Here's a Fun and Educational Activity You Can Do With Your Students!!

Have your students read the passage below, then answer the questions on the website!!

Did you know that the Boston Common is the oldest public park in our country!? In fact, it was called a public park in 1634 even before our country became a country! Over 100 years before our forefathers make the Declaration of Independence public in 1776, the Boston Common was a thriving place. It was used by the militia of the time and also for hangings. Yikes! Today you can find many different monuments on the common such as the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial and The Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Boston is a very popular place for tourists today. After all, who wouldn't want to see all of the historic sites it has to offer? Another popular site besides Boston Common is the Old North Church. It was built in 1723 and today has the oldest church bells in North America! During the night of Paul Revere's famous Lexington-Concord ride the church's sexton, Robert Newman, held two lanterns up in the Old North Church tower to signal to Revere that the british were coming by sea. Isn't history fascinating? "The Emerald Isle", better known here as Ireland, is known for its beautiful, green, geography. It is the third largest island in Europe and lies west of Great Britain. One food that Ireland is known for are  potatoes.  Have you ever heard of the great potato famine? That happened here, in Ireland! In 1845 the potato crops in Ireland began to rot and die and many starved. It was later realized that a fungus was causing all of the problem. However, the damage had already been done and many packed their bags to head out to other countries.  Lying on the west coast on Ireland is it's capitol, Dublin. This place is known for its people and culture and is encompasses the business power of Ireland. Dublin is also the largest city in Ireland and possibly the most well-known Irish city around the world. Ireland isn't the only country known for its culture and landscape. Italy has great food and such a lively culture that it is hard not to take a trip to see all that the country has to offer. The ancient ruins in Rome are some of the most magnificant sites to see. The famous Roman Colloseum, originally named the "Amphitheatrum Flavium" , is one of the most spectacular architectural structures around. It is over 1,900 years old and was in active use for 400 years. Now that's a strong structure! At the time of the Romans, the currency of Italy was called the "denarius". It was not until the mid 1800's that the "lira" was put into circulation. However, this monetary system was quite unstable over the years and in 2002 the Euro was put out as Italy's national currency.    One of the worst disasters of the decade occurred on January 12, 2010 in Haiti. A 7.0 magnitute earthquake hit the small, Haitian-Creole and French-speaking country and destroyed 250,000 lives. With a total population of 9,780,064, Haiti lost 1/40 of its entire population! That is equivalent to over 7.5 million people dying in the United States from a disaster. This is truly a tragedy and all who can help should do so.

History can be facsinating in so many ways! Whether it be traveling to a beautiful location with food that's too good to be true, or going to a country in need to help in relief efforts, it is always important to learn a little history of the area. I hope you enjoyed these fast facts and took something out of learning about a few countries. Always remember the importance of history! **Please click on one of the fireworks to begin the journey through these locations!** *Click here to go back to the home page*