National History Day 2015: Assorted Topic Ideas

The National History Day theme for 2014-2015 is Leadership and Legacy in History. I do special posts for STEM topics because I think they in particular are underrepresented, but I've come up with some other topic ideas that I thought I'd post. Hope this is useful!

Political Leaders
--Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, the first PM of Singapore, responsible for really shaping modern Singapore
--Heydar Aliyev. Led the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic for years and then was president of the Republic of Azerbaijan after the Soviet Union dissolved. (A lot of Central Asian countries have similar leaders, so check them out!)
--Saint Steven I, King of Hungary. He wasn't the first leader of the unified Magyar tribes, but he made a lot of changes and really established the kingdom.
--Charles I of Hungary, the first of the Angevin line of kings, who reunited Hungary under royal power and under whom the Renaissance began in Hungary
--Janos Hunyadi, who led Hungary against the Ottoman Turks in the 1400s
--Count Istvan Szechenyi or Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian reformers and leaders while Hungary was ruled by the Habsburgs
--Ferenc Deak, who negotiated the Austro-Hungarian Compromise with the Emperor
--Imre Nagy, a prime minister of Communist Hungary who supported/was supported by the 1956 revolution but was executed when the revolution was crushed

Religious Leaders (of the Protestant variety)
--John and/or Charles Wesley, founders of Methodism.
--Coke and Asbury, the first Methodist bishops in the United States.
--The most common topic choice here is Martin Luther, leader of the Reformation and founder of Lutheranism. You could also look at John Calvin, another leader of the Protestant Reformation.
--John Knox, leader of the Scottish reformation
--Jerry Falwell. You could go lots of directions with this, but one is starting Liberty University

Dance
-- Martha Graham and modern dance
-- Balanchine and neo-classicism (as well as American ballet in general)
-- Rudolf Nureyev and the Paris Opera Ballet
-- Bournonville and Danish Ballet
-- Yuri Grigorovitch and the rise of choreographic symphonism in the Soviet Union
-- Ninette de Valois and Sadler's Wells (the Royal Ballet)
-- Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes

Disney
-- Walt Disney and animation (or choose an early Disney animator)
-- Walt Disney and Disneyland
-- John Hench and Disneyland (or choose an early Imagineer)
-- The Sherman brothers and Disney music

National History Day 2015: Chemistry and Biology Topics

The theme for 2015 NHD is Leadership and Legacy in History.

History of science topics tend to be underrepresented in NHD, so here are chemistry and biology topic suggestions for this year's theme! Some of these might be a bit of a stretch of the theme or might interpret it in an unusual way.

Something I find cool about this topic is that the 'legacy' bit explicitly requires discussing the impact in the present, so think about all of these with that in mind! Another thing to keep in mind is something that is specifically called out in this year's theme handbook: not everyone who "leads the way" shows leadership. The handbook actually specifically calls out scientists: "Does a scientist display leadership because he or she invents something that is historically significant? Not necessarily." The people I've listed here did great things in their field. The question to consider is whether they displayed leadership of others.

Chemistry

Kathleen Lonsdale, one of the first women elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and a pioneer of x-ray crystallography
Elsie Widdowson and nutrition
Dorothy Hodgkin, x-ray diffraction, worked out the structures of penicillin and vitamin B12
Anne McLaren and in vitro fertilization
Louis Pasteur and pasteurization or vaccination
Svante Arrhenius, founder of physical chemistry
Otto Hahn, father of nuclear chemistry
Fritz Haber, father of chemical warfare. This could make for an interesting argument about leadership.
Dmitri Mendeleev and the periodic table

National History Day 2015: Math, Physics, and Technology Topics

The theme for 2015 NHD is Leadership and Legacy in History.

History of science topics tend to be underrepresented in NHD, so here are some math and physics topic suggestions for this year's theme! Some of these might be a bit of a stretch of the theme or might interpret it in an unusual way. This post might be updated occasionally throughout the summer and fall.

Something I find cool about this topic is that the 'legacy' bit explicitly requires discussing the impact in the present, so think about all of these with that in mind! Another thing to keep in mind is something that is specifically called out in this year's theme handbook: not everyone who "leads the way" shows leadership. The handbook actually specifically calls out scientists: "Does a scientist display leadership because he or she invents something that is historically significant? Not necessarily." The people I've listed here did great things in their field. The question to consider is whether they displayed leadership, showing an ability to lead and inspire others.

