Here’s an advance look at some of the “This Day in Geographic History” (TDIGH) events coming up this week. For each date, we’ve matched it with a map or visual, background information, and a classroom activity so you can plan ahead.
Check out our Pinterest board for more resources!
Thursday, April 12
Photograph courtesy NASA
TDIGH 1961: First Human Spaceflight
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in outer space when he orbited the Earth in the Vostok-1 spaceship.
Activity: Discuss the Cold War’s “Space Race” between the US and the USSR. Use this lesson plan, along with articles such as “USSR Launches Sputnik” and “First American in Space.” Why do students think the Soviets and Americans engaged in the race? Do they think there was a “winner”?
Friday, April 13
TDIGH 1958: Van Cliburn Triumphs in Moscow
When Texas pianist Van Cliburn won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia), it provided a major thaw in the Cold War.
Visual: “Great classical music is universal and eternal. We are privileged to hear it, to know its value, and reward its worth,” said Van Cliburn. Today, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (nicknamed “The Cliburn”) is a premier piano event, hosting some of the best young pianists from around the world. Have students choose a performance and listen to the 2017 Cliburn here. How would they judge competitors?
Background: Read this article about how Soviet coverage of Cliburn “downplayed his Americanness, reminding readers and listeners that his teacher, albeit an émigré, was Russian and that his mother’s teacher had been Russian, too. To their great satisfaction, they discovered that Van was really a great Russian pianist after all.” Discuss what “Americanness” might mean.
Activity: Use these standards-aligned lesson plans to bring The Cliburn to your classroom!
Saturday, April 14
Illustration by Currier & Ives, courtesy Library of Congress
TDIGH 1865: Lincoln Assassinated
President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination came just one week after the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered at Appomattox.
Visual: Lincoln understood the “power of the portrait” and became one of the most photographed men of the 19th century. Take a look at these portraits of Abraham Lincoln and discuss what emotion or value he intends to convey in his appearance.
Saturday, April 14
Photograph courtesy National Geographic Society
TDIGH 1935: Dust Storm Darkens the Great Plains
The largest dust storm in American history hit the Great Plains region during the time period known as “The Dust Bowl.”
Map: Have students look at the hardest-hit areas of the Dust Bowl, and put them in context with a map of land-use patterns.
Background: Can students define the “Great Plains”, and what makes them vulnerable to “black blizzards”?
Activity: Explore how John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath portrays the Dust Bowl. How are changes to the physical environment depicted? How are changes to the social structure depicted?
Sunday, April 15
Artwork by Raymond Wong, National Geographic
TDIGH 1912: Titanic Sinks
The “unsinkable” R.M.S. Titanic sank off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
Visual: Have students scroll through this photo gallery of the launch, loss, and rediscovery of the Titanic.
Background: Have students research why the ship sank, and the strange story of how it was rediscovered.
Activity: What went down with the ship? How were people compensated for their losses? Have students read this fun, fascinating article about the value of items that went down with the Titanic. Then they can use this inflation calculator to help put value in perspective.
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