ice harvests. Next, ice tongs, used for harvesting huge blocks of ice, were added to the collection as was a photograph of an icebox. The very nature of inquiry learning transforms learning away from
Large tongs used to harvest and move ice blocks
a linear, top-down approach confined to the classroom into a student- centered approach that draws upon the experiences of a larger community. The children were intrigued by all these gadgets and were asking their par- ents and grandparents about tools. The family members, in turn, were eager to share their ancestral stories. Several of them directly thanked Connie for offering this type of learning experience to their children. As our artifacts gallery grew; so did the stories that children were
hearing and sharing from their families about their local community. One of the “niddy noddy boys” discovered that his great-grandfather had been an iceman in Putney!
Simple Machines Students discuss the tool cards.
There was clearly an interest in ice. Using a set of Ice Harvesting Tool Cards designed by Historical Forensics co-creator Beth White from photographs taken at the Billings Farm & Museum and from photographs archived at the Library of Congress, the middle schoolers investigated the process of harvesting ice. The first step was for the students to analyze and attempt to sequence the cards within small groups. Luckily we had an expert in our midst. One of the students had helped with the ice harvest on Squam Lake and had reaped the benefits during the summer when large blocks of ice were delivered to his cabin to preserve his family’s food. Next, we used an ELMO document camera to project the sequenced images and discuss them as a whole group. We marveled at the simplic- ity of using spiked shoes for both men and horses to provide traction on the ice and revisited our own spiked horseshoe in our artifacts gallery. We noticed that the vast number of ice tools could be boiled down to a collection of simple machines including levers, pulleys, inclined planes, screws, and wheels. Ice harvesting was a community event, requiring a carefully choreographed sequence of events. While it was a well-paid job, it was also very dangerous! The work- ers had to know, inside and out, the physics of working with ice and they had to use the tools to their fullest potential. We then launched into investigations of storing ice in icehouses and insulating it
with hay and sawdust. The innovation of the railroad, and later insulated railroad cars, were used to ship ice to cities, thus changing a community resource into a cash crop. As historical forensic scientists, we had collected artifacts and stories maintained by mod- ern day community members to better understand daily life for our nineteenth-century villagers. Beth White and I have been creating Historical Forensics: Investigating Untold Stories
from Nineteenth-Century New England Through Primary Sources (largely supported by a grant from the Library of Congress) as a three-tiered project incorporating à la carte activities, a simulation, and five different sets of tool cards. Our goal is to make American history personal, taking it beyond the generic distilled lists of dates and names of famous white men that all too often dominate history books. We want children to see how their own families, neighbors, and communities were important parts of history and therefore that they themselves will be important players in the future.
PAGE 12 • Connect ©SYNERGY LEARNING • 800-769-6199 • MARCH/APRIL 2012
jen manwell
jen manwell
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