RESEARCH PROJECT

In groups, you will work on a PowerPoint presentation that explores one of the following topics. The PowerPoint must have a minimum of 10 slides with pictures. All of the text must be in your own words. None of your text may be copied from the Internet. The final page must include a list of your sources.

Group One: Divide your work among the group members, giving each member a segment of time to research. (For example, time before the Roman Empire, time during the Roman Empire, time between the fall of the Roman Empire and modern history, and modern history). Take notes and make a timeline. Make your timeline in segments and place each segment on a different slide as you make your presentation. (Feel free to improvise to create a visually interesting timeline!) During your presentation, have each group member give a short report about his/her segment of Roman history. Coordinate the use of your timeline as a visual aid.

Group Two: There's an old saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day!" The Roman Empire developed, flourished, and declined over a period of hundreds of years. It is your job to show the geographical rise and fall of the Roman Empire. First, you have to research the history of the Roman Empire. A good encyclopedia article should give you a good outline of the periods in the history of the Roman Empire. Have one group member get the encyclopedia. One group member should take notes, noting the periods of the Empire. Then assign one period of the Roman Empire's growth to each student in the group. Each group member is looking for specific information about the geographical boundaries of the Roman Empire during the period he/she was assigned. Get together as a group to pool your information. Have each student give a brief report to the group. This is best done in chronological order. During the presentation, show the series of slides and give a brief explanation of the ways in which the land was acquired and lost.

Group Three: Your task is twofold: to find biographical information about the man Julius Caesar and to find information about the play Julius Caesar. Divide your group in half. Half of you should work on the biography and half of you should work on information about the play. The visual part of your presentation could be photos of Julius Caesar and pictures from a performance of the play, or you may have a group member dress up as Julius Caesar to talk about his life and the play William Shakespeare wrote about his assassination. You could make a family tree for Julius Caesar. Use your imagination to make your 10-minute presentation as interesting as possible.

Group Four: Your assignment is to answer the question, "What is it like to live in Rome today?" Explore basic influences on the people of Rome: What kind of government do they have? What is the basis of their economy? What are current issues there? What do they wear? What do they eat? What is their educational system like? What influence does the church have on their lives? Don't limit yourselves to answering only these questions; they are examples of the kinds of questions your report should answer.