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Middle Trimester Themes
MIDDLE SCHOOL the college school
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The Research Project All middle school students complete a Middle Trimester research project each year. For many students, it is the most academically challenging part of the school year. Topics for the research project stem from the Middle Trimester themes, which normally focus on a historical period. Within the larger theme, students choose a topic of interest to them, conduct independent research, and write a formal research paper to communicate their findings. Requirements in terms of length and sophistication of the topic increase as students advance through the grades. The middle trimester themes are mixed-grade themes. There is a strong tradition in the middle trimester of older students helping younger students navigate the requirements and management of the research project.
Example Middle Trimester Themes:
Civil Rights Our study of the twentieth century civil rights movement highlights the history of the AfricanAmerican struggle for equality. We explore the various contributions to the movement from many key individuals and organizations. We examine the significant events of the era and place the issues in the broader context of American history. Through primary documents, film, first-person interviews, and museum and site visits, we explore historic as well as present-day conditions affecting minority groups in the United States.
Technology that Changed the World When it comes to technology, one fact stands out clearly: despite the immense achievements of technology by 1900, the 20th century witnessed more innovation than the whole of previously recorded history. The airplane, the rocket and interplanetary probes, electronics, atomic power, antibiotics, insecticides, and a host of new materials have created an unparalleled social situation, full of possibilities and dangers, which would have been virtually unimaginable before the present century.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL the college school
World War I World War I was a conflict so big, it was “the war to end all wars.” Students will explore the issues that initiated a war between the world’s largest empires. We will spend time considering how this war influenced culture through art, music, and literature. We will examine the revolutionary technologies of the war by studying tanks, aircraft, machine guns, and trench warfare. We will also spend time considering the relationship between many other global wars of the era – the Franco-Prussian War, World War II, and the Cold War.
World War II This theme offers the opportunity to study in depth one of the greatest conflicts of human civilization. We begin by looking at the events that led up to the outbreak of the war (for example, colonialism, the Great Depression and the Treaty of Versailles). We then investigate many aspects of the war, such as the atrocities of the Holocaust, the moral ambiguities of the atomic bomb, the strategic importance of various battles and industries, life on the home front, and ways in which the war affects our lives to this day.
