Step One: Students are to trace their family trees through the twentieth century. To do so they must go back as far as the 1890's to find which relatives existed to usher in the twentieth century. Each relative is to be identified by name, first and last, date of and place of birth, when married, date and place of death. Where inexact information is located, an educated estimate will suffice. Once the most distant relatives have been identified, move on to the next generation by noting their children with the same basic information. This is to be done for each successive generation until the student's own immediate family is documented. It will be easier to start with the present day and work backwards, though the final tree with be done from past to present.
In order to complete this portion of the assignment, students should begin by quizzing their closest relatives, extracting every little detail possible. From this blueprint, other sources can then be employed to make as complete a family tree as possible.
For background "how to" in this area try About Genealogy
A useful guide with links to world wide data bases is the Genealogy Homepage
A site which can help you build an online family tree, or at least give a good idea of what one should look like, is Genealogy.com
Step Two: As the family history is taken, and as relatives are discovered, note should be made of contemporary events, world wide and local, which might have had any influence or relevance to that generation. For example, any student who was living in Quebec during the 1990's would certainly note the 1995 Referendum as an event effecting his/her generation. These events will be placed on a timeline along side the family tree.
The Final Product: The final product will include an introductory page or two describing in detail how and where the student went about completing this assignment. Useful web sites, resource materials, data banks found and used should be noted, as well as dead ends that were discovered. This will be followed by the family tree, top to bottom, or left to right, starting with the oldest generation and working to the present. Important events should be noted aside their respective generations.
Due Date: end of September.