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Archive: March 2019 (12 Posts)

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Icebox: Exploring States of Matter Using Historic Photographs

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

Elementary students frequently learn about states of matter and may even build solar ovens or insulation boxes for experiments. While creating insulation boxes might seem to be a relatively simple science experiment today, methods such as these were once essential to providing safe food storage.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Expanding Student Understanding of Slavery in America by Exploring an Arabic Muslim Slave Narrative

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

In the January-February 2019 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article discusses the Life of Omar ibn Said, the only known extant narrative written in Arabic by an enslaved person in the United States. Analyzing this unique manuscript provides students with an opportunity to expand their understanding of some of the people who were brought to the United States from Africa to be enslaved. How educated were they? What did they believe?