Movement Music Medley
This collection of songs and images highlights the role of music in the Civil Rights movement.
"Their Own Hotheadedness": Senator Benjamin R."Pitchfork Ben" Tillman Justifies Violence Against Sou
In this March 23, 1900, speech before the U.S. Senate, Senator Benjamin R. "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman of South Carolina defended the actions of his white constituents who had murdered several black citizens of his home state. Tillman blamed the violence on the "hot-headedness" of Southern blacks and on the misguided efforts of Republicans during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War to "put white necks under black heels." He also defended violence against black men, claiming that southern whit
Kissing Rudy Valentino: A High-School Student Describes Movie Going in the 1920s
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
"It Didn't Pan Out as We Thought It Was Going To"Amos Owen on the Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which became known as the Indian New Deal, dramatically changed the federal government's Indian policy. Although John Collier, the commissioner of Indian affairs who was responsible for the new policy, may have viewed Indians with great sympathy, not all Native Americans viewed the Indian New Deal in equally positive terms. In this 1970 interview with historian Herbert T. Hoover, Amos Owen, Mdewakanton Sioux tribal chairman, gave a mixed verdict on the Indi
"I Am Sorry Not to Be Hung": Oscar Neebe and the Haymarket Affair
The Chicago radicals convicted of the infamous May 4, 1886 Haymarket Square bombing in which one policeman was killed remained openly defiant to the end. Unlike the other seven men convicted of the bombing, Oscar Neebe, a New York-born labor organizer who had been raised in Germany, received not death, but a fifteen-year jail sentence. Although Neebe insisted (accurately) that "there is no evidence"that he had connection with the bombing, he maintained, in this brief address, his solidarity with
"His Act is Doublely Despicable": Albert Parsons Responds to His Condemnation by Terence V. Powderly
In the aftermath of the 1886 Haymarket bombing Knights of Labor leader Terence V. Powderly was desperate to distance his organization from the accused anarchists and maintain the order's respectability. The day after the bombing he stated that it was the duty of every organization of working men in America to condemn the outrage committed in Chicago in the name of labor. Though there were exceptions, most assemblies of the Knights followed Powderly's lead. Albert Parsons, a long-time member of t
"We Had to Be So Careful" A German Farmer's Recollections of Anti-German Sentiment in World War I
German Americans had a complex response to the attacks on their loyalty that emerged when the United States went to war against Germany in 1917. During and after the war, many German Americans began to conceal their ethnic identity--some changed their names; others stopped speaking German; still others quit German-American organizations. Many, like Frank Brocke, son of a German-American farmer, tried to keep a low profile. In this interview, Frank Brocke discussed his own assimilation (he later
"The Men Seem To Be Pretty Well Satisfied": John Anderson on the 1919 Steel Strike
In the dramatic 1919 steel strike, 350,000 workers walked off their jobs and crippled the industry. The U.S. Senate Committee on Education and Labor set out to investigate the strike while it was still in progress. In his testimony before the committee, John Anderson, a helper in the open-hearth furnace at the Homestead steelworks in Pennsylvania, maintains that the steelworkers were satisfied with conditions. Although born in Scotland, Anderson identified himself as an"American" in distinction
"Nobody Would Eat Kraut": Lola Gamble Clyde on Anti-German Sentiment in Idaho During World War I
When the United States went to war against Germany in 1917, German Americans faced vicious and unfair attacks on their loyalty. Many anti-German incidents were not recorded, but they lived on powerfully in people's memories. In this 1976 interview, Lola Gamble Clyde, the daughter of an Irish-born Presbyterian minister and a teenager during World War I, described the "hysteria" that faced German Americans in rural Latah County, Idaho.
Yellowstone Fires
This Starting Point Teaching Collection page describes the Yellowstone Fires module created for NASA's Classroom of the Future. Emphasizing an integrated approach to environmental earth science through problem-based learning, the module asks students to assume the role of environmental biologist, and help several government agencies resolve the debate surrounding "let it burn" policies in national parks. The government agencies would like to know whether or not to allow naturally occurring fires
Using Investigative Cases in Geoscience
This website provides an overview of using investigative cases as teaching tools in geoscience. The site is part of the Starting Point: Teaching Entry Level Geoscience project. Information includes a description of how cases serve as springboards to student-designed investigations and how cases engage students and faculty in collaborative problem posing, problem solving, and persuasion.
Goodbye Honey Buckets
In this case study activity, students will investigate arctic geology and hydrology as well as tundra ecology and consider options for sewage treatment. Public safety, environmental impact, and issues of construction and engineering will be explored. This Starting Point example page builds on the Lifelines Online case study and includes learning goals, context for use, teaching notes and tips, teaching materials, assessment ideas, references and topics covered.
Quicksand Questions: Short In-class Activity
This Starting Point classroom activity prompts students with questions during a lecture on quicksand. Their answers can be collected with classroom response systems or through a think-pair-share activity. This activity allows an instructor to review the answers with the class and immediately address any points of misunderstanding or content areas that need clarification. The details of this exercise are found on this website, which provides learning goals and context, teaching materials such as
National Weather Service: Graphical Forecast
This site displays a click-and-zoom map of the US showing forecast temperatures as well as several other meteorological variables, normally updated every hour. Also available are maps showing chance of precipitation, temperature and wind, weather, dew point, weather, precipitation, dew point and cover. Maps can be changed to see forecasts for the current day, that night, and three days following. This is an experimental product of the National Digital Forecast Database, produced by the National
Interactive Lectures
Starting Point's introduction to Interactive Lectures, and more specifically their use in the entry level geoscience setting. This module on Interactive Lectures has strategies and specific examples of activities to involve students in large and small lecture-based classes. It includes discussions of what interactive lecture is, how and why it is used, and links the user to more specific examples and further resources.
Bill of Rights
On 12 September 1787, during the final days of the Constitutional Convention, George Mason of Virginia expressed the desire that the Constitution be prefaced by a Bill of Rights. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts proposed a motion to form a committee to incorporate such a declaration of rights; however the motion was defeated. This lesson examines the First Congress's addition of a Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
Words and Deeds in American History
This site presents historical documents spanning from the 15th to the mid-20th century. Included are the papers of presidents, cabinet ministers, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, military officers and diplomats, reformers and political activists, artists and writers, scientists and inventors, and other Americans whose lives reflect our country's evolution. A detailed description accompanies each document.
Woody Guthrie and the Archive of American Folk Song: Correspondence, 1940-1950
This site highlights letters Guthrie wrote in the early 1940s after moving to New York City, where he pursued broadcasting and recording careers, met artists and social activists, and gained a reputation as a songwriter and performer. The site includes a biographical essay, a timeline of Guthrie's life, and an encoded finding aid of Guthrie materials at the Library of Congress.
Making the best of testing
Two teachers offer a four-point plan for preparing students for end-of-grade tests without "teaching to the test": Teach to students' needs, integrate tested concepts into the curriculum, focus on learning before test-taking, and reduce students' stress.
Journal of the House of Commons: volume 7 1651-1660
The period of the Barebones Parliament and the rule of the two Cromwells as Lord Protector, and the preparation for the restoration of the monarchy.
