Zummo, 1

Name:_______________Date:_________ Parent Signature: ___________________

American Revolution Biography Bottle Project

Hello student! You are required to complete a biography bottle project to go along with our
thematic social studies unit on the American Revolution. This project will consist of many parts,
and you must do research on a person from this time period who interests you. Eventually you
will create many different project elements, such as a bottle dressed as your person. You will also
be required to do an oral presentation of your project for your teacher and classmates. It is
important that you share this project with your parents as soon as possible. Please have this
packet signed at the top, and returned no later than (insert date). The due date of this project will
your presentation date. You will keep this packet with you in your project folder at school to
track what you have completed. After your presentation you will be graded according to the
rubric.
Your presentation date is: ___________________
Work hard, be creative, and have fun!

Step 1
Choose a person from the American Revolution who interests you. This person can be a man,
woman, president, inventor, musician, novelist, or anyone that has accomplishments which are
admired and recognized. This person may not be alive today.
Make sure to gather teacher approval.

Person: __________________ Teacher

initial:________
Step 2
Research: You must research your person by reading at least 1 biography about them. Before
reading you must have the biography approved.

Title: __________________ Teacher

initial:________
Now that you have read your biography, you must have two other sources for your person. These
can be articles from educational magazines, scholarly websites, or non-fiction books. Overall,
your three sources must be accurate and cited in MLA format on a references page which you
will turn into your project folder.

Zummo, 2

Step 3
You must complete all project components by your presentation date
Diary

Birth
Certificate

Timeline

Newspaper
Article
Picture
Collage
People
Poems

Obituaries
Biography
Bottle
Teacher
initial when
all
components
completed

Create a diary or journal for the person that you have chosen, you must have a
minimum of 4 entries. Each entry should be at least two paragraphs long. They
can be entries that are spaced out over a persons lifetime, or daily entries.
Design a birth certificate for your person that shows the date and place of birth,
parents names, ect. Be creative. You might want to use your own birth
certificate for ideas, but remember to make it authentic to the time period of
your person.
Make a list of at least twenty historical events that happened during your
persons lifte time. These events may not be your persons accomplishments or
about your person, they should be historical events that happened during their
life.
Write an article that might have appeared in the newspaper during your persons
lifetime. Write about events that include your person.
Create a collage of small pictures that represent his or her life portrait.
Write a poem about the person. The poem should feature qualities that make the
person unique, facts relating to the persons life, and other details. You may
include the name of the individual or share your writing and have others guess
the identity.
Write an autobiographical obituary that celebrates the life and achievements of
the person you are studying. Put this on a gravestone.
Bring your person to life by creating a bottle person using a two liter bottle for
the body.

_______________________________________________

Step 4
After completing all research and project components, prepare a 4 to 5 minute presentation of
your components, and your research that you have done on your famous historical figure. You
may dress like the person, and play the part of them as you present if you would like but this is
not required. You should be able to answer all basic questions about your character and their
lifetime that are asked by your teacher/other students at the end of your presentation. You may
use ONE 3x5 index card to list talking points to help scaffold your presentation, however you

Zummo, 3

may not read directly from the card. You should maintain composure while presenting, rehearse
it beforehand, and bring all materials on the day of your presentation. The presentation and the
project components will all be counted together as one grade on the rubric.