I have to do a replica of a pre-1900 object. Any ideas?

Question

I also have to do a research paper, so what are some good sources of info for the specific topic?

Answer 1

how about a waterwheel? you could make it out of 2 disks of wood, a wooden dowel, and little wooden slats that you can get at a hobby shop or home depot. you could consider connecting it to something like a grinder for cornmeal if you wanted to go further.

Answer 2

An astrolabe would be kind of cool. It was an onject by which you could tell ocation based on the stars. You could do a paper on navigation with the object.

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/astrolab

http://www.physics.ncsu.edu/courses/astron/astrolabe.html