Bitter Harvest: A Puerto Rican Farmer Laments U.S. Control of the Island
In 1898, the United States took control of the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, intending to use it as a base for strategic naval operations. Most of the island's 900,000 inhabitants welcomed the end of Spanish rule. But they were divided about the U.S. presence. Some hoped links with the United States would lead to increased trade and prosperity; others wanted total independence. Some who initially welcomed the United States quickly became disillusioned. Severo Tulier, a small farmer from Vega
"Oh God, For One More Breath": Early 20th century Tennessee Coal Miners' Last Words
Coal mining and railroad work were the two most dangerous trades in the United States in the early 20th century. Coal miners frequently died in spectacular explosions and cave-ins that could kill dozens or even hundreds at a time. Although most testimony about coal mining disasters came from survivors and observers, the men who suffocated to death in the Fraterville, Tennessee mines in May 1902 left behind their own grim account. Trapped in the mine after an explosion and with their air rapidly
From Cowboys to Clara Bow: A College Student's Motion Picture Autobiography
Fears about the impact of movies on youth led to the Payne Fund research project, which brought together nineteen social scientists and resulted in eleven published reports. One of the most fascinating of the studies was carried out by Herbert Blumer, a young sociologist who would later go on to a distinguished career in the field. For a volume that he called Movies and Conduct (1933), Blumer asked more than fifteen hundred college and high school students to write "autobiographies"of their expe
Burned into Memory: An African American Recalls Mob Violence in Early 20th century Florida
The threat of lynching was a powerful mechanism for keeping black Southerners in line. Although this interview (conducted by historian Charles Hardy for a radio program) took place in 1985, "William Brown" (a pseudonym) could still vividly recall the smell of burning flesh that lingered after a 1902 lynching that he witnessed in Jacksonville, Florida, when he was five years old.
"He'll Come Home in a Box": The Spanish Influenza of 1918 Comes to Montana
In 1918 and 1919, the Spanish influenza killed 550,000 people in the United States and 20 to 40 million worldwide. In a 1982 interview with Laurie Mercier, Loretta Jarussi of Bearcreek, Montana, described how people would pass through that tiny town seemingly healthy, only to be reported dead two days later. Her father went undiagnosed for many weeks and had plans to go to a nearby hot springs to rest. She believed that her father's death was averted only because the son of the local doctor was
"Sadie's Servant Room Blues": 1920s Domestic Work in Song
Domestic service was the most common category of employment for women before World War II; it was particularly important for black women, who were excluded from most other occupations. By 1920 some 40 percent of all domestic workers were African American--and more than 70 percent of all wage-earning African-American women worked as servants or laundresses. The struggles of domestic workers were sometimes recorded in songs like Hattie Burleson's 1928 "Sadie's Servant Room Blues," a musical versio
University of California's Museum of Paleontology: Geologic Timeline
University of California's Museum of Paleontology has created a hyperlinked Geologic Timeline with all sorts of details about each time unit that may be useful later in the course. Each hyperlink contains a variety of information including stratigraphy, ancient life, localities and tectonics associated with that specific time period. Users can also link to an Introduction to Geology page and a description of the Museum's geology wing.
Lessons in Technology
Rutgers School of Engineering provides numerous laboratory and lessons for grades 5-8. Lessons fall into three categories Civil and Environmental Engineering, Biocomplexity and Biocomplexity and Microorganisms. Some lessons include objectives, standards, materials and other relevant information. Laboratories are well described and can be easily adjusted for higher grade levels.
Cans and Can`ts of Teaching Evolution
This essay discusses what U.S. public school teachers are allowed to say about evolution and religious creation accounts. Eugenie Scott, the author, cites and describes the relevant legal cases that have been judged. The essay also contains links to other essays on the topic of teaching evolution in public schools.
