Analyzing Objects

Porcelain

Musket Ball

Smallpox

Nail

Reaper

Shirtwaist

Transistor

Coffee

Record

Tire

Dishwasher

Dress

Stereograph

Stone

Mail

Shoe

Question 1:
Historical thinking is a state of thinking of objects, places, eras, many other things in terms of their historical context across culture and time. It is applying previously-known information about said things in a way that is not necessarily complete, and using new knowledge to inform discussion, debate, and learning.

Question 2:
Objects can, and should, be used as tools to show transitional properties of culture, and to preserve the integrity of content. One example of this is a music box I use, that was purchased in Moscow, that plays a children's lullaby in the Cyrillic language.

Objects can also be used to inform students of the sensory elements of a specific block of content/material. By this, I mean that students who can touch, smell, see, hear the authentic history will not only express greater interest, but also develop a simple understanding of these things that far exceeds the learning simply from a book or worksheet.
Redirect: /content/what-historical-thinking
Module Id: 689
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
It looks very fancy and expensive.

It does not look like it would be functional, rather, it looks decorative in nature.

It most-assuredly looks Chinese.
Question 2:
It could connect to international trade.

It could introduce an era of high culture, where imports are common and expensive goods are in demand.

I immediately think, "Guilded Age"
Redirect: /content/porcelain-resources
Module Id: 951
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
The object looks like it is by itself, it is alone, and likely that it is in a far-away place.

I feel like I am left to assume a lot, in other words, that the object(s) could be a lot of different things. Specifically, it could be a specific lunar landing, one that held specific importance. Generally, it could be any of all of the lunar landings, or another trip to outer space.
Question 2:
It can connect to the country, and the individual's, demands to always broaden our horizons, to expand. The Monroe Doctrine meets outer space.

It connects to the advancements in general of specific eras; Kennedy's hope to get to the Moon by the end of the decade, the explorations that followed.
Redirect: /content/transistor-resources
Module Id: 1146
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
The object looks like it is by itself, it is alone, and likely that it is in a far-away place.

I feel like I am left to assume a lot, in other words, that the object(s) could be a lot of different things.
Question 2:
It can connect to the country, and the individual's, demands to always broaden our horizons, to expand. The Monroe Doctrine meets technology.

It connects to the advancements in general of specific eras.
Redirect: /content/transistor-resources
Module Id: 1146
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
It is not a new tin, nor is it in a new-like state.

It is a product (coffee) that is available in the US, and has been for a long time.

I am familiar with the company.
Question 2:
It signifies a time when this product wasn't as highly-available, nor available at all.

The product label and messaging may be connected to the broader trade dealings.
Redirect: /content/coffee-resources
Module Id: 1147
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
It is round, but not a uniform shape.

It is rough around the edges, and seems to be made from a rough form, rather than a smooth, repeatable form.
Question 2:
We can connect to to the evolution of weaponry in American history. Through the lens of the this weaponry, people can begin to understand that, while people evolve at a very slow pace (relative to tech), weapons evolve faster than what can be measured in simple tactical or technical terms.
Redirect: /content/musket-ball-resources
Module Id: 955
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
It is set in a traditional manner that a modern dishwasher would be set. In other words, it is in the countertop, blended into the kitchen.
Question 2:
This can show that technology advances within the most mundane of artifacts; it is not always phone tech, self-driving cars, etc. Sometimes, it comes down to reflecting progress in other areas as well.
Redirect: /content/dishwasher-resources
Module Id: 1093
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
It appears to be some type of marker or headstone.

It is larger than ones similarly seen or created today. However, it likely fell into the era of that time.
Question 2: You can use something like this to connect change, and continuity, over time.
Redirect: /content/stone-resources
Module Id: 1039
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
The object is "rough". In other words, it is before modern milling, and much before an automated press would perform the duty of creating this item.
Question 2:
It represents change over time. In the case of these nails, it could show that goods evolve with history, and as the American culture/society moved toward industrialization, we can mark that change with resources and artifacts such as these.
Redirect: /content/nail-resources
Module Id: 953
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
It is highly mechanical item, one that I honestly know very little about. It says that it is a "Reaper", and I am familiar with the term, but it's usage? I am not sure.
Question 2:
It will connect the technological advances with agricultural advances, westward/southern movement, etc. It will work to connect not only globalization, but continental growth.
Redirect: /content/reaper-resources
Module Id: 952
User Id: 1362
Question 1: This is a real large stack of tires, possibly used.
Question 2:
I think we will find that these tires represent an evolution as Americans move across the continent, or move to the south.
Redirect: /content/tire-resources
Module Id: 1108
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
Historical thinking is placing the object, be it an artifact, photo, or any other source (both primary and secondary) as the central hub of learning.

