The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair was an event full of new innovations and creative minds that brought about several new inventions that filled spectators with awe. The freshmen in English 9 Honors and U.S. History Honors at Mooresville High School mimicked these creative minds and created a mock World’s Fair for their English and History classes. The students were tasked with with creating a model or some type of artwork that represented one of the many creations and present for three to five minutes about why what they chose was the most innovative.
This assignment was a month long project and many students put hours into making their models and their poster boards of information. The freshmen were allowed to branch out creatively and they created projects that spanned from a three foot tall moving Ferris Wheel to painting of scenery from the fair. Along with their dioramas students had to have a poster board that outlined three claims and three counter-claims from their presentations supporting the idea that their invention was the most innovative.
This project was coupled with the English 9 Honors class reading a book titled The Devil in the White City. The book follows the creation of the Chicago’s World’s Fair but also the cruel murders of the infamous H.H. Holmes. Click here for an overview of the book. They read this book over a span of about two months, so they had more than enough time to prepare their projects.
However, when it comes to time management the freshman’s approaches varied. Some spent all the time they could on the construction of their dioramas while others held out until the end to finish (or start) it.
“It took a few weeks because it took awhile for all the stuff to come in,” Freshman Julianna Bosaw said.
“[It took] about two and a half hours from start to finish,” Freshman Brody Beasley said.
From this project the Freshman got to learn time management, hands-on construction, and about the history of these inventions.
“This project requires students to research primary sources, develop arguments, and build on presentation skills. It is neat to see student creativity and collaboration between the classes,” History Honors Teacher Morgan Mitchell said.
From the students perspective, they really appreciated learning about the historical side of the fair. Bosaw built a model of the Agricultural Building from the fair.
“I learned a lot about how it was built and what’s purpose was,” Bosaw said.
