Flashlights

#sol22: March 1st

     Today, one of our schools did a Boston Massacre crime scene, since they are learning about the event and using it to explore the idea of multiple perspectives in a historical event.  The Irving Eagles staff (Stevens, Von Ebers, and Blaufuss) set up a scene with 5 clues to help students determine if the group of British soldiers accidentally started a fight that killed 5 colonists, or if it was intentionally started.  Accident, or murder?

Exhibit A: Crime Scene

Marker 4: Setting

The incident happened at 9 o'clock at night in March.  Consider what it is like at 9pm at this time of year.  Is it dark or light?  Would it be easy to see what is happening?  Could it be confusing?

Student: I don't get what it is asking.

Me: {Read it out loud.}. It's March 1st today.  What will it look like outside at 9pm tonight?

Student: It will be dark out.

Me: So would it be easy to see what is happening outside in the dark?

Student: I think they probably just had flashlights.

Me: Did flashlights exist back then?  I don't think they had batteries, either.

Student: Hmmm.  Yeah, I don't know.

Me: If they had street lamps, there might be light.  Do you think they had to light those, if they did exist?

Student: Maybe we can see if there were lamps in the pictures of the Boston Massacre.

(I walked over to the picture of the images in Exhibit 5)

Me: Doesn't that seem weird that some look like they happened in the daytime, and others seem like they are at night?

     At this point, I start to look for lampposts in the images.  I got distracted by a student who said, "Oh no!  There's a dead body."  To that I replied, "May he rest in peace."  Immediately, 3-4 kids start doing the sign of the cross.  That was my last thought about street lighting, until I got home.  In the dark of the night, I remembered our wondering, and searched the internet.  I love how curious students push me to learn, too.  So, in case you were wondering, too...