It is thinking clearly, through contextual terms, why the object is both important in a general way, but also in a bigger, less specific way.
Question 2:
We can, literally, place the object in the hands of the learner.

Through sources, both primary and secondary, we can ask students to place themselves in different places and times, and think through the lens of the contemporary learner then. We can then compare/contrast this process to the lens of today.
Redirect: /content/connections-essay-historical-thinking
Module Id: 689
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
A teacup, it represents the era of mercantilism and, later, revolt from the colonists to the colonizers.
Question 2:
I would want to know what taxes were already common for other colonies of England to pay, as well as the taxes demanded by other colonizers.

I would like to know what financial benefit was derived in the mercantile relationship. Did it behoove the colonies to simply "move along" and pay the tax?
Redirect: /content/porcelain-connections-essay
Module Id: 951
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
Technology has compounded at rates that we could never see happening beforehand, and cannot believe happened so efficiently and effectively looking back.

As this technology evolved and advanced, we became a country, and world, of advancement based off of our ability to harness it. While capitalism raised the standard of living for everyone, it did not do so at even paces and across all areas.
Question 2:
Why was it important to establish these patents decades ago to have the technological advancements we have today?

What would the world look like today without them?

Are civilizations in existence today that did not enjoy these advancements?
Redirect: /content/transistor-connections-essay
Module Id: 1146
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
Technology has compounded at rates that we could never see happening beforehand, and cannot believe happened so efficiently and effectively looking back. While I was familiar with Moore's Law, I hadn't seen it couched in the manor of transistors, and had only been made aware as it pertained to "computers".


As this technology evolved and advanced, we became a country, and world, of advancement based off of our ability to harness it. While capitalism raised the standard of living for everyone, it did not do so at even paces and across all areas.
Question 2:
Why was it important to establish these patents decades ago to have the technological advancements we have today?

What would the world look like today without them?

Are civilizations in existence today that did not enjoy these advancements?
Redirect: /content/transistor-connections-essay
Module Id: 1146
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
As canned, and pre-prepared foods, became available during the war, both their supply and demand spiked in the wartime years of 41-45. This growth aligns perfectly with the growth of the USA as a superpower.

With instant coffee, the development occurs to suit a very practical need: provide easy to make, but still hearty, foods that are actually desired by soldiers on the front line. It does just this. However, the demand , and subsequent end of the war, creates eventual oversupply and the need to use this outside the war. This aligns with the plight of the female worker during World War II, asked to contribute in the mills and factories. You couldn't just end the practice, of either the creation of all of these, now demanded, goods, no more than the expectations would now be for women to express the new freedom that being "Rosy Riveter" now brought.
Question 2:
One limitation is that the labeling, prep, and presentation of food, along with the war, are not the only variables involved in analyzing.

By placing advertising alongside women's roles, you inherently tie these two together. Women become one with the good; as the good, and its prep, became mainstream, the acceptance of women in the household also becomes mainstream. So we have to be careful to tie these two things immediately together in any analysis.
Redirect: /content/coffee-connections-essay
Module Id: 1147
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
From the beginning of this country until, essentially, the Civil War, this object served as the battleground item for 110+ years.

However, its cousin, the rifled musket, served to better work for frontiersmen and women through the colonial expansion, and later into the western movement.

Understanding how muskets were used by colonists provides the ideal opportunity to discuss why we learn about weaponry, and how such weaponry served to make us who we are.
Question 2:
I would love to see a census list, as well as any/all maps of the era, to better understand the ratio of soldiers/general population. Too often we hear about the complete and utter total commitment to freedom, and that is simply not the case.

