I am doing my Humanities Mayhem project on the Fashion of the Renaissance. For my focus question, I am comparing the fashion of the Renaissance from the early 1400s to the late 1600s and researching whether the different classes effect how the people would be dressed. Over the process so far, I have found that fashion significantly changed from plain houppelandes to bejeweled and patterned clothes for both men and women. Although the lower class were not able to afford the same fabrics as the noble and upper class people, they still tried to add as much as they could afford to do to their clothing.
My idea for my presentation is to make a fashion magazine. I am going to make it like a replica of a special edition of a People Magazine featuring Renaissance Fashion. In my magazine, I am going to have lots of different comparative fashion pages (like most fashion magazines today), games and puzzles, and a page of who influenced fashion, which was Queen Elizabeth. The rest of my magazine will be a surprise, so come and check it out at the Mayhem Festival!
The Italian War of 1494by Brandon K.
For Mayhem we choose a subject topic. I choose social studies. We had to research something about the Renaissance. I choose to research the Italian War in 1494. My research is going pretty good. I choose war because I wonder why wars start and who wins and how do they win. My guiding question for research is the cause and effects of the Italian War. I liked the choice, that we could research anything.
The Greatest Advancements during the Renaissanceby Dominic
During the renaissance technology, people, and the way people live changed. However my question was “what were the greatest advancements/success?”. I chose to study this topic because weapons went through the most changes. Especially because during this time there were wars and lands to conquer. When researching this topic I learned of many weapons. Weapons such as the halberd, pike, mace, and many more weapons. For example weapons have advanced some much that the pike can hit someone off a horse. The halberd has been known has one of the most important weapons for a foot soldier. Weapons are one of the most important things that changed in the renaissance.
Religion during the Renaissanceby Alexandra
For mayhem, I am going to do a project about renaissance religion. More specifically, the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism. Some questions my project is going to answer are What were the causes for the Protestant reformation? and What were the differences between the two branches of Christianity? In my presentation I will talk about causes, the Gutenberg printing press, corruption of the Catholic church, corrupt Catholic popes, Martin Luther and the 95 theses, and influences of the Protestant Reformation. After my research, I will put all of my information in a power point and create a speech to go along with it. I am currently wrapping up my research and hopefully soon starting my power point. I hope when my presentation is done, it will teach you a lot about the corrupt religion of the renaissance!
Perspective, Congruence, and Similarities of 16th and 17th Century Artby Tony
My mayhem topic is Perspective, Congruence, and Similarity of the 16th and 17th Century Art. I have learned numerous different ways that artists from the renaissance period incorporated mathematics into art pieces. I studied these math strategies in art from a famous artist named Masaccio. One of Masaccio’s pieces, Holy Trinity, shows two giant aspects of math in art, symmetry and linear perspective. Symmetry is when both sides of the painting have the same layout and are the same size, and linear perspective is when you can see three-dimensional depth on a two-dimensional piece of paper. The other painting I looked at was called Tribute Money. This painting was an example of the mathematic strategy called the focal point. The focal point of a piece of art is usually the first or second object that catches your eye, using angles and other aspects of mathematics. Using these new skills I learned I will make my own painting with these three parts of math I just learned, symmetry, linear perspective, and focal points.
Renaissance Women’s Fashionby Beata
My project is on the Renaissance women's fashion. I am comparing fashion back then with fashion from the 21st century. I am also going to compare social classes with one another. My final visual presentation is going to be a magazine with all my research notes and pictures. I chose this topic because I knew it would be interesting to research about how clothes evolved and developed over time. I find it interesting looking at pictures of different dresses and comparing it with dresses from the 21st century. The clothes developed so much over time, and it is exciting to create a project about it.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Artby Alexa S.
For my project I am studying about Leonardo Da Vinci and about his artwork. I wanted to learn more about his art since his artwork is some of the most famous pieces of art. So far, I researched his childhood that included art, how his career begun, and his career. Leonardo Da vinci would always be on a farm with his uncle and start to sketch and his father noticed that he was so good so immediately put him in an art school. That is how his art life started. For the last part of the project, I am going to make a poster and put pictures of his most famous paintings and a description, then I will also talk about each painting in detail.
The Harpischord and the Renaissanceby Laurie
For my Mayhem project, I chose to figure out why the harpsichord was invented in the Renaissance and what changes in music and technology caused it to be invented at that specific time. The answer to this isn't something that can be found in a book or online, so I had to combine many index cards of background information and logic into a thesis. As I did this, I realized there were multiple answers. One of them is the "trend" of polyphony, popularized by the huge influence of the Flemish School. Polyphony back then was used solely for choirs and vocals, as not many existing instruments could do that, so it was about time an instrument more practical than the heavy, expensive organ or a choir was invented. Enter the harpsichord, which was basically the psaltery, an existing harp-like instrument, with a keyboard. This project involves looking back before the harpsichord existed, taking information, and drawing conclusions.
The Submarineby Martin
My Mayhem project is based on the submarine. The submarine was one of the most important inventions back then. The submarine is often used by scientists and the military during the modern days. The idea of the submarine was the same idea of the use for a snorkel. The first idea for the submarine came from the famous Leanoardo Da Vinci. Then it was extended by William Bourne. I am going to build a model of the submarine. Then I will explain the history of the submarine.
