If I Could Turn Back Time...

The class recently engaged in a artifact bag project. The class began by Dr. Smirnova presenting her artifact bags to the class through a PowerPoint presentation. Each group received a different artifact bag with various artifacts. My group had three items. One of the items was a red "book", that contained a language we were unfamiliar with, so we used Google Translate to assist us in discovering the meaning behind the letters. The text was in Russian, and we discovered that this document was a diploma awarded to Lyudmila Smirnova, from the International Teachers Training Academy of Science. She was awarded this diploma after successfully completing her training on November 9, 2005, in Russia. The next artifact was an intricate black box with flower details. Inside the box was a jeweled American flag pin. We thought that maybe the box was also from Russia, considering that the diploma was. We knew of Dr. Smirnova's Russian descent, so we concluded that this was a symbolic representation of how Dr. Smirnova incorporates both American and Russian culture. This was harder to discover the meaning behind, so Dr. Smirnova revealed to the group that this pin was given to her by the division of education when she was granted her citizenship. The next artifact was a polaroid picture of an older woman smiling for the camera. She was wrapped in a shawl, that was tied around her head. We discovered that this was Dr. Smirnova's grandmother, and that the photo was taken by Dr. Smirnova with the first polaroid camera brought to Russia, in order to celebrate her grandmother's birthday. We concluded that the mystery person was Dr. Smirnova, considering that each artifact bag directly related to her. It was really interesting to gain a better insight into Dr. Smirnov's past, and to be able to see primary sources from Russia. Now that Dr. Smirnova modeled the activity for us, we were better able to prepare and plan our artifact bag projects. I decided that my missing person was going to be Henry Hudson. This was an important explorer from the unit plan I taught. I decided that my first clue was going to be a letter from Henry Hudson's to his wife Katherine. The letter talks about how he missed home, and his family, but that he is enjoying his journey with his son John. I was hopeful that the students would be able to look up the date and research the names Katherine and John, and discover that Henry Hudson traveled with his son John on his expeditions. The next clue was a compass with the initials H.H. Henry Hudson was a explorer, who spent much of his time out at sea. He seemed to find the Northwest Passage, so a compass would guide the students to believe he needed such a tool to help him in his journey. The next clue was a flag. The students were to look up the flag, to discover that it was a Dutch flag from New Netherlands. The Dutch had sent explorers, including Henry Hudson to find the Northwest Passage. The last clue was a feather. Although Henry Hudson did not find the Northwest Passage, he did claim the land along the river he sailed. Upon claiming this land he came in contact with Lenni Lenape Indians. With all of these clues, the students should have inferred that the mystery person was the explorer Henry Hudson. I would definitely use this activity in the classroom. It is a really fun way to engage the students in learning about a historical figure. This can be used many times for many different topics. The students worked together to solve a problem using the scientific methods, and achieved a common goal. Here is the link to my PowerPoint presentation!