Lamaya & Ashley

Presentation format: iweb + Spoken Word

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11766227/Mexican-American%20War/Mexican-American_War/War_Section.html

    The topic in which I chose for my National History Day project was the "Manhattan Project". I became interested in the Manhattan Project after I found out it was responsible for the production of the first nuclear weapons. Those weapons were later used to end a war instantly and at the same time destroy over 90,000 innocent lives. I chose this topic because I hadn't done any previous research on the topic and I was really anxious to learn how it had come about.

    The way I conducted my research was by first finding my sources. I took my time and looked for some very useful primary sources, I also did the same with my secondary sources. I conducted my research by first researching every body who was involved with my topic. I knew that if i wanted to fully understand this information, I was going to need some good background information and I thought that information on the people involved was a good place to start. Next I started to do some basic research on what the actual "Manhattan Project" was. I got some basic facts including dates, and people involved.

    I selected the presentation category "Documentary" due to a couple reasons. The first major reason is that I consider myself very talented when it comes to video editing and creation so I felt ver comfortable choosing this category. Another reason is because I worked alone I believed that this allowed me to work more efficiently. I created my project using the video editing software known as iMovie. I also compensated for not being able to do a good voiceover by recording the spoken voice of the computer. I created my documentary as though it was a timeline and displayed everything in order in which it occurred.

    My project relates to the NHD theme of "Debate & Diplomacy: Successes, Failures, Consequences" because at first the use of radioactive elements was considered in creating a new energy source. It quickly jumped from something peaceful to a weapon of mass destruction. I believe that this is one of the most important projects undertaken by the American government in modern history and that end result is one of the most significant events also. There were many conflicts as too weather or not these weapons should be developed, a mass number of civilian support against its development.

During our brainstorming, we both displayed a high interest in military actions by the United States, some of which are the centers of conspiracy theories due to the lack of information regarding them being released. After realizing the connection, we proposed to study covert operations, commonly known as “black operations” or “black ops” for short, initiated by the United States during war and peace times. Our research was broken up between the two of us. However, once we both gathered our secondary and primary sources, we collaborated on the compilation of the pertinent information that could be found in the sources we were going to use. Once we completed this and wrote up our articles, we had to determine a method of presenting what we learned. After we determined what we were going to create, we first compiled all our articles into a single dossier, housed within the proper Weebly formatting for a website. After this time, we began to add pictures, hyperlinks and other forms of media to our website to help decorate it. We compiled these, for easy access, in a library of photographs.

Our project relates to the NHD theme because it is applicable in both debates and diplomacy. Our project’s topic has two sides one can argue. This, in and of itself, is the very basis of debate. Since it is not a one-way argument, with one person 100% right and the other 100% wrong, it fits into the category of “debatable,” and therefore is applicable to that category of the NHD topic. A definition of “diplomacy” is the “subtly skillful handling of a situation,” according to the wordnetweb.princton.edu site. Therefore, according to this definition, “Black Operations” is a topic that fits nicely into this category. Covert operations classified as “Black Ops” tend to be high-risk and need to be handled with a massive amount of care. Without the care that is used, there could be catastrophic results. Due to this match in definitions, the topic of “Black Ops” is applicable to the NHD topic category of “democracy.” 

Amaris Romero and Joshua Martin-Corrales

The Video is Here

We did our NHD on the genocide convention in 1948. We decided to focus on different genocides all around the world. Amaris Romero, Shelby Harcher, and Johnathan Neris