Analyzing Objects

Porcelain

Musket Ball

Smallpox

Nail

Reaper

Shirtwaist

Transistor

Coffee

Record

Tire

Dishwasher

Dress

Stereograph

Stone

Mail

Shoe

Question 1:
Historical thinking is the ability to think about things from a perspective that explains why something happens in terms of the history behind the topic. Instead of just thinking about something, historical thinking allows you to process and examine everything that was relevant during when something took place.
Question 2:
Objects show us how people lived, what they were like, what type of things a civilization did. Using objects allows you to literally get a look at what people were using and it will help you better determine why things happened the way they did.
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Question 1:
The object is an old shoe, which seems to be very worn out and shows how whoever wore it obviously was a hard worker.
Question 2:
Shows us what type of work the person who wore it did for a living. Shows up maybe where that person is from. Can explain the socio-economic status of their life.
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Question 1:
I feel like this is an example of American advancements in the field of science and technology. Shows how far we have come.
Question 2:
You can connect this to all of American history. Any time frame has objects that are more advanced than the other and you can relate those objects or compare them as you go along in a classroom setting. It gives the students the opportunity to show how things have changed over time.
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Question 1:
I notice that this is a headstone that is in very rough shape. It has obviously either been there for a very long time or it has not been well maintained.
Question 2:
It can connect to American History by being someone of importance grave site. Using a grave site to better explain an individual is very common in history classes. Seeing where they are buried allows a student to almost have closer connection to the actual person.
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Question 1:
I believe that these are nails that obviously are very old. They are different sizes which would tell me that they are used for different tasks.
Question 2:
This can connect to anything in the United States history. Just to know what they were used for can show us tons of history from the industrial era all the way back to the colonial times. Nails have been used to make many things in our country.
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Question 1:
Historical thinking is just like it sounds, the ability to think historically. I know that is a very generic definition but in order to really get into what something was or how things really happened years ago, you really have to think about just what those people were going through to understand. History books are great, but in order to really think correctly we have to take into account just what was actually going on in that point in history.
Question 2:
Objects are key to historical thinking on the basis that they tell you all about what you need to know. In order to really get something, you have to see things that they used in order to totally understand that civilization, person, etc... Objects tell us the story of the person, group, civilization that we are thinking about and without them we have to guess and that does not always come to the correct conclusion.
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Question 1:
These shoes can show us the major events that are happening during the 19th century. Industrial Revolution, Civil War, Great Migration, are just a few. It helps to explain the major hardships of Americans during the Civil War. It show American technology with the advantages of using new machinery to make goods as opposed to making them by hand. It helps people today relate to what citizens went through during the 19th century.
Question 2:
Look at order forms produced before the Civil War and during the Civil War on goods like shoes and blankets and other things that soldiers would need. It can explain the role that the government served for people before and during the war. Also, things like salaries of soldiers would help explain why soldiers fought, which may include the money they were promised. This could have been a strategy used by the government to get soldiers to volunteer.
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Question 1:
The transistor can connect to anything that you look at in the 20th century because it shows progress. This tiny piece of technology leads to the advancements of tons and tons of different inventions including the radio, tv, and phone. It all started with something small and lead to something that people take for granted.
Question 2:
What did this invention/patent allow for Americans to do?
How did it change the lives of Americans for the better?
How did it change the lives of Americans for the worse?
Can technology actually make a country worse?
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Question 1:
You can connect this boundary stone to many different themes in American History. Such as the division between the north and south b/c of slavery. The location chosen for Washington to try and be a middle ground b/c of slavery. Discussions about how and why buildings in Washington look the way they do.
Question 2:
Boundaries can be used to discuss pretty much anything. You can look at the borders/boundaries of states and discuss how they got their shapes. Talk about the Mason-Dixon line and how that is a border of 2 states and the imaginary line of slave vs. free states. Immigration laws and interstate travel can even be used as a topic.
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Question 1:
The best example is to compare how homes or buildings were constructed before the industrial era when nails were easily mass produced. The ways and methods used to construct after things as simple as nails being mass produced changes all aspects of how America grew.
Question 2:
As the nail became more easily accessible, so did the ability to build cheaper homes and businesses. It is very comparable to that of westward expansion as more land became more accessible people wanted to move. Advancement is something that all people want and just like the nail, when there is more of something, people want more of whatever that is.
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Title: Analyzing Objects- High School
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I feel the best way to approach this is to find something that relates to the topic being discussed in class and have the students examine it. DO NOT tell the students what it is or what it was used for. Let them come to their own conclusions and explain what made them come to that conclusion. Have a class wide discussion on what students have concluded and allow an open forum for them to discuss why they came up with what they found.

At the end of the lesson, actually explain to students what the object is and why it was used. This will allow the students to make the connections between their findings and what the truth was. This allows students to come up with better method and strategies on just how to examine objects.
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Title: Simple Items can shape the Nation
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
I would give students pictures of everyday items from early American history and have them answer the following question: How do these items effect everyday life for you and for early Americans? This allows students to critically think about how a simple item would be used hundreds of years ago compared to how they are used today. I would also have them answer the question: How would this item be produced during the 1800s compared to today? Answering this question allows a student to understand how production of these types of items would have been different during earlier times compared to today and also why an item 100s of years ago served a different purpose than that of today.
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Title: Technology in the 20th Century
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
The best way to approach this is to have stations for different types of technology that the transistor has allowed us to have. Start with something simple and have students work their way up to things like an MRI machine, or a DVD player. Have students think critically about just how these things have changed the lives of Americans. Also have students answer the question of how it may have hurt or made things worse for Americans.
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Title: Washington DC- Founded on Slavery or Freedom
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
This activity would be very enlightening to students as I would use DC as a model to discuss the divisions going on in the United States before the Civil War. I would show pictures of Washington and ask why was it put where it is. I would show how the buildings and construction was completed using slave labor and ask why did they use slaves if the government was trying to unite the country with the city. The biggest thing is that I would want students to come to their own conclusion about the placement of DC. This is their capital city as well, and understanding why it was put where it is and then making conclusions is extremely important for students.
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Title: The Nail: Did it change America??
Grade Level: High
Short Answer:
Begin with simple pictures of nails and have students answer the question of how this simple tool can change a country. Have students answer the question and start a conversation about how something like a nail can lead to cheaper construction for businesses and homes. Then keep going with the progression. Have students see how nails being easily available can lead to more people moving and changing the landscape of America. Do the same thing as done with the nail with student examples like the light bulb, computer, phone, telegram, locomotive, car, airplane.
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