The American Dream

The American Dream is the second semester junior project. Houses are divided into nine groups, with each group representing each decade from 1920 to present day. The 2000s is often excluded as there is both a lack of reliable data and not enough students.

Intro Activities: Dreams of the Past
There are two Intro Activities, done individually. The first one focuses on what it means to be an American, and is a fully structured, five paragraph essay. Students will pick quotes from three different eras of American history and use them to define how the term "American" has changed. The second part focuses on the American Dream, and is not necessarily written as an essay but rather as displaying a quote, then explaining the quote. Students will pick five different decades, pick a quote from each decade, and explain that quote's connection to the American Dream.

Museum Exhibit Pieces
Students will be put into groups of four, where they will work together to create and build eight museum exhibit pieces that showcase American life and the American Dream for their chosen decade. New exhibit pieces (EPs) are generally due every two weeks. Each EP must represent the chosen decade and the topic for that EP. Also, all of six categories of EP must be completed, plus one interactive exhibit, aesthetics and props, and a timeline of the decade. The topics are as follows: Technology; Science/Medicine; Film/Television; Music; one of the following: Warfare, Literature, Sports, Politics, or Transportation; another of the preceding, but different from the chosen topic; Fashion; and Timeline.

The IPoly American Dream Museum
Students will set up booths showing their EPs and other aesthetic pieces for display to the public from 2pm to 5pm of the week of May 13 to May 16. The Museum will be set up in the MPR.