THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON
Bella Taylor
Junior Division
Individual Website
http://greatlondonfire.weebly.com
I was born in England, and lived there until I was seven years old. I was in year 2 (first grade) when we learned about The Great Fire of London in class. I was intrigued by the topic and all the details. The Great Fire of London ruined most of London, England’s capital, in 1666. During the time I spent learning about the Great Fire in year 2, I learned that Samuel Peps was an eyewitness to the entire event. He kept a journal about the fire and its aftermath. I wanted to know more after covering the topic briefly.
First I went to Limitless Libraries. When I was on the computer I found 2 appropriate books on my topic. Later I went to my local library to see if they had any books on the Great Fire of London – but they had none! I also rummaged through the attic at home and found my old scrapbook on Samuel Pepys. I have reviewed several websites with good content and spent a lot of time looking at photos online. I was keen to find some maps which would show where the fire spread, and this led me a little deeper into researching the end of the Great Plague - as the Great Fire killed all of the rats that were carrying the plague. I also researched using photos and observing images. My final research piece was an online encyclopedia.
Every year I have done a project, I’ve chosen an exhibit. This year I decided to do a different type of project. For my project on the Great Fire of London I decided to create a website. Since I have quite a bit of background in computers I felt comfortable with the category. I used a PC to create an account on the NHD Weebly site, so I could display my website without worry about the transition from Mac to PC. Next, I set a background, chose my font, and started to build my pages. Then, I added lots of content and information that came from my research using both primary and secondary sources. Once the layout of the words was complete I inserted lots of pictures and maps to create a visually, as well as factually, interesting website. I reviewed my website many times, and I made changes and touch ups. Then I had a completed NHD project.
The NHD theme – Turning Points in History - relates perfectly to my project on The Great Fire of London. This event was hugely traumatic to the people of London however because of how much it destroyed, people came together and learnt from the tragedy. Following the Great Fire, building regulations were created so that different materials were used to build houses. Streets were widened so houses were not so close to each other. We invented the Fire Brigade to protect our home from fire hazards and other dangers threating our homes.