History Time

A Newsletter for Kansas Educators


March 2023

Make and Take: Wind Turbine


Did you know that Kansas is one of the top 5 states when it comes to generating wind power? Learn more about our state’s largest electric energy source by utilizing this wind turbine activity. Teach students about renewable energy sources when you turn this activity into an engaging STEM lesson. Take a trip to the past and explain how the wind turbine’s predecessor, the windmill, was used on Kansas farms to pump water. Create a civics lesson by discussing the relationship between public policy and green energy initiatives. Make sure to save this activity for April to celebrate Earth Day in the classroom.

Wind Turbine Activity and Instructions

Standards Based Activity:

Bleeding Kansas Episode 2

Standard #3: Societies are shaped by Identities, Beliefs, and Practices of Individuals and Groups.


Continue your journey of Bleeding Kansas with the second episode in this video series. Students analyze the sequence of compromises which attempted to hold the United States together while the issue of slavery threatened to split the nation apart. This video culminates in the Kansas-Nebraska Act, setting the scene for a battleground that would inevitably lead to the American Civil War.


Use this video as a supplementary resource to the Kansas Journey textbook to provide your students exciting interpretation that breathes new life into old history.


Stay tuned for our next episode which will examine the people who came to Kansas Territory, their motivations for settling, and the effects it had on both Kansas and the entire nation.

Watch the Video
Bleeding Kansas Series Playlist

Rural School Days

Hurry up and don't be late! Book your students for a Rural School Days tour for this spring. Openings are still available.


Travel back in time to 1920 in the historic Stach School as Miss Piland delivers recitations and lessons in arithmetic, geography, reading, and orthography. Students play the part of pupils over one hundred years ago in this unique living history experience.


Call Joy at 785-272-8681 x415 or email KSHS.education@ks.gov to book a four-hour program for fourth or fifth grade students or a one-hour program for first through sixth grade students.

Traveling Resource Trunk:

Life of a Civil War Soldier

The Civil War is a great way to illustrate how the issues that formed Kansas affected both Kansans and the entire nation just a few short weeks after Kansas statehood.


Many Kansas soldiers fought in the Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the “Gettysburg of the West.” One of the largest cavalry battles of the Civil War took place at Mine Creek, Kansas. The First Indian Home Guard was formed in Kansas. The first African American soldiers recruited in the Northern states, the first to see battle, and the first to die in action were with the First Kansas Colored Infantry.

The “Life of a Civil War Soldier” traveling source trunk provides hands-on items to help bring the 1860s, and Kansas’s role in the Civil War, to life.

Reserve a Traveling Resource Trunk

Kansas Archeology Training

Program Field School

Our award-winning KATP field school will take place on June 2 through June 18 at Historic Lake Scott Park and offers an opportunity for members of the public to work alongside professional and avocational archeologists. Participants assist in surveying for archeological sites, excavating sites, and cleaning/cataloging artifacts in the lab. No prior experience is necessary to take part.


Registration and additional information is available online through the KSHS website kshs.org/katp. Registration for field school activities is limited per day and will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.

2023 Information Packet

Don't Forget!

Educational videos on Kansas topics created by us for use in your classroom.


Read Kansas! are available free of charge for primary, intermediate, middle, and high school students while supplies last.


The Kansas Museum of History is closed for renovations. Although the museum is not available for field trips, our staff is here for you.


A variety of virtual tours, videos, and Nearpod lessons are available to use in your classroom. 


State Capitol Visitors Center offers guided tours. Self-guided brochures are available for those who want to explore on their own.


State historic sites offer guided tours. Look for a site in your area.

 

Traveling resource trunks are available to borrow. Reserve one now for the school year.

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James Montgomery:

Abolitionist Warrior

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