Devices of Wonder: Cinema through the Ages

The Devices of Wonder Web site explores the ancestors of modern cinema, cyborgs, and other optical devices. The Web site was created in conjunction with an exhibition, which presented the parlor games, natural wonders, moving image devices, and scientific instruments that have entertained and educated humans for more than four centuries.

The Web site allows visitors to experience some of these inventions first hand, offering a unique opportunity to operate objects that are too rare and fragile to be handled.

The objects are fun to play with, and they also teach us about our social, scientific, and visual history. Below are some ideas for how you can explore the exhibition themes with children.

After you visit the Devices of Wonder Web site, you can return here for some teaching ideas.

My Place Interactive Site for Teachers and Students

My Place by Nadia Wheatley is a very popular Australian children's book that follows the lives, technology and cultural events that changed the way Australians live for for 20,000 years.

there is now a brilliant interactive site specifically designed for teachers and students that really brings the book to life.  I contains interactive timelines, video from the television series and loads of teaching and learning resources to support the book and television series.

I cannot recommend this strongly enough for those that are exploring Australian history and really want some quality content to support it.

Access it here.

The secret of teaching the Holocaust to students

I came across a great website full of content on teaching the holocaust to students.  These activities have been developed for teachers to use as a guide. Their intent is to give teachers a framework to follow for use in a Holocaust unit of study. The philosophy behind these activities is based on constructivist pedagogy, brain-based learning and the awareness of the theory of multiple intelligences. It is hoped teachers will use them and build on them to fit the needs of students, taking into account their age, maturity, and ability levels.

It is strongly recommended that teachers read the Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust published by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum before designing activities or using the ones we offer in A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. The suggestions and cautions the Holocaust Museum offers are important and invaluable in delivering Holocaust instruction. The sensitivity of the subject matter requires careful consideration when designing curriculum and guiding students in presentations and research.

Access the holocaust student activities here.

Kidipede - Simple information for students

Kidipede is a kids' encyclopedia, online since 1996. A lot of kids use Kidipede for school reports or for homeschooling. You can find out about Ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt, or how to make yogurt, or about why fires need air to burn. Kidipede will tell you who invented algebra, and what happens in the Iliad, and what Confucius said. Click here to access it.

How numerals 0 - 9 got their shape - Interesting.

Numbers 0 9_

View more presentations from Kevin Cummins.

Read this first, then view the slideshow above.  Do you know why numbers look like they do? Someone, at some point in time, had to create their shapes and meaning.  Watch this short presentation and then you will know how our Arabic numbers were originally created a very long time ago and what logic the people that created them used to determine their shapes.  It is really very simple and quite creative.  You have to admire the intelligence of a person that created something so simple and perfect that it has lasted for thousands and thousands of years and will probably never change.  When the presentation gets to the number "seven" you will notice that the 7 has a line through the middle of it.   That was the way the Arabic 7 was originally written, and in Europe and certain other areas they still write the 7 that way.  Also, in the military, they commonly write it that way. The nine has a kind of curly tail on it that has been reduced, for the most part nowadays, to a simple curve, but the logic involved still applies.

2 Great Timeline Tools

What is Dipity?

Dipity is a free digital timeline website. it's mission is to organize the web's content by date and time. Users can create, share, embed and collaborate on interactive, visually engaging timelines that integrate video, audio, images, text, links, social media, location and timestamps.

Who is Dipity for?

Dipity timelines are for anyone who uses the Internet. Newspapers, journalists, celebrities, government organizations, politicians, financial institutions, community managers, museums, universities, teachers, students, non-profits and bloggers all use Dipity to create timelines.

Why use Dipity?

Dipity allows users to create free timelines online. Digital timelines are a great way to increase traffic and user engagement on your website. Dipity is the fastest and easiest way to bring history to life with stunning multimedia timelines.

Teach your students about their place in history - Australian Schools

My Place in History is a free web-based program designed to teach students about the concepts of change and diversity – of backgrounds, in family structures, and the many economic, political and social circumstances in both our distant and more recent history that have contributed to who we are today and how we all came to be living in Australia.

Students will explore their own personal family history, creating family trees online, whilst learning about the key drivers of change within society during the lives of their ancestors - wherever they came from - and how these changes impacted their own identity, as well as that of their family and society more generally.

My Place in History has been designed for teachers by teachers and is tailored to each state’s individual curriculum. A collection of specially designed online resources and activities have been developed to make learning about history, and their family’s role within this, both educational and engaging. Better still, it’s completely free!

My Place in History is powered by Ancestry.com.au, Australia’s leading online family history resource and part of the Ancestry.com global network of websites.

Unit 1: Change through History

Students will learn about significant changes that have occurred over time in transport, communication, manufacturing, housing, leisure, food, technology, purchasing, and medicine.

Unit 2: My Society through History

Students will develop an understanding of history as it applies to their community. The initial focus is on the school; the subsequent focus is on a section of a nearby community.

Unit 3 My Family History

Students will research and understand a minimum of two generations of their own family through the use of oral history and interactive resources.

The website also provides a secure area for each teacher to upload and store their digital own resources.

We would love you to register, download the appropriate state program and explore the website.

As our aim is to continue developing this web-based resource, we would be keen to hear any feedback that you may have.

Access it here



The evolution of learning technologies throughout history

The NY Times have put together a great interactive timeline of learning technologies from the 'The Horn Book' through to the iPad and everything in between.  This is a great little piece of history to share with your students to help them understand the opportunities we have available to us today.  Check it out here.