Bothwell Middle School seventh-grader Harland Dombrowski displays his version of the death mask of King Tutankhamun on Wednesday at the school’s Museum Night. Dombrowski and other Bothwell students showed off their history projects, as well as musical and artistic abilities, during the annual event. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

MARQUETTE — Bothwell Middle School’s “A Night at the Bothwell Museum” on Wednesday took on a different look from previous Museum Nights.

It had a bit of music and art as well. However, a focus remained on the students’ research of certain ancient civilizations, with the youngsters showing off their projects at the school on Wednesday.

“We’re studying our ancient River Valley civilizations — ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus River Valley and the Yellow River,” said history teacher Joe Levandoski, who spearheaded the event along with fellow history teacher Scot Stewart. “They’ve been working on these projects since early December.”

Levandoski was pleased with the results.

“They’ve done a phenomenal job again, and year after year we’re always blown away with the quality of the work that our students are doing,” he said.

This year, Museum Night included more culture.

“Scot Stewart’s idea was to implement more aspects of our Bothwell students into this night,” Levandoski said.

Those aspects included an art show, a piano recital, a clarinet selection and other musical performances.

“It’s really a culmination of a lot of student work, not just in our history classes, but all together, they’re showing off a lot of their abilities tonight,” Levandoski said.

Seventh-grader Harland Dombrowski’s project was the death mask of King Tutankhamun, which he said was made out of cardboard, paint, electrical tape, clay, 3-D printed parts and a skull mask. For the eyes, he used Easter eggs. The mask, though, represented more than a craft project.

“One of the things I learned is that King Tutankhamun’s tomb, while it is incredibly well known, it is one of, if not the smallest tomb in the Valley of the Kings,” Dombrowski said.

Another seventh-grader, AnnMarie Messina, replicated the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

“It was originally made for King Nebuchadnezzar II’s wife, who was homesick for the plants of her home,” Messina said. “It was made in the 6th century B.C., and it was destroyed by an earthquake in the 2nd century B.C.

“The main thing people learn about it is the complex irrigation systems for its time.”

For example, two pumps were used to bring water to the multiple levels, she said.

Not only did Messina learn about ancient engineering, she too had to craft her project in a special way. In her case, she used three foam blocks as well as papier mache — with fabric — and made a glue waterfall, using hot glue to attach plants.

That process required a bit of patience.

“It took me a couple of days because it had to dry a lot,” she said.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.