Written by Chloe Carlish & Jonah Colello, 10th grade
The butterfly effect. It’s the idea that small action have big consequences, often whether we see it or not. The most common example given is “A butterfly beats its wings in Hong Kong, and there is a thunderstorm in New York.” This idea is the light that has guided us through this project. The thought that one minor change in a point in history can change everything. So what might our world look like if we changed just one point in our history? What if the Black Plague had wiped out all of Europe? What if Stephen Douglas had won the election of 1800? What if the Protestant Reformation had never happened? What if…? In this project, each group of students chose one point or event in history that they felt was significant and rewrote it in a manner that would affect everything that came next, creating an alternate history, so to speak. We did this by conducting a deep amount of research about the time period, the event, and those involved so we could accurately predict what might have happened. We then took these ideas, constructed an exhibit plan, and began the fabrication. Students spent hours toiling in the Makerspace, and many of these great products were built from scratch in this time. Finally, we took the exhibits downtown to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park, and displayed them in their central exhibit hall for an afternoon. Throughout this process, we learned a great amount about history and the importance of a single moment. As we grow older and create a history of our own, we must be ever mindful of creating the world we wish to see. |