1. It had to be something we had studied in history thus far (native peoples to the Civil War). They had to present their ideas to me for approval, and they had about a month to do it.
2. It had to be accompanied by a fact sheet with ten facts they learned about their topic.
Next, I read them a list of project ideas I've been collecting and showed them a slide show of possible ideas -- good and bad -- so they would know what I expected and what I did not want to see.
The students had some great ideas and got really excited about their projects. The results amazed me.
The Merrimack was one of the first ironclad ships used during the Civil War. It was originally the Union's Virginia. The vessel sank and was later raised by the Confederacy, covered in metal, and renamed the Merrimack. It was 275 feet long and had a crew capacity of 320 men.
(And it did not actually attack a Mayan pyramid.)
The Mayans had their own calendar and writing system before Columbus appeared on the scene. They built huge cities of stone and brick in Central America. Their pyramids were temples to their gods. (And they were not actually attacked by Civil War ironclads.)