Inspired by the scrapping effort of students during World War II, Get in the Scrap! offers all students a chance to complete fun and educational classroom activities while learning important lessons about environmental stewardship. They’ll even earn cool prizes for their hard work. With activities covering history, civics, ELA, art, and STEM, Get in the Scrap! will empower kids to make their own history.
In conjunction with the special exhibition Fighting for the Right to Fight: African American Experiences in WWII, this year’s Essay Contest asks students in grades 5-12 to consider the availability of liberty and justice for all Americans seven decades after World War II. The deadline is March 15, so make sure your students submit their essays today!
The Echoes and Reflections workshop will take place at the Museum from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, and will feature the innovative multimedia classroom curriculum designed by the Anti-Defamation League, Shoah Foundation, and Yad VaShem. Register today!
Finally, the latest Calling All Teachers e-newsletter shine’s the spotlight on the Lend-Lease Act, which went into effect seventy-five years ago this month. Lend-Lease ramped up American involvement in World War II and the nation’s industrial output, lighting the path out of the Great Depression. You can find classroom resources to explore the United States’ transformation from an isolationist nation into the world’s greatest industrial power here.
Get in the Scrap! A service learning project for grades 4-8 about recycling and energy conservation
With winter comes snow and ice storms (as we saw last week), longer nights and shorter days, and evenings cozied up indoors. It’s also the season of the furnace or heater working overtime, long hot showers, and cold air seeping through cracked and old windows.
With chilly temperatures keeping us inside, it’s the perfect time for you and your students to be more aware of energy consumption and how we can all help promote efficiency and conservation. Here are some simple ways:
Sign up your classroom for Get in the Scrap!, the Museum’s service learning project for grades 4-8 about recycling and energy conservation. Your students have the power to affect positive change on the environment, much like students played a positive role on the Home Front by scrapping for victory in WWII. Here’s how it all works:
After signing up, your students complete a variety of activities in the project toolkit and the Museum will award them prizes for their efforts. There are a couple that are particularly timely for winter:
1. Your students can conduct an energy audit in their classroom and/or home. Time your morning shower, check how many old incandescent bulbs are in the space, count how many items are plugged in at one time. This will get them focused on a variety of simple ways they can start conserving energy. It’s the perfect activity when you’re stuck inside on a snow day!
2. Your class can design personalized switch plates to remind everyone to turn off the light when they are leaving the room. They can come up with their own effective slogan or eye-catching design to encourage people to flip the switch! Check out the neat design on the right from a Hamlin Academy student in Evergreen Park, Illinois.
These two projects alone are worth 16 points and set your students well on their way to their first prize (a cool recycle bin-shaped magnet for the fridge).
Get started with Get in the Scrap! today and make a difference in your school, home, community, and even the planet!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
Teachers– looking for the perfect New Year’s resolution for your students?
Sign up your class to Get in the Scrap! with The National WWII Museum. Inspired by the scrapping efforts of students during World War II, Get in the Scrap! is a national service learning project for students in grades 4-8 all about recycling and energy conservation. Your students have the power to affect positive change on the environment, much like students played a positive role on the Home Front in securing victory in WWII.
Find out how easy it is to participate by watching this video:
Choose from a variety of activities part of the project toolkit, that inspire good habits and environmental stewardship, and encourage teamwork, creativity and decision-making. The activities are designed to supplement your curriculum and can be completed throughout the school year. The Museum will send you a poster to keep track of the activities you complete. Share your progress and the Museum will send your students cool prizes! Whether your students are interested in history, math, writing, or art, there is an activity for them.
An elementary school students from Washington DC, happily scrapping old newspaper at her school.
Kids in chilly Chicago, Illinois gather scrap and deliver it to the Civilian Defense Headquarters.
Sort and Weigh-in: Elementary school children from Washington, D.C. weigh their scrap paper haul.
KTo get all of the country’s schools on board with scrapping, the government released this pamphlet- Get in the Scrap! It took a lot of planning and preparation to start a salvage program at schools and this guide helped teachers, school administrators, and students along the way.
Some of the most famous characters, from Disney, the Looney Tunes, and even super heroes straight out of the comic books participated in World War II. Short cartoons starring Bugs Bunny as an aviator, or comic book pages showing Superman deliver supplies to troops were commonplace. Here, Mickey Mouse and Pluto are encouraging everyone to Get in the Scrap and save critical materials.