I would like to see the evolution of weaponry, especially seeing a rifled musket (rifle), to better understand the evolution of both frontier, and war, weapons.

Finally, an assembly of army recruitment posters might allow us to see the effects of any and all soldier shortage, and the efforts to change that into something more usable and to meet the needs of the Army. In other words, how much effort was put forth to alleviate this issue?
Redirect: /content/musket-ball-connections-essay
Module Id: 955
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
The dishwasher serves as a microcosm of of the divide seen between the west (notable the United States) and the Soviet Union.

To the USSR, the USA represents excess, consumerism and, to be blunt, a lack of morality. It is thinly-veiled racism, I am certain, to an extent, but it is more than that: It is symbolic of a government the United States, that has no or little control over its people.

To the Americans, this technology is rarely looked at through the social lens, and the constant and production, and goods derived from, the evolution of technology signifies this. It is not so much that the west isn't concerned with the social welfare, and development, of its people. It just isn't concerned that technology has much to do, or not to do, with it.
Question 2:
It has shown that the cold war spanned not only proxy wars, propaganda techniques, and the occasional skirmish (think of the Cuban Missile Crisis). Rather, this was a culture war as well. The belligerents were so fully consumed with their ways of life being "right", that the comparisons (and subsequent feeling of superiority) never really ended for either side.
Redirect: /content/dishwasher-connections-essay
Module Id: 1093
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
This stone is symbolic of the evolution of both the physical geography of DC, as well as the cultural and societal expectations of the district.

Moreso, this, and the several other markers when taken as one, represent how decisions, both societal and individual, really do "move mountains". It represents one group having a fierce debate/discussion on the merits of slavery (the Alexandrians), while another, the residents of the District, simply chose to ignore in favor of simplicity: It was simply easier to turn a blind eye to the whole horrific scene than to confront it.
Question 2:
Students can use state boundaries, such as those where waterfront was a desire for trade (I am thinking Pennsylvania, and the desire to have a port on the great lakes- Erie).

Through this sort of exploration, students can examine the different forts that were fought over, again and again, during the 7 Years War. How each time the fort shifted hands, and battle ensued, new importance was placed on the trade routes. Later, as the map of the US was drawn, these same water presences would be desired bu the individual states.
Redirect: /content/stone-connections-essay
Module Id: 1039
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
It signals expansion and, really, the American way of progress, discovery, etc.

It represents that the country can move, and the production mirrors the housing, and types of housing, that allow us to become us, as a nation.
Question 2:
I compare the usage and evolution of the nail to that of the air conditioner a century and a half later. It is said that we grew into the sun belt states of this country only after we were able to fully defeat the morbid and massive heat that limited us beforehand. I believe that it is only when we were able to mass-produce, and consume, housing that we truly saw the growth that would become our present nation.
Redirect: /content/nail-connections-essay
Module Id: 953
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
The reaper represents technological innovation, which allows for growth in both industry, and the urbanization of the country.

Before the reaper, the vast majority farmed and lived in rural areas of the country. As technology increased, production increased, and less people were needed to produce more goods. Once this happens, an excess of production leads to the necessity (or perhaps ability) to move goods more quickly. Therefore, infrastructure is built to accommodate this excess. The need for fewer farmers leads to urbanization, and the creation of things like roads, canals, and, especially, trains, leads to the centralization of population centers around cities.
Question 2:
Again, I keep going back to this, but I use the creation of the air conditioner, by Carrier, to show how technology allows for, and supports, movement throughout the country.

It was not until air conditioning was common that mass exodus to the sun belt, and to the American southwest, became possible. However, once it did, it was a short time period before that infrastructure served as an avenue to movement, and to opening up 1/2 this country to population boom. Population in these parts of the country exploded, and the face of the nation changed forever.
Redirect: /content/reaper-connections-essay
Module Id: 952
User Id: 1362
Question 1:
These seem to be only tires. However, they represent something bigger: The growth of the United States as an industrial power, perhaps THE industrial power, post- World War 2.

