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| A portion of “Declaration of Independence,” by John Trumbull, 1818 |
Independence Day is such an important celebration for our Country. The 13 Colonies wished to server ties with the British Crown and establish themselves as free and independent States. They were tired of the burden of taxation, lack of representation, and domination.
A unanimous Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and the road to independence began. Congress made July 4th an official holiday in 1870. Check out the primary documents on the
Library of Congress website. I really like the Library Congress site because it also provides links to Washington’s, Madison’s and Jefferson’s papers, links to external websites and exhibitions along with selected bibliographies, some of which are geared to young readers.
One of my favorite shows to watch every 4th is A
Capitol Fourth Concert on PBS. This beautiful patriotic concert always brings my focus back to what this great holiday is about. Test your knowledge of our history by taking the quiz at the bottom of the Capitol Fourth’s homepage.
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| Apollo 11 Official Crew Portrait |
Speaking of exploring history, your next exploration for July takes place at NASA. President John F. Kennedy declared a national goal in 1961 to perform a crewed lunar landing and return to earth. In July, 1969, NASA launched Apollo 11 to accomplish this objective. Apollo 11 launched with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin on July 16, 1969. Four days later on July 20th, 530 million people watched their TVs as Armstrong walked on the moon. I was one of them. It was a big deal for me as a young kid. It was such a great historical event that my parents let me stay up past my bedtime to watch it. I didn’t even have to sneak out past my brothers’ bedrooms to the family room that night (sibling humor).
NASA’s Apollo 11 site is the place to go for the whole scoop on the details of this historic event. The Overview is a great place to start but the images and videos are a must see because they are so COOL.
If the Cold War and the Space Race intrigue you, check out these links for more information:
Race to Space
Space Race Exhibitions
After your exploration of the moon, how about exploring what your carbon footprint is here on earth? The
Nature Conservancy carbon footprint
calculator is a helpful tool to bring awareness of how we humans affect the earth in our daily lives.
The site has helpful tabs about home energy, travel, food and recycling information. Using the carbon calculator really makes you think about the impact we have on our environment.
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has an interactive
student’s guide to Global Climate Change that also has a carbon calculator along with helpful educator resources, and a fun global expedition journey that engages students.
Check these sites out and do some exploring. The possibilities are unlimited. See you soon at the Library.
