The year 1985 marks the 300th birthday of three masters of Baroque music: Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederic Handel, and Dominico Scarlatti. A summary of the history of Baroque music and a profile of the three composers, which can be used to teach secondary students about the period, are provided. (RM)

Biographies can be used for the enrichment of secondary education social studies classes. Two strategies are presented for helping students to understand the nature, appeal, limitations, and applications of biographies in the social studies. (CJ)

Readings, activities, and teaching strategies for a secondary unit on black women are included in this teacher handbook. Instructional material is divided into four sections. Following a note on the use of the booklet, section 1 consists of 24 two-page biographies of black women, including Selma Burke, Lena Horne, Leontyne Price, Charlayne…

A teacher discusses how she used criticism of "The Scarlet Letter," when studying the book, in her honors class. The students were also intrigued by the biographical information they learned about Hawthorne, and eager to use it in interpreting his novel. (SRT)

Prosopography is the investigation of the common background characteristics of a group of people in history by means of a collective study of lives. How the discipline of prosopography can be used to help secondary and college level students understand the nuances of power is examined. (RM)

An excellent way to teach history is by focusing on the lives of individual historical figures. History is the story of living persons, who for good or ill have made history as it is. To understand history, students must learn about the men and women who shaped events. (RM)

Presents a brief historical sketch of the life and work of one of the founders of modern mathematical physics. Discusses three problem-solving applications of the Poisson distribution with examples from elementary probability theory. Provides background on two of his noteworthy results from the physics of oscillations and the deformation of rigid…

Presents a short biographical sketch of the great mathematician, Henri Poincar, whose significant achievements in mathematics were applications within the fields of astronomy and physics. (JJK)

The life of the sculptor Henry Moore is briefly discussed and characteristics of his sculpture are described. Also included are lists of recommended films and books dealing with Moore, a student's guide to looking at sculpture, and sculpture activities for secondary students. (RM)

A commentary on the life and work of Henri Matisse for use with secondary art students is provided. Exercises to use with the commentary are provided, and art activities are suggested. Annotated references are also included. (RM)

Describes the use of biographical stories to promote student interest in plant biology. Discusses plant hunters of various time periods, including ancient, middle ages, renaissance, colonial Americas, and 18th and 19th centuries; women plant hunters of the 1800s and early 1900s; and modern plant hunters. Discusses classroom strategies for the…

This document discusses the movement to bring original historical sources into the classroom. Because students of history need access to sources of information that provide direct or primary evidence about reality, teachers must show that realistic alternatives to the traditional history text exist. In the first section of this paper, efforts to…

Presents an activity that highlights the life of Harriet Brooks, a lesser-known Canadian physicist. Objectives include stressing Harriet Brooks's contribution to science and developing a historical connection to other prominent figures, illustrating to students that attitudes about women in science were very constraining in Harriet Brooks's time,…

Presents an excerpt from the book entitled "Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos." Provides narration of behind-the-scenes events in the lives, the scientific debates, and the intellectual triumphs of the two physicists responsible for inventing the concept of the black hole. (JJK)

Suggests that character and personality profiles can heighten student interest in history. Provides an outline for writing a report on an historical personality and recommends activities which involve students in simulation and creative writing. (Author/DB)