Coffee Coloured Children
'Coffee Coloured Children' is a powerful exploration of the impact of cultural pressure on self-image. Based on the daily experience of mixed-race children, the narrator recalls the pain and confusion of her own childhood spent in an all-white neighborhood with a white mother and an absent black father. The work opens with a video essay showing adults and children of many ethnicities interacting harmoniously to an upbeat and soulful song with a chorus about 'coffee-colored people.' Through narra
Damnation of Faust: Charming Landscape
'Charming Landscape,' the conclusion to Dara Birnbaum's 'Damnation of Faust' trilogy, shows the debris of a demolished city playground. The self-exploratory narration of two teenage girls is played over images of crowd scenes (often violent) from the civil rights movement, student protests, and the Tianenmen Square demonstrations. The work, which is approximately six and one-half minutes long, is dedicated to Pam Hysinger and Georgeann Ditelli, the teenagers whose words serve as narration. Music
Kissing Booth, The
Documentary-style piece in which four celebrities (Quentin Crisp -author, Emily XYZ -poet, Joe Morton -actor, Spider -musician) talk about kissing, seduction, relationships, love, sex, and romance in the U.S., England, and South Africa. Speakers muse about the subjects and talk about their own personal experiences. Shots of speakers talking directly to the camera are interspersed with straightforward and computer-enhanced scenes of couples kissing. Approximately 28 minutes in length.
Project Skymath
Project SkyMath is a mathematics module for middle school students, developed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). The goal of the pilot project is to demonstrate that acquiring and using current environmental and real-time weather data in middle school classrooms, in ways that embrace the dynamic and the uncertain natures of these data, will promote the teaching and learning of significant mathematics, consistent with the standards set by the National Council of Teache
Analyzing Meteorological Data From Mars
Students compare real-time Earth and Mars measurements for temperature, wind speed, humidity and atmospheric pressure by accessing Internet-data resources from NASA.
Radio JOVE in Your School
The concepts involved with Radio JOVE involve the interaction of moving charges with magnetic fields. The appropriate position within the course outline and the level that the material should be presented at are best determined by the teacher. What is provided here are some general descriptions of the topics and some
suggestions about their integration into the science curriculum at the ninth grade (Physical Science and Earth Science) and twelfth grade (Physics) levels.
Energyville
It's up to you to provide enough power to meet the energy demands of your city's 3.9 million people while keeping them prosperous, secure, and living in a clean environment. The implications of the energy decisions you make today for your city in 2015 are based on the current lifestyles and the projected energy demands and costs for developed countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
NSF Scrub Club
The Scrub Club® program is the first of its kind – a fun, interactive and educational Web site (www.scrubclub.org) that teaches children the proper way to wash their hands. The site consists of a Webisode interactive games, educational music, downloadable activities for kids, educational materials for teachers and program information for parents. Note: The Scrub Club® is designed for children who are 3 to 8 years of age. Children in this age range are at different cognitive and developmental
eMarketing: the essential guide to online marketing
According to these authors, currently available online marketing textbooks are largely inadequate and outdated and lack the technical know-how and practical background that would make them applicable to students, educators and practitioners in the corporate sector. Quirk offers a dynamic and integrated learning experience that will ensure that students, educators and companies using the guide to eMarketing, will be in the know regarding the latest trends and best practices in this exciting spher
The Age of Einstein
The Age of Einstein, is a brief introduction to Einstein's Theories of Special and General Relativity. It is a book for the inquisitive general reader who wishes to gain an understanding of the key ideas put forward by the greatest scientist of the 20th-century. No more than a modest grasp of High School Mathematics is required to follow the arguments.
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python
Python is a fun and extremely easy-to-use programming language that has steadily gained in popularity over the last few years. Developed over ten years ago by Guido van Rossum, Python's simple syntax and overall feel is largely derived from ABC, a teaching language that was developed in the 1980's. However, Python was also created to solve real problems and it borrows a wide variety of features from programming languages such as C++, Java, Modula-3, and Scheme. Because of this, one of Python's m