As the country's industrial might grew, the idea of globalization fueled its growth, and natural resources flowed from places like southeat Asia, central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. However, as the Japanese Empire conquered these areas, then cut off supply of natural resources, the need for these became only quenchable through domestic means. One of these needs was rubber, for tires.
Question 2:
What led to this situation, where there are so many tires?

Why would we see this during the wartime industrial state of the United States?

Finally, why is it important to understand the natural resources provided at this time?
Redirect: /content/tire-connections-essay
Module Id: 1108
User Id: 1362
Title: Social Studies Teacher- Donald Fair
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would clearly define the proper why and how questions that students need to be asking of both primary and secondary materials. Often times, we ask the "what", and that is okay, but it leaves an incomplete answer and picture for the entire process.

I would challenge students to see sources through the lens of the contemporary world (to the source), rather than to their own. Through this, students will be asked to define intended audience, why the audience needed to be addressed, and intended outcomes of a speech, for example.

Finally, I will more broadly use primary sources for historical importance and content. Too often we think of a source, or object, to only be narrowly applicable to an area of content or learning. Rarely do we see a broader picture like a chair, or a patent office document, for example. I would challenge them with these objects, to ask "why" they are important generally, and what can be learned from them specifically.
Redirect: /content/analyzing-objects-wrap
Module Id: 689
User Id: 1362
Title: Engaging through the lens of the mercantile relationship
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would use a photo of a finished good, perhaps textiles from the Indian subcontinent, or gold (and/or salt) from Africa, to introduce the era of European colonization of these regions as well. This would apply more aptly to my own content area, and provide a discussion point that is easily related to for students.

I would spices, and ask that students see this good not through the lens of 2020, when one can buy seemingly endless amount of things like cinnamon, oregano, etc. very cheap, but through the lens of the trader during the middle ages. Why would this inexpensive (today) good be so in-demand then, why were people willing to pay more for it than gold?
Redirect: /content/porcelain-wrap
Module Id: 951
User Id: 1362
Title: Transistor Technology/Connecting to the Classroom
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would use this two ways to engage students:

One, I would use transistor evolution, and the technology we have developed off of it, as an example that small things, ones we even rarely speak of today (the kids know iPhones, they know tech buzzwords, very few actually know what a transistor is), can provide lasting change in society. That "big" things do not come about without the small developments and enhancements, and from those, we draw change in both tech and, bigger, in society.

From this, I would propose that students create a flow chart of globalization from the original store owners in Tokyo, producing radios from transistor technology, to today's mass tech globalization. My goal would be for students to, both mentally and literally, draw a line connecting the technology along with the world getting "smaller".
Redirect: /content/transistor-wrap
Module Id: 1146
User Id: 1362
Title: Instant Coffee- Analyzing the Changing Roles in the US
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would use a product affiliated with the growth of the United States to analyze both the country, and the good, have grown simultaneously.

One way to do this is to see the different market cap growth rates between, say, Japan and the United States between 1989-present, and how that growth rates changes from the prior 30 years. From 1959-89, Japan far outgrows the US. This trend inverts in the following 30 years. Products/goods can be analyzed that led to/signified the growth of each.

From here, we can analyze the cultural changes and, more importantly, growth rate changes between the two countries. Demographic changes remain a key driver difference between the two countries, and I would provide demographic charts, census records, etc.
Redirect: /content/coffee-wrap
Module Id: 1147
User Id: 1362
Title: The Musket Ball- Importance in History
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would ask students to review the news articles, and posters, used in this module. After reviewing and guided discussion, I would ask students to describe Washington's feelings about the soldiers in the Continental Army. I would write down his answers, or, if I had access to WiFi or data connection, students would use an app to create a digital word wall.

After this, I would pose questions to students centered around why this was such a rag-tag group, and how a militia could really serve to defeat the mightiest Army the world had ever seen. I would again guide discussion to the tactics used the Washington really didn't believe were all that brave, but actually served the soldiers well as they fought.

Finally, we would examine the gun itself, and the firing strategy, to analyze whether or not these soldiers were incredibly cowardice, or simply rationally evolving war by using tactics that preserved life while waging an effective effort.
Redirect: /content/musket-ball-wrap
Module Id: 955
User Id: 1362
Title: The Dishwasher as a Symbol
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would use the dishwasher, as well as the materials utilized, to show that the cold war was every bit a culture war, a way of life war, as it was a political or military disagreement.