Math and Statistics
--Paul Erdos and collaboration in mathematics
--David Hilbert's 23 problems
--Mary W. Gray and the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM)
--Charlotte Scott and women in mathematics
--Kuratowski and Polish mathematics
Choose a mathematician who helped create/made a lot of progress in an area of mathematics. Here are some suggestions:

Language Learning at Home

I'm very in favor of kids learning foreign languages, and I've recently been thinking about teaching kids languages at home and how it can/should be done. First, I'm assuming that the parents have been speaking only English to the child; this isn't a kid who has been raised bilingual. Second, I'm not really going to say much about what I think about any of the "curricula" I mention; I do like some more than others. Third, so much of all of this depends on the child, so rather than constantly repeat that, I'm going to make that a disclaimer: timing, pace, and manner of learning are all so, so student dependent. (Also, questions and comments would be really appreciated. I love thinking about this, and there's still a lot about which I'm unsure.)

Q: When should a child start learning a foreign language?

I started learning French when I was five, and I think it was about the right age. I've gone back and forth about how much a student's level in English should impact when to start. I could already read, for example. Is it better to wait until the child can read? I'm not sure that's necessary because the early stages of learning a new language at this point are not going to focus too much on writing.

Q: Okay, so what language?

For this first foreign language, I would choose a language with a lot of material available - movies with tracks in this language, music, books, and whatever the main learning tool is going to be (whether that be software, DVDs, CDs + books, or something else).

What languages does this open up? Spanish, French, and German, certainly, but there's more and more material for kids in other languages. For example, Little Pim has Mandarin, Russian, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, and Portuguese; Learnables has Mandarin, Hebrew, Japanese, and Russian; and Muzzy has Mandarin, Italian, Russian, and Portuguese. (Dino Lingo has dozens of languages, but I don't know much about it.) Other places to look at what's available, particularly as far as books go, in various languages are Language Lizard and the International Children's Digital Library. 

National History Day: Paper and Documentary Notes

When I watched documentaries at NHD Nationals in 2012, I took some general notes that friends have told me are useful, so I thought I'd share them. I also have some very brief notes on my experience competing in the paper category. Hope this is useful!

Documentary

Most people had their documentaries on DVDs. I would recommend having multiple DVDs and a copy on a flash drive.

Starting screen while waiting on judges to read process papers – preferably with no sound.

Students serve as the narrators of the documentary.

Sources are listed in the credits, but sources in the credits may be very general.

Most of the entries have background music. Awkward cuts of the background music can be distracting. For example, most senior entries have an intro, then go to the title screen, then continue. If there is music in the intro, it should carry through the title screen into the beginning of the main section of the documentary.

Almost all finals documentaries at Nationals have interviews, even if they’re with professors.

Documentaries use photos, video clips, sound clips, music, interviews, drawings and other art, charts, graphs, maps, and images of documents (especially newspaper articles). Common techniques are zooming in and out, panning on images.

The students should give the process papers to the judges before going to set up the video. They will have to wait for the judges to finish reading.

The student(s) should stand throughout the showing of the documentary, and competitors are responsible for adjusting the volume if it is necessary.

Technical problems are pretty common and are not held against the entry. It’s important that the competitor remain composed through technical issues.

Students must introduce themselves and their documentaries before starting, so they should know how to project their voices to be heard throughout a room.

It’s a good idea to check Fair Use policies before using video clips/music/photos.

National History Day: Performance Notes

At NHD 2012, I watched a lot of performances, both individual and group, and I took some notes that friends have told me are pretty helpful. These notes are split into individual performance and group performance, but a lot of the individual notes apply to group as well! Some of these notes will be more helpful early in the process of coming up with a performance, and some will be more helpful later on.

Individual Performance

Most competitors start with an introduction: “I’m (name), and my performance is (title).”

Most competitors have multiple characters, usually but not always including a narrator.

Character changes should be very clear. It’s best to change voice/accent. Many competitors change costume. Turning around or bowing the head also often indicate a character change.

Small costume changes may be sufficient – adding a pair of glasses or a shawl. Some performances had much more extensive costume changes. The 2^nd place entry brought a black curtain hung on a PVC pipe frame behind which he changed coats, vests, hats, and wigs.

Costume changes have the possibility to be awkward silences. Many competitors fill this by playing music. The 2^nd place entry either continued speaking in the character he had been or was an unidentified gossiper. He was *very* quick with his changes, or this could have become confusing.

Costumes do not tend to be simple. They should be appropriate to the character(s), and some of them are so elaborate.