Get in the Scrap! A service learning project for grades 4-8 about recycling and energy conservation
Join students and teachers around the nation and pledge to make a difference in your home, school, community, and even the planet! The Museum will recognize and share your efforts in a big way. Sign up your class today!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about oil, conserving fuel, and saving the planet in the news. People are beginning to buy more energy efficient cars, not only because they want to save fossil fuels, but also because it is much less expensive to conserve gasoline. Back during WWII, people conserved gasoline, but for different reasons.
Gasoline was necessary for our military to function properly during the War, so in May of 1942, 17 States began rationing gasoline in order to help the war effort. In December of 1942, President Roosevelt ordered that gasoline rationing be set in all 50 states. Gasoline rationing during WWII wasn’t all about gasoline, though. Rubber was perhaps the hottest commodity at the time, and the rationale behind gasoline rationing was to prevent Americans from needing more rubber tires—the less they drove, the less likely they would need new tires!
Beginning in May of 1942 and ending in August of 1945, a nationwide speed limit of 35 miles per hour was instated. The “Victory Speed” limit was instated in order to reduce gasoline and rubber consumption. The slower people drove, the less gas and rubber they would need. This nationwide speed limit was called “Victory Speed” in order to make Americans more accepting of a lower speed limit, as this speed limit was instated everywhere from big city streets to rural highways.
Dr. Seuss Cartoon from 1942.
In the cartoon (1942), Theodor Geisel depicts an American man driving carelessly and quickly, with a happy Hitler and Tojo in the back. The cartoon is critical of those who drive like this man. It implies that those who drive quickly have “gas and rubber to burn,” as if they were directly taking away from the American military’s supply and damaging the American war effort. This, in turn, would make the Germans and Japanese happy, as it gives them an advantage over the Americans.
Posted by Catherine Perrone, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at The National WWII Museum.
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
One of the most interesting themes that connect modern America with WWII-era America is conservation and rationing. While we currently are not involved in a total war, conservation and recycling has made a huge comeback in recent years. Composting, for example, is becoming more and more popular in homes across America.
Back during World War II, however, instead of using scraps and edible waste for growing more food and plants, people would collect their scraps and donate them to the war effort. One of the most popular programs was through the American Fat Salvage Committee, where recycled meat grease would be used to make explosives! In the words of Emril Lagasse, “Bam!”
Bacon grease is still amazingly versatile with many different edible and non-edible uses. For example, did you know that you can use bacon grease to start a campfire? You can also make candles and soap out of bacon grease as well! It even has medical purposes—you can use bacon grease to heal and soothe small cuts and remove splinters. Birds love bacon grease as well—mix some cooled grease up in some bird seed and they’ll be happily singing in no time.
In short, the next time you go camping, remember to pack some bacon so you can reuse your bacon grease!
Posted by Catherine Perrone, Education Intern and Lauren Handley, Assistant Director of Education for Public Programs at The National WWII Museum.
For the past few years, the Museum has collected World War II high school yearbooks from across the country. We now have one yearbook from almost every state telling the diverse stories of students on the Home Front during the wartime, all available online at ww2yearbooks.org. Some experiences of high school students from the war years don’t differ greatly from what we see today: prom, football games, after school clubs, extracurricular activities. However, there is a stark contrast in many of these yearbooks from current times, including how students’ lives were shaped by the war. In some cases, it chronicles stories of former classmates joining the military and serving oversees, in others, it shows Japanese American students forcibly leaving their school during the middle of the year, to be relocated to one of the internment camps through the American West and South for the remainder of the war.
Many schools also gathered hundreds of tons of scrap throughout the entire year. In the 1944 Daisy Chain yearbook from Waco High School in Waco, Texas, students were dedicated to the cause of scrapping, as evidenced by the 2-page spread cartoon showing students across the entire campus feverishly working toward this common goal. Check it out and answer the questions below:
Hard at work at Waco High School
What are some of the items they are collecting?
Where do you think all of that scrap material is going?
What other wartime activities do you notice in the cartoon?
What can this cartoon tell us about student life at Waco High School during the war?
Teachers, feel inspired by what you see?
Your students can make a difference like students growing up in WWII by joining our Get in the Scrap! service learning program. With the support of the Museum and an easy-to-implement project toolkit, your students can complete fun and simple conservation and recycling activities that can translate into big results. Your school can even earn prizes by completing as many activities as possible before the end of the school year. Participation is easy by signing up at getinthescrap.org. More details to come!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
“The boys and girls of America can perform a great patriotic service for their country by helping our National Salvage effort. Millions of young Americans, turning their energies to collecting all sorts of scrap metals, rubber, and rags, can help the tide in our ever-increasing war effort.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
Wanted for Victory: Waste paper, Old Rags, Scrap Metal, Old Rubber
During World War II, American students were encouraged to take a share in aiding the war effort. Whether rationing food in short supply, growing a Victory Garden in their backyards, buying war stamps with spare change, and even criss-crossing their towns and communities to collect scrap. To students today, some of these activities might appear a little strange on the surface — Why did you recycle bacon grease? What is a bond and how did it pay for the war? How could all of that metal junk be used? They can answer these questions by investigating primary source artifacts, to understand how students like them made a difference and to make connections with the past by seeing themselves in it.
