For my first project I chose the events that happened at Fatima in 1917 to be my topic. Fatima, (or "The Apparitions at Fatima", which has been shortened to just "Fatima") , was a series events that happened over the course of June-October, 1917, where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, on the 13th of each month.
The objective of my research was not to prove whether these accounts are, true but to analyze what they mean for the world today if they are. For the sake of those reading to understand the level of subjectivity with which this project was created, I am telling you that, yes, I do indeed believe that these events took place and that everything described by these children is true, and that what happened in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, has implications for the rest of the world today. Fatima has been a landmark in salvation history for over a century now, signifying something extraordinary and terrifying, and this project explains why.
Development Process:
This was my first project, and I was in a little over my head on this one. I wasn't very familiar with the development process yet, and I had a lot of trouble coming up with an idea for a project. My greatest obstacle was that instead of coming up with a topic and then creating products based on that topic, I was trying to come up with different products and then stuff them into an umbrella of concepts to connect them; I was starting with the top of the pyramid and trying to figure out how to build it from the top down, instead of from the bottom up. This caused me a lot of problems and wasted a lot of time, but it helped me to understand that the project doesn't start with end product, but the end product will sprout naturally from the project if you start with selecting a topic first. Once I realized this I managed to get to work quickly on making my project, which became focused on the Apparitions of Fatima. I chose this topic because this year was the one hundredth anniversary of the apparitions, and in the Catholic church we were celebrating the 13th of each month in commemoration of the centennial. This made me very interested in learning more about Fatima.
Products: For my project I had to create three products-- one for each of the three Apollo courses: Social Studies, English and Art. These products respectively are,
1. A psalm written from the perspective of Mary on the events at Fatima.
2. Two letters, one hand written and one typed, written from the perspective of Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart-one of the children of Fatima-based off an interview she had in 1959. These letters address what Sister Lucia thought Fatima meant for the world, one being written to her former interviewer Father Fuentes, and the other written simply to The World.
3. A time capsule to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of Fatima, themed around Mary's presentation of herself at Fatima as "Our Lady of The Rosary".
1st Product: Psalm- (Social Studies)
Here's a link to read the psalm I wrote, it covers each of the 6 apparitions where Mary appeared to the children, and has explanation for every section on how what I wrote relates to each month she appeared-
2nd Product: Letters- (English)
Here's a link to the letter I wrote addressing the world, and pictures of the letter I wrote to her former confessor-
3rd Product: Time Capsule- (Art)
For my third product I created a time capsule to be opened on the two hundredth anniversary of Fatima, that represented Mary as our lady of the rosary.