Social Studies 8

Renaissance Research Opportunities

Fashionista
Prove: The styles and materials for Renaissance clothing were dependent on
resources and purpose.
Product: A coffee table book.
Study the fashion and jewelry of the Renaissance.
Make full-colour, visual illustrations.
State the fabrics and jewel types and explain why those materials were used.
Design an original piece of jewelry and custom dress to be presented to a
queen.
Explain your choice in design and materials.
To Be or Not to Be
Prove: Shakespeare had the greatest influence on Western writing.
Product: A story board.
Study Shakespeares influence on the world.
Read a synopsis or a play written by him.
Be prepared to story-tell the play in your own words.
Create a storyboard to follow the plot.
Then defend or argue the following statements:
o Shakespeare is considered to be a phenomenal writer today.
o Shakespeare was viewed as a phenomenal writer in his time.
Musical Wonders
Prove: Music in the Renaissance had a specific purpose and it greatly affected
society.
Product: Make a digital collage of Renaissance instruments with corresponding audio
tracks.
Listen to a piece of music written during the Renaissance.
Use an on-line story-writing program to write and illustrate a story to
accompany the music.
Present the story and explain the purpose of music during the Renaissance
and the effect it had on society.
Leo: A Brilliant Mind
Prove: Leonardo Da Vincis sketchbook greatly influenced Renaissance society as
well as modern society.
Product: A digital scrapbook of a collection of sketches that are found in Da Vincis
sketchbook.
Write a detailed explanation of the sketch.
Explain its impact on Renaissance society.
Explain its impact on modern society.
Amazing Art
Prove: Renaissance art had a strong impact on art throughout the western world,
and is still seen as an important influence today.
Product: A guide map to an art museum focussing on Renaissance art.

Research famous Renaissance artists.

Select a favourite artist (other than Da Vinci and Michelangelo) and create a
guide map of a special exhibit honouring that artist.
The guide map should provide information related to the artists life, style of
art, and the impression others have had of that artist (during the Renaissance
and today).
Explain the impact the artist has had on the art world.
I Dont Have to Write It?
Prove: The printing press has influenced learning and communication.
Product: Create a timeline that demonstrates the development of moveable type
throughout history.
Include such inventors as Gutenberg and Benjamin Franklin.
Your timeline should show the development of the technology as well as the
influence that technology has had on learning and communication for that
time period.
Calling All Ladies!
Prove: The status of women changed during the Renaissance and Reformation.
Product: Talk show with interviews of a cross-section of women throughout the
Renaissance and Reformation.
Discuss their lives and interests.
Show how the status of women improved and who the leading women were
during that time period.
Religious Development
Prove: Several factors contributed to specific populations converting to the
Protestant faith.
Product: A map and historical journal which show the geographic development of
patterns of religious affiliation in Europe in the 17 th Century.
Explain the factors that might have contributed to the conversion of specific
groups of people to the Protestant faiths.
Construction Zone
Prove: Modern architecture includes some of the Renaissance styles.
Product: An architecture photo book that shows examples of Renaissance inspired
architecture in modern society.
Include examples from the Renaissance that have been structured in the
same style so that your readers can see the development.
Include a tribute page on which you explain why modern architects have
chosen to follow Renaissance style.
Viewpoints
Prove: Throughout the Renaissance, artists viewpoints changed.
Product: Create a digital museum that shows the changes in art and architecture
from the Middle Ages though the Renaissance.
Describe the changes in the art and draw conclusions about how the points
of view of artists changed.

Make a list of questions to guide your research.

Use the graphic organizer for each question.

Which questions do you REALLY need to answer to prove that your statement is true? Select those
questions and use the graphic organizer for taking notes.
Fill in a graphic organizer for each question you research.
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Social Studies 8
Criteria

Renaissance Research Opportunities Evaluation Rubric

Beginning

Developing

Competent

Exemplary