The Most Effective Renaissance Weaponryby Phillip
For my Mayhem project, I am researching Renaissance weaponry. More specially, the most effective ones. I want to find how people fought during the age of discovery. The process has been fun so far, learning about war and warfare in the Renaissance. I am planning to have my final product be a website where people can find out about weapons and if certain weapons really are effective.
Catapults
by Ethan, Emily N., and Justin
Our mayhem project is on catapults. We have bought supplies and decided what kind of catapult we are going to build. We have decided on the ogre catapult. This catapult requires many pieces of wood, a bungee cord, and many screws. It has a rectangular outlined base and three quarters of the way through there are two vertical planks touching the base. Those vertical planks have another plank connecting them. On the far end is another slanted plank connected to the plank that was connecting the two vertical pieces. Between the two vertical planks and the end of the rectangle is a wooden rod. Connecting to that rod is the part that actually contains the basket in which we will put the objects we would like to launch. The catapult will launch using a bungee cord. This is how our catapult will look and work. We have also looked at how catapults have developed over the years and learned about some of the math behind projectile motion. We have put almost everything together and planned to be finished by Friday May 22, 2013. This catapult will be able to launch tennis balls approximately 30 feet. We can’t wait to launch our catapult.
Da Vinci’s Parachuteby Marissa
For my Mayhem project I'm studying Leonardo Da Vinci's parachute. Leonardo da Vinci's parachute was very interesting to study his invention because it could actually work. It was also interesting because it could float even though it weighed 188 pounds. For my project Im making a model of the parachute. Once I finish my model Im testing it to see if Davincis parachute really did work.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Tankby Jaynam
I am making good progress, and I am also learning lots of new things. I have already made my tank, and I also have a made my summary rough draft. Another thing is that I am fully done with my research. Few interesting things that I have learned is that, Da Vinci was a pacifist who hated war. I would have expected him to like destruction because of all the war machines he has created. However, he is not because he made these machines just so he could have a home. He had to make a decision between being homeless or a job he hates, and he chose the job he hates. Da Vinci was a visionary.
The Ornithopterby Brad
My subject for Mayhem is Leonardo Da vinci and I am focusing on his flying invention called the Ornithopter. It was a machine with wings that mimicked birds. He was one the first Europeans interested in human flight. His version of the Ornithopter was man powered. Leonardo designed many devices associated with flight including parachutes. Leonardo figured out that humans were too heavy to fly, so he tried building a device to make it possible. In his sketch,the pilot lies down on a plank and works two large wings using hand levers, foot pedals, and a system of pulleys.I will present the Ornithopter by building a model.
Leonardo da Vinciby Jason
During this project, I have learned many new interesting things so far. I am very happy with choosing Da vinci. Him as a person himself, fascinates me. How he was able to do so much for his time. He completely changed science, art and math just by himself. Also he was very far ahead of his time. What I mean is his ideas were brilliant, however some people thought he was ridiculous. HIs ideas were not actually considered until 300 to 400 years later. Also for him to be able to do that much, because he was a man of poverty. In all, Da vinci is one of the most interesting people i have ever known about.
The Influence of European Exploration on Asian Countriesby Emily K.
For my Mayhem project I am researching how the European exploration of some Asian countries,in the time of the Renaissance, affected and influenced Europe and Asia. So far I’ve been mostly researching the relationships between Europe, and China and India. I’ve learned that countries such as Portugal and the Dutch, have affected China in positive ways, such as gaining wealth. However, these countries mostly affected India in negative ways, such as loss of power. Overall, so far I’ve been happy with my research and I am excited to do more.
So far this Mayhem has been very interesting and fun. It’s very nice to be allowed to pick your very own project that interests you, instead of being assigned a project. Also, when researching I have found a lot of information about my topic. I look forward to making my visual and starting to practice my presentation. For my visual I’m either going to have a powerpoint or a visual. I hope everyone learns a lot from my presentation this week.
Pizarro’s Conquest of Peruby Lucas
My name is Lucas, and my topic is Pizarro's Conquest of Peru! I chose this topic because I love to study war and conflicts between countries. My question is HOW he conquered Peru and WHY he wanted to. I plan to make a timeline of all the events that took place during the conquest. This will show you what happened and how it happened in the 15th Century. I hope you will see my presentation!
Diseases during the RenaissanceBy Kate L.
In the renaissance one-third of the population in Europe died of diseases. Around seventy-five to five-hundred million people died of the plague, and other people died of typhus, whooping cough, and TB, smallpox. In the renaissance they did not have advanced medicine and people died within three days from the plague. When people had infections they would amputate it but people did not always survive it. Sometimes tools were sanitized to people could die of that. Scientist then discovered bacteria that got people sick and took several centuries to prove that “disease seed” theory. Thankfully today, no one gets the plague, but it’s still around about a dozen people get it a year and only 2 die from it.
The Flushing Toilet and The Printing Press
by Jun
For my mayhem project, I did the invention and inventors during the Renaissance period. Although there are many inventors and many inventions during this time, I chose two which were the Flushing Toilet and the Printing Press. These two inventions were very interesting because they are inventions that are still used everyday. And by comparing the two inventions from the time it was created to right now, you can see how much the inventions have changed. I will write about the two inventors that made those inventions, and my project design will have one visual, like a poster backed up by a visual arts-and-craft model. There may even be a costume that goes with my inventions. I am looking forward to it.
