Thirteen Original Colonies Project

Due: November 19, 2010

The Colonial Era in America provided a new beginning for many, and an unfortunate end for others. The new
colonies offered prosperity, wealth, adventure, and hardship.
Each of the original 13 colonies played vital a role the development of America, and it is your responsibility to
research and report your discoveries of these originations EITHER in tri-fold poster format OR in a PowerPoint
presentation of AT LEAST 13 slides.

Your Task: Identify and make discoveries concerning ONE of the 13 original colonies. You will uncover this
information through research. Your final presentation will include:

• Identification of the original colony

• The founders of the colony and the year it was founded
• Descriptions of why the colony was founded and where the settlers came from
• Explain the origin of the name and why the name was given to the colony
• Describe the geography of the colony
• Economic characteristics of the colony (What products were produced in your colony and what were the
major industries? How did people earn their living?)
• What are three unique qualities about this colony that would draw families from Europe to live here?
• What are the key aspirations people have in this particular colony?
• What was the predominant religion?
• Other important facts discovered about the colony

The 13 original colonies

1. New Hampshire 6. New Jersey 11. North Carolina
2. Massachusetts 7. Pennsylvania 12. South Carolina
3. New York 8. Delaware 13. Georgia
4. Rhode Island 9. Maryland
5. Connecticut 10. Virginia

You will present your poster and findings to the class.

You must be thorough in your research, and please be creative with your poster and
presentation.
A grading rubric has been provided.
Name: ______________________________
CATEGORY 5 4
The poster/PowerPoint has a
clearly stated purpose and
Content (20 pts) theme that is carried
throughout the
poster/PowerPoint.
All information provided by
Content accuracy (20 pts) the student on the
poster/PowerPoint is accurate.
Information comes from more
Sources (10 pts)
than 4 sources.
Student presents information
Organization and in logical, interesting
presentation sequence which audience can
(20 pts) follow.
The poster/PowerPoint is
exceptionally attractive in
terms of design, layout, and
neatness.
Attractiveness
(10 pts)
There are no grammatical or
spelling mistakes on the
poster/PowerPoint.
The student has made an
exceptional attempt to make
Interest/Creativity the content of this
(10 pts) poster/PowerPoint interesting
to the people for whom it is
intended.
The student has an
exceptional understanding of
Learning of Material the material included on the
(10 pts) poster/PowerPoint and can
easily answer questions about
the topic.
Period: ____________
The poster/PowerPoint has a clearly
stated purpose and theme, but may
have one or two elements that do not
seem to be related to it.
Almost all information provided by
the student on the poster/PowerPoint
is accurate.
Information comes from 3-4
sources.
Student presents information in
logical sequence which audience can
follow.
The poster/PowerPoint is attractive
in terms of design, layout and
neatness.
BUT
There is at least 1 grammatical
mistake on the poster/PowerPoint.
The student has tried to make the
content of this poster/PowerPoint
interesting to the people for whom it
is intended.
The student has a good
understanding of the material and
can easily answer most questions
about the topic.
3 2
The purpose and theme of the
poster/PowerPoint is unclear and vague.
Most information provided by the student
on the poster/PowerPoint is accurate.
Information comes from 1-2 sources.
Audience has difficulty following
presentation because student jumps
around.
The poster/PowerPoint is acceptably
attractive though it may be a bit messy.
AND/OR
There are at least 2 grammatical mistakes
on the poster/PowerPoint.
The student has put a lot of information
in the poster/PowerPoint, but there is
little evidence that the author made an
attempt to make it interesting to the
audience.
The student has a fair understanding of
the material and can answer most
questions about the topic with some
labor.
The poster/PowerPoint lacks a
purpose and theme.
More than half of the information
provided by the student on the
poster/PowerPoint is inaccurate.
Information comes from one
source.
Audience cannot understand
presentation because there is no
sequence of information.
Presentation too short.
The poster/PowerPoint is
distractingly messy or very poorly
designed. It is not attractive.
AND/OR
There are more than 3
grammatical mistakes on the
poster/PowerPoint.
The student has provided only the
minimum amount of information
and has not transformed the
information to make it more
interesting to the audience.
Student did not appear to learn
much from this project. Student
can not answer most questions
about the topic.