EDUCATION

"Hands on the Past": Activities for Middle School Students

1. Tour of the French Legation Museum

2. Move to Carriage House Meeting Room

3. Short lesson on Material Culture - what is it and why is it important?

4. Draw numbers for Archaeology groups

5. Dig in a Box per Archaeology for Middle Schools Students sheet ****[see attached]*****

6. Group reports by students

7. Clean up with students

Exploring the Past

Many of us know as little about the past here on earth as we do about life in outer space, on those worlds light years away.  We can only imagine if life forms exist on these worlds and what they are like.  In the same way, we can also imagine what life on earth – and here in Texas – was like long ago.  Just as space scientists have helped form probes and rockets sent into outer space to gather information, we have information from history, science, and other areas to help us.

One way of figuring out the unknown is called brainstorming.  To do that, you will meet in small groups to explore the past.  Your goal is to figure out solutions to a few problems of everyday life in the 1840s.

Begin by imagining that you live during the days of the Republic of Texas!  There was no electricity, radio, telephone, computers, television, automobiles, or airplanes.  People used different tools and machines.  They ate different foods and spent their days doing different tasks.  Even so, some things were very much the same - it was hard to keep cool in Texas summers, mosquitoes still bit, and people still had to eat.

Problems of the Past #1 – Insects All Around Us

• Early Texas was full of more mosquitoes, flies, fleas, and ants than we have around us today. 
• To help, the early Texans designed a trap to catch some of these flies.  You figure out how to keep fleas out of the house and the mosquitoes from biting the baby.

Problems of the Past #2 – Keeping Cool in Texas Summers

• You are an architect in the Republic of Texas.  Design a house that would stay nice and cool in Austin during the hot Texas summer of 1840.

• As a landscape architect in the city of Austin, design an attractive yard around a new house that will keep the people who live there cool during the summer months.
• As an interior designer, what would you do to keep the inside of the house airy and cool inside during the heat of a Texas summer?

Problem of the Past #3 – Lighting the Way

• Candles made from tallow or animal fat provided much of the light in Texas homes of the 1840s.  They gave off smoke, which turned walls and furniture black.  Invent a device to keep walls and furniture clean while candles burned.
• Candle light does not spread out very far and leaves most of the room dark.  Think of ways to magnify the light of a single candle.

Problems of the Past #4 – Home Security

• There were no burglar alarms in the 1840s.  Develop a way for early Texans to protect their homes and valuables.

A Note to Teachers . . .

The French Legation Museum presents a series of brainstorming activities for middle school students.  The goal is to encourage students to explore Texas in the 1840s and its different way of life and compare and contrast it to our lives today.  These activities provide a “hook” for students to apply their knowledge of history and science to real problems that confronted people living in Texas during the Republic period.

Brainstorming is best if done in groups.  We recommend that students discuss with each other how to solve these problems in small groups of four or five.  The seventh graders should choose a spokesperson to present the results to the entire class.  If possible, have them write out their main points on a flip chart or the blackboard.  Spokespersons can refer to them during their presentation, and other students can see and relate to them.

If students can propose solutions to daily life situations for the Republic of Texas time period, they will be able to gain an understanding of the significance to those of us who live in the twenty-first century.

Continue to "Hands on the Past": Archaeology for Middle School Students

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