The Cigar Box Project

I found a sight that I found quite interesting. The students are from Calgary Science School and they started a year long project of discovering Canadian history through cigar boxes. They would collect the boxes and study the pictures on the box and research for what time period they we from. The class is led by history teacher Neil Stevenson. The website can be found here The students created five historical panels and three short documentaries. They were "Inspired by the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa,Canada." There you will find an online exhibit of cigar boxes called "Canada in a Box".here The students had no experience with layout or design so the school brought in a graphic designer named Teak Sato, from the Alberta College of Art and Design, to give the students some basic lessons in layout and design. This was so interesting I loved the idea.

This is a great way to engage students creativity and give them hands on view to history, which I admit is a passion of mine. History can sometimes be boring to students but I can't see how a student would have time to be bored. Each student is concentrating on the pictures and wanting to find out where they came from and what the story is behind the picture that they are engaged in a hunt. Students can utilize technology and build skills while learning history. I know that I would have like such a project when I was in middle school or even high school. What a great idea and what terrific work.