History Time

A Newsletter for Kansas Educators

September 2022

Water Bottles: Then & Now

Demonstrate continuity and change over time while celebrating Native American Heritage month by taking an up close and personal look at a bison bladder water bottle. Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains used virtually every part of the bison, including the internal organs. Give your students an opportunity to hold a real bison bladder by reserving one of our Uses of the Buffalo Traveling Resource Trunks.

Look forward to more installments to our History Lab series in future editions of History Time!

Make and Take:

Tumbling Prairie Dogs

This Tumbling Prairie Dog activity is fun on its own, but it can easily be used to reinforce science, research, or reading lessons. Its use of an inclined plane and reliance on marbles make it a great STEM activity. Use it to kick off a study of wildlife conservation by exploring the connection between the Black-footed ferret and the Black-tailed prairie dog and the efforts by some in western Kansas to reintroduce both. Use Josiah Gregg’s 1844 book Commerce of the Prairies to examine prairie dogs on the Great Plains in the mid-1800s. Read Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President to bring this native of the prairies to life for younger students.

Standards Based Activity:

Rural School Days

HGSS Standard #4: Societies experience continuity and change over time.

In the free Rural School Days Nearpod lesson, fourth grade students visit the historic one-room Stach School. Miss Drown, the schoolteacher, directs lessons as they were taught in 1920. This program offers a virtual living history experience through videos, historic photographs, and actual lessons from 1920s textbooks. Students can complete assignments in reading, spelling, history, and penmanship. The lesson can be teacher-led or self-paced for students.

Professional Development

“Education and Indigenous Peoples: Where is the Contemporary American Indian?”

September 9, 2022; 6:30 p.m.

In this session, Dr. Alex Red Corn will walk through some core issues found in our educational systems as it relates to representations of Indigenous peoples. Kansas is home to four federally recognized Native nations as well as Haskell Indian Nations University. Kansas’ historic status as Indian Territory has created a scenario in which our state has an ongoing relationship with American Indian peoples and Nations from Kansas, and beyond our state boundaries. Yet, Kansans often find it difficult to understand the complex existence of the modern American Indian due to educational systems that amplify narrow stuck-in-the-past stereotypes.

Register for the webinar, stream live, or watch the archived program on our YouTube channel .

The Kansas Museum of History closes on September 4, 2022 for renovations. Although the museum is not available for field trips, our staff is here for you.

Monarch Tagging classes and tagging opportunities are available in September.

Student Photo Contest entries are accepted through January 9, 2023.

State Capitol Visitors Center offers guided tours. Self-guided brochures are available for those who want to explore on their own.

State historic sites offer guided tours. Look for a site in your area.

A variety of virtual tours, videos, and Nearpod lessons are available to use in your classroom.  

Traveling resource trunks are available to borrow. Reserve one now for the school year.

Prairie Dog (8" Stuffed Toy)