Projects without backboards
A lot of projects come to the Red River Heritage Fair very artistically arranged on a backboard and set up very much like, well, a science fair display. Did you know you don’t have to set up your project that way?
- Audio projects. You can record your project and present it as an audio file. Maybe it’s
an interview with a historical figure. Maybe it’s a bit of on the spot live recording courtesy of some time travel. Try a program like Audacity to record, and throw in some sound effects from Free Sound, and top it off with some royalty-free background music from Incompetech. - Video projects. What could be more fun than creating a script about a historical event, dressing up in costume, collecting props and telling your story in a video? There’s plenty of great online video editing sites like WeVideo or you can use a free desktop program like Open Shot.
- Website. Build a website to present your story. The new Google Sites makes creating a pretty decent website pretty easy. Go to sites.google.com to get started, or if you’re a Google Apps school you’ll need to talk to your IT person to make sure Google Sites has been enabled.
- Choose your own adventure. This is a great type of story that kids like to read. Imagine creating one about a historical event and thinking through how it might have gone if different decisions had been made at certain point. If someone had chosen a different path, how would it have turned out? For that kind of counterfactual thinking, Twine is a great place to create your presentation. It’s gone an online version, and versions to run on either a Mac or PC. And even if you create it online, you can download your work and play it on your computer without wifi, just in case your Internet connection fails.
