Embedded Files
Students will:
Students will:
-Follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information (1.3.3)
-Continue an inquiry based research process by applying critical thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation, organization) to information and knowledge in order to construct new understandings, draw conclusions and create new knowledge (2.1.1)
-Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information (2.1.4)
National History Day 2025 Rights & Responsibilities in History
National History Day 2025 Rights & Responsibilities in History
This year’s theme invites you to consider questions of time and place, cause and effect, change over time, and impact and significance.
Choosing a Topic:
Choosing a Topic:
It can be hard to come up with a research topic. Three important things to keep in mind:
Chose a topic is interesting to you.
Chose a topic that is researchable - make sure there is plenty of evidence (primary and secondary sources) that you can use (in languages that you read, that are accessible) for your research.
Choose a topic of the"right"size. Topics that are too narrow may not be historically important or significant and you may not find much evidence. Topics that are very broad may be too complex for a History Day project.
Evaluating Resources:
Evaluating Resources:
Is this a reliable website?
Is this a reliable website?
Websites can be reliable information sources, but you must evaluate their credibility before citing them for an assignment. For every website, consider:
Currency (look for a date)
Relevance (appropriate for academic work)
Authority (purpose or organization with expertise)
Accuracy (fact based)
Purpose (educational, commercial)
Citing your Sources
Citing your Sources
Keeping track of your sources is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Using Noodletools to organize your ideas, notes, and sources will save you tons of time as you create your annotated bibliography!
ALL AACPS students have access to a Noodletools account. Students: You must use your NoodleTools account to organize and collect your citations.
Citation Guide for MLA format and footnotes:
Citation Guide for MLA format and footnotes:
Accessing reliable and accurate information:
Accessing reliable and accurate information:
Your best sources for reliable and accurate information on a wide range of historical topics are the AACPS online databases and the AACPL online databases.
Your best sources for reliable and accurate information on a wide range of historical topics are the AACPS online databases and the AACPL online databases.
Databases are research tools that contain digitized information from encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, journals and other credible sources. AACPS subscribes to many databases to give students access to reliable information. With databases, you can:
Search by keywords
Improve searches with built in tools
Get citations
Save time by accessing reliable sources
Most Relevant Databases for this project:
Most Relevant Databases for this project:
US History in Context (Gale)
World History in Context (Gale)
Biography In Context (Gale)
ABC CLIO (there are seven different databases to use by ABC-CLIO)
Britannica Academic Edition
Ebsco
Explora
History Reference Center
SIRS Discoverer on the Web
SIRS Issues Researcher
Image Quest (Britannica)
Books - and other print materials
Books - and other print materials
Anne Arundel County Public Library: www.aacpl.net
The Pratt Library - the Maryland state library: https://www.prattlibrary.org/
Online Resources for NHD
Online Resources for NHD
2025 NHD Theme Information
Topics and resources from the National Archives
Guides for Conducting Historical Research
AACPS NHD Resources Site
NHD Note Taking How To
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