Process Paper
My history fair topic is about the decision to drop the atomic bomb. My project relates to the theme of Debate and Diplomacy because it tells of the various debates leading to the dropping the atomic bomb to end the war in the Pacific. It also reflects diplomacy because President Harry S. Truman had to work with Allied forces including the Soviet Union in regards to the next steps in ending the war. Diplomacy is also reflected in the warnings to surrender and the final surrender of Japan.
I was initially going to work in a group when I came up with the topic. The group and I were in the library and we were thinking about what topic to do. Then it hit me, “What about the atomic bomb?” The group approved. We set out to get information. After a couple of days, I quickly came to the conclusion that time wise, it was probably better for me to work alone as I would have difficulty meeting with my group. I told my group and they were okay with my decision.
I initially wanted to do an exhibit. My mother took me to Michael’s to get supplies to make the exhibit. Then in class, my teacher was talking about making a website. I was very interested and so I switched my presentation and made a website.
I started to get information from the internet. Then I started to work on the design of my website. I also went to the library to do research and checked out some research materials.
When it was announced that I needed to write down flash cards, I worked on them right away so that I didn’t need to go into a panic to finish them at the last minute. After that I went back to working on my website. The next assignment was to write a rough draft of the process paper and bibliography. This assignment helped me to weed out sources that did not provide good information because I had to think about why I used the sources. I worked for weeks on my website pages especially on the debate, Nagasaki and Hiroshima pages. One day, when I was in the library, my friends were going to Weebly through the NHD website. I wondered why, so I checked. On the NHD site, I saw some sample winners from last year so I took a look. I was impressed. I also got an idea to do a home page. My Mom found a video making website called Xtranormal.com. I thought it would be cool to make a video. I also pasted videos in my website of footage from the actual bombings. I had a tough time trying to keep my word count within the required amount and I did not want to leave out my Outcomes page so I created a video as a substitute.
This was my first experience working at this level on a computer project. I really enjoyed learning how to create a website. This process taught me how to become organized as well as being creative with pictures and videos.