Brooklyn Bridge cluster

The causes and impact of The Brooklyn Bridge A high school research project cluster: illustrating the variety of resources investigated, the rationale and purposes for their selection, and the opportunities for discovery, analysis, and critical thinking that they cultivate.

Friday, May 31, 2013

An Overview: Listen A sprawling topic can be difficult to narrow down.

A video overview or a Wikipedia article can be a good place to start.

Names, dates, and key vocabulary from these sources can provide you with points of entry into further research.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Getting started: bridges A short picture book Just reading the captions and soaking up the illustrations will bring you up to speed on the history and the types of bridges in a hurry.

This will give you valuable information that you can compare and contrast with the Brooklyn Bridge.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Background information... for you and your reader.

Sites like this one (that animate the suspension bridge process) may not make it into the body of your research paper, but they are important to your understanding of the subject. Include them on your work cited page.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Background information.

Mr. D. ball-parks many of the facts and figures for expediency, but he does illustrate the basic techniques and principles.

Be critical when evaluating resources, even his!

http://youtu.be/6GhtWv_raq0

Friday, May 31, 2013

Context: the era The opening ten pages of this encyclopedia give a good summary of the times and the forces in America that accommodated the building of the bridge: - urbanization - immigration - industrialism - social reform - technology

Friday, May 31, 2013

Context: NYC at the time Section 13 of this encyclopedia article on NYC focuses on “Rich and Poor from 1865 to 1945.”

It provides a good snapshot of the city as a booming economy and hub of activity: reasons for a bridge.

(Also it is good example that you don’t always need to read an entire article, sections 1-15 for example. Instead, read the important stuff deeply.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Context: NYC at the time The New York City article in this encyclopedia has a section called “The Age of Industry 1840-1940.”

It provides strong information that will help illustrate the cause and effect of the Brooklyn Bridge.

(Also it is good example that you don’t always need to read an entire article. Instead, read the important stuff deeply.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Primary Source:

This is where you interpret history rather than the author of a book.

As an example, here is the program of the opening ceremonies of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883; complete with three speeches given that day.

Your interpretation of the tone and content of those speeches may either corroborate or contest the facts you have discovered while reading about New York City and the context of the times.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28191/28191-h/28191-h.htm Friday, May 31, 2013

Statistics and graphs Using statistics, tables, and graphs is a strong way to support your thesis.

Did the Brooklyn Bridge help fuel the growth of NYC? This table from the U.S. census would support that idea.

Look at the increase in the percentage of New York staters living in the city jump from 1890 to 1900!

Friday, May 31, 2013

Magazines / Articles Subscription databases linked to the ACS Library page like EBSCO, ProQuest, and Great Events in World History provide peer-reviewed resources that are rich with research functions: - full text articles - suggested additional search terms - email, save, and export of articles - cut & paste citations - save or email searches - create RSS feeds A quick lesson on how to access and navigate these databases will pay off with credible information.

Friday, May 31, 2013

The Main Event An accessible book that hits the main points and has helpful illustrations. No works cited or footnotes, 48 pages.

A great book by a Pulitzer prize-winning author: footnotes, work cited, chronology, appendix, index, 500+ pages.

Friday, May 31, 2013