Goal: Research the history of the penny and describe why it came to look like it does today.  This project should take at least one week.  Time can be spent in the classroom or the students can do the project at home.

Objectives (Social Studies):
History: Students will use historical thinking skills to understand how individuals and events have changed society over time.
Grade 3.A.1.  Scarcity Individuals and Societies Change Over Time: Examine differences between past and present time
Grade 3.G.1.  Answer Social Studies Questions:  Describe how the community has changed over time and how people have contributed to its change, drawing from maps, photographs, newspapers, and other sources

• Present social studies information in a variety ways, such as plays, skits, posters, songs, poems, murals, and oral presentations

Objectives (Language Arts):
Reading 2.0: Students will read, comprehend, interpret, analyze, and evaluate informational text.
Grade 3.A.1.  Comprehension of Informational Text:  Develop comprehension skills by reading a variety of self-selected and assigned informational texts
Writing 4.0: Students will compose in a variety of modes by developing content, employing specific forms, and selecting language appropriate for a particular audience and purpose.
Grade 4.A1.  Writing: Compose texts using the prewriting and drafting strategies of effective writers and speakers
b. Plan and organize ideas for writing by using an appropriate organizational structure, such as chronological order, comparison and contrast

• Complete an idea by providing topic, support, and concluding sentences

Grade 4.A.2.  Writing: Compose oral, written, and visual presentations that express personal ideas, inform, and persuade

1. Compose to express personal ideas to develop fluency using a variety of forms, such as journals, narratives, letters, reports, and paragraphs
2. Compose to inform using summary and selection of major points and examples to support a main idea

Materials:
Research materials

Launch: (Whole Class)

• When do you think the penny was first made?  What did it look like?  How much was it worth?
• Do you think the penny has changed over the years?  In what ways?  How do you think it was decided that Abraham Lincoln would be on the penny?

Explore:  (Individually)
Students will create a project detailing the history of the penny.  They can choose one of the following ways to approach this project:

1. Create a time line of the penny. 
2. Write a letter to President Lincoln detailing the history of the penny.
3. Design a poster describing the history of the penny.
4. Create a map that outlines the history of the penny, including where the penny has been manufactured (today and in the past).
5. Write a play that illustrates the history of the penny.
6. Draw a comic book detailing the history of the penny.

Important pieces of information to be included:

1. When the penny was first used.
2. The various designs of the penny.
3. How it was decided that Lincoln would be on the penny.
4. The changes that have been made in the production of the penny, including the materials used to make a penny

Summary (Whole class):

• When the projects are due, review the major historical points.
• Display written and visual projects in the classroom or hallways; have students act out their plays

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