Celebrating Black History Month

Activity #1

Who am I?
Click here and see if you can figure out who each person pictured is.
Drag the name of each person into the space under his/her picture.

Name              Class             

 

Dr. Charles Richard Drew

Garrett Augustus Morgan

Thurgood Marshall

Mae Carol Jemison

Elijah McCoy

Which paragraph describes me? Drag the description into the text box below my name.
I was the doctor who figured out how to store blood for a long time. I also realized that plasma (the liquid part of blood) will last much longer than whole blood. This saved many lives. They called my idea a blood bank.	I am also a doctor. In addition, I am a surgeon and an engineer, too. I am still alive. I was the first African-American woman in space. I flew on the space shuttle Endeavor as the Mission Specialist in 1992.	I was a lawyer and the first African-American judge to be named to the United States Supreme Court. I took part in the famous desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education (1954). After this trial, schools could no longer allow whites and blacks to be separated into "separate but equal" schools.	Because I was born in the South in the late 1800's, I also lived with a lot of prejudice. I invented a gas mask that could save the lives of many people, especially fire fighters and miners, but because of this prejudice, no one would buy my invention until I disguised myself as an Indian chief and entered a smoke-filled tent for ten minutes. When I came out alive, everyone was impressed and began to buy my life-saving mask.  By the way, I also saved many lives by inventing a 3-light traffic light. What do you think would happen if a light changed directly from green to red?	You could say that I truly am "the real McCoy". After I invented a part for a railroad car that would oil itself automatically, everyone wanted only my invention. They didn't want anyone to sell them a fake, so they asked for "the real McCoy".  Railway cars could run longer and more smoothly with my invention.

                    

Activity #2

Examine the Excel spreadsheet below.

1. Copy the information in each cell into a blank spreadsheet.

2. Try to match the formatting shown as closely as you can.

3. Complete the information for Date of Birth and Accomplishment.

4. Sort the data by DOB.

Activity #3

Based on your introduction to the 5 great African Americans named above, pick one individual who most interests you and research further.

A. Your first job will be to design a stamp in that person's honor. (PrintShop)

 

                        
 

  

B. Your next assignment will be to write a persuasive letter to the Postmaster General convincing him to issue this stamp. You will include this stamp with your letter.

 

Include the following:

• Introduction

                Include a clear statement of your position .
                Include a "hook". (A question or a strong or outrageous statement or fact usually work well.)

• Body

                Two paragraphs, each one states a reason to support your belief with facts to back it up.

• Conclusion

                State your belief again and review the main points briefly. End with a personal comment or call for action such as a prediction, a question, a recommendation, or a quotation,