socrates is dead).

Direct Instruction (Structured Overview)

Interactive Instruction (Brainstorming, Circle of Knowledge)

Independent Study (Report/Magazine Article, Research)

Mark of the project = 100 points. I will multiply your mark by the number of people in your group (e.g. mark 80 x 4 people = 320). Each person in the group will give themselves and each member a mark. I will average the marks to get a final mark.

- 6 Key Qualities in Assessing Writing Rubric

- Collaboration Rubric