Props/backgrounds varied greatly. The winning senior entry had elaborate sets – three backgrounds hung on PVC pipe frames, a small loom, a spinning wheel, a desk, a mannequin, a bell, and a telephone. However, one of the other entries that made finals had only two pieces of paper meant to be letters. Props should be significant, not just there to look good.

National History Day: Exhibit Notes

At the NHD National Competition a couple of years ago, I took a lot of notes about what I saw from exhibits. At any stage in the process, whether you're just starting or trying to fix up your exhibit for Nationals, these are some things to consider.

Exhibits
 

The best exhibits are more like museum exhibits than science fair boards. The colors, decoration, and even design of the board tend to correspond to the topic.

Lots of entries use video screens integrated into the board.

Most entries use a trifold shape, and many of them make use of the traditionally empty are on the table between the sides of the trifold. Here there may be models, maps, relevant timelines, etc. It’s important to not just try to fill this space, though – everything present should add something to the exhibit.

Because of the limit on student produced words, most boards have lots of quotes, images, and documents.

No one will read a long block of text – split the text up. However, too many short text blocks can make the board look busy, so there has to be a balance. The board should provide lots of information in an organized fashion.

Choose two or three thematic colors that go together, and make sure there is enough contrast that the board is easy to read. Choose a readable font in a large enough size, and don’t use very many different fonts.

Some exhibits use texture backing material on the board to theme it – thin cotton for Triangle Shirtwaist, woven plant mats for Guam, etc.

Most exhibits were trifolds – cardboard, foamcore, wood, even corrugated metal – and tall. However, others had three or four sides and spun. One of the entries that made finals was in the form of a very large book because the topic was Dr. Seuss.

Some of the exhibits were two pieces vertically joined with latches, Velcro, or braces.

Don’t just glue everything flat to the board. Using foamcore to bumpt things out creates a more polished appearance.

Some exhibits are interactive: lift the flap areas, layered stacks of pages, trains that ran, video selections.

National History Day: General Nationals Notes

If you're headed to the National History Day Contest in Maryland, congratulations! Here are some roughly organized general notes and suggestions from my tip to NHD Nationals a couple of years ago. I'll also be posting notes for different events. Hope they're helpful!

Entries

Process papers are often awkward by nature. This can be minimized with correct grammar and spelling and varied sentence structure. For group events, the process paper should be written in first person plural, and team members should be referred to by name.

Referring to historical figures by first name only is rarely appropriate. Characters in a performance are an exception.

Judging

Within each event, entries are split into seven rooms. From each room, two entries move on to finals. In finals, the entry must stand on its own – no judge questions. This means that paper, website, and exhibit competitors don’t know until after the awards ceremony if they made finals because they don’t have to be present for finals judging.

60% of the judging is based on the history – accuracy, context, analysis, use of available primary sources, and wide research. Another 20% has to do with the theme – relation to the theme, showing the significance of the topic of the entry, drawing conclusions. The last 20% is based on balanced research, clarity, and presentation of the entry.

Wide research – variety of sources, both primary and secondary

Balanced research – multiple perspectives, identifies biases

Competitors should always know more about their topic than they present, and they must be able to answer specific questions about their topic and sources.

Typical questions about sources: Which was the most interesting, most influential, or most important? Judges may also ask more specific questions, for example, “I see you interviewed Professor X. How did that influence your entry?”

Typical general questions: When did you start working on your entry? What have you changed since districts/state? What surprised you most in your research? What did you learn? What single thing should we take away from your entry? Questions also often require bringing the topic to the present – what influence has it had?

Students should be able to defend unusual choices they made in their entry. For example, I saw a performance that was almost entirely pantomime, and they were asked to explain the decision to do pantomime instead of a more traditional performance.

Students should shake hands with the judges. In paper, the most convenient time is at the beginning of the interview. For all the other events, it’s best done while passing out process papers.

Students should not tell the judges that they’re from a certain state. The judges aren’t supposed to know.

Bring four process papers to the competition. There are three judges for prelims and three judges for finals. At each step every judge will take a process paper, but after the judging they keep only one.

Students should dress well on any day they’re competing competing – so for paper, website, and exhibit, have one nice outfit, and for performance and documentary, have two in case you make finals.

Delegation Related:

Pin trading is a big deal, particularly if you stay in the dorms, I think. State pins are for sale at the state NHD competition, and then at nationals the competitors trade and try to get a pin from every affiliate.

Most states wear the state NHD t-shirt to the awards ceremony, so bring it!

Going to the performances and documentary showings of other people in one’s delegation is highly encouraged.