Even as allies, it was apparent that the two sides, the USSR and USA, were incompatible, as the respective philosophies were just utterly irreconcilable with one another. This manifested itself clearly in things like the Cuban Missile Crisis, the proxy wars in Asia, but until one sees the cultural beliefs spelled out as the materials/resources here do, you never really fully understand just how enormous the divide was.

Students would be asked to write a first-person essay as a citizen in the USSR. By doing so, students would be asked to reference 10 cultural, political, economic, or religious differences from the lens of the Soviet soldier.

Next, I would assign the same assignment, but this time, students would assume the role of an American soldier. Again, I would ask the student to underline 10 facts that are cultural, political, economic, etc., and that are unique to the USA during the cold war period.
Redirect: /content/dishwasher-wrap
Module Id: 1093
User Id: 1362
Title: Stone- D.C.- Connections
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would use this discussion as an introduction to the way physical geography influences human and, to a bigger extent, cultural geography (and vice-versa).

The resources here are wonderful, and connect to local content for teachers in northern Virginia, so well because they can connect the real world and see that "X is this way because Y". Students can not only see, but in a way, feel the local boundary changes. Then, you can inform on the why:

Why did these boundary changes happen so quickly, and so decisively? After all, it is rare that a city actually contracts in such a large way, especially one as (seemingly) so important as the United States capital city.

Students would be asked to provide a project, in either PPT or in tri-fold poster, where they assemble 3 primary and 3 secondary resources, using them to explain and enlighten the viewer on why the boundaries had shifted, and why others weren't so fast to end slavery in the district.
Redirect: /content/stone-wrap
Module Id: 1039
User Id: 1362
Title: Nails as a Symbol
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
This is an ideal way to show kids how the USA has changed over time, and how that change can be seen in the most inanimate and, seemingly, mundane things.

I would bring in a handful of nails, ranging from the oldest to the newest, to better understand these differences. I would then chart out, as this module has, the location of migration across the continent as newer ways of production, the modern Balloon home, allowed for quick builds and easy quality. Finally, I would have students break down the years in which these nails would have been used, and overlay these with the growth map to show just how quickly technology can "move people", and how the later, things like railroads will even further bring us west.
Redirect: /content/nail-wrap
Module Id: 953
User Id: 1362
Title: The Grim Reaper as a Catalyst for Change
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would use the resources provided and add migration map, that allowed students to chart, in real time, the population movement during the 19th Century. I would use Nat Geo Map technology, as well as the map software already provided by PWCS, to chart this.

I would then overlay important transportation improvements by decade, beginning in 1800 and showing the roads/canals/rail in the year. I would add 1810, then 1820, and so on until 1900. Through this, I would use the resources to provide the "why" of the migration, and the map would, it is hoped, provide concrete evidence to show how fast the growth occurred as new technology, including (but not limited to) the Grim Reaper appeared.
Redirect: /content/reaper-wrap
Module Id: 952
User Id: 1362
Title: Tires as a metaphor for wartime America
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would show the class the images of propaganda and ask, "what action, or inaction, is the creator of this poster asking the public to feel or do?"

Through this, I would guide students to understand that the idea was to elicit and emotional response of those "back home", and that propaganda is a tool that governments use to move people one way or another.

I would then have students complete an activity where, in stations, students take a sheet to 6 separate stations, each having one good mass-produced during the war. Tires, rifles, food (freeze-dried especially), planes, tanks, and clothing. Most factories where these were produced were done so with another good in mind. Refitting these factories was essential in creating a war machine, and as a country, the propaganda likely helped in mobilizing both efforts in these factors, and the rationing that most people adhered to during the war.

Finally, as a closing, we would chart 8 specific factories that survived long after the war that had been retro-fitted post-war. For example, there was a major boom of General Motors plants in the decade after the war. These has, for the most part, served as factories for the war and now needed to be retooled to serve private industry completely.
Redirect: /content/tire-wrap
Module Id: 1108
User Id: 1362