One great artifact to demonstrate how the country truly relied on the efforts of students is the ‘Get in the Scrap’ school salvage plan. Opening with the remarks of President Roosevelt above and by calling students ‘America’s Junior Army’ reinforced that the efforts of kids and teens were essential. Students were apart of the “Third Front. . . whose chief duty is to comb the entire Nation for the scrap materials that are absolutely necessary to keep our factories running– absolutely necessary for Victory.”
The pamphlet outlines a detailed plan to get school districts, administrators, teachers, and students involved; each an important cog in the machine to collect millions of tons of scrap. It also displays handy diagrams on how small household goods can be transformed into necessary items for the war. Explore some pages of the pamphlet below:
1 old copper kettle will provide the copper required to produce 84 rounds of ammunition for an automatic rifle
Wanted for Victory: Waste paper, Old Rags, Scrap Metal, Old Rubber
Teachers, feel inspired by what you see?
Your students can make a difference like students growing up in WWII by joining our Get in the Scrap! service learning program. With the support of the Museum and an easy-to-implement project toolkit, your students can complete fun and simple conservation and recycling activities that can translate into big results. Your school can even earn prizes by completing as many activities as possible before the end of the school year. Participation is easy by signing up at getinthescrap.org. More details to come!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
This fall, the Museum is debuting a brand new student program in partnership with WYES-TV, an interactive Electronic Field Trip about the American Home Front. In “We’re All in this Together! How Students Like YOU Helped Win WWII,” students will be able to see themselves during this critical part of our history, forming important connections with the past.
Today’s students embark on a mission with Museum volunteers who were students during the war years as their trusty guides. Together, they explore the Museum and examine how even the youngest Americans made a difference in aiding the war effort. The war shaped their lives in fundamental ways—what they ate, how they dressed, what they read in their comic books, heard on the radio, and saw at the movies, and even what they learned and did in school. From collecting scrap, rationing, to growing Victory Gardens in their backyards, and buying war stamps with their allowance, even those who were too young to work or serve in the military certainly did their part.
We have been filming some segments in preparation for the live show later this fall all across the Museum. Marveling at materials needed to build tanks and planes in the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, learning the popular dance moves of the time from the Victory Belles, and discovering why some pennies were made out of steel during the war, are just a couple of the fun-filled moments we’ve captured so far.
Museum volunteer Jim Bryant and student actor Miguel marvel how 18 tons of scrap were needed to make the Sherman tank behind them.
Museum volunteer Joyce Dunn shares with student actor Chris how she rationed and conserved materials during the war.
Victory Belles Cristina, Shelbie, and Mandi, fresh off of their performance of "America's Wartime Sweethearts: A Tribute to the Andrews Sisters" chat with student actress Caroline and Museum volunteer Sylvia Murphy about WWII entertainment.
Teachers, mark your calendars! The live show, which you can view right from your classroom computer, will launch on Wednesday, November 4th. If your students feel inspired by what they see in the Electronic Field Trip, your classroom can sign up for the Museum’s service learning project, Get in the Scrap! With the support of the Museum and an easy-to-follow project toolkit, your classroom can be a part of this national recycling and conservation effort, and even earn cool prizes.
Stay tuned–many more details to come!
Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator
Home Front Friday is a regular series that highlights the can do spirit on the Home Front during World War II and illustrates how that spirit is still alive today!
That spirit can be replicated today. In the last Home Front Friday blog entry, we featured embroidery as a travel souvenir and a useful skill. The pillowcases pictured have now been turned into dresses, much like Mr. Mipro’s mother did with the chicken sack dresses for her baby.
Here are step by step instructions for turning something in storage into a handcrafted item (the image gallery has each step pictured):
Step One: Find a pillowcase
Step Two: Cut it to size
General shape – find a dress that currently fits the eventual wearer and add two inches for hem allowance. Or you can measure from collarbone to desired length on the child and add two inches. Finally, a typical toddler dress (2T/3T) is about 22 inches, so cut 24 inches up from the bottom of the pillowcase.
Armhole – cut about 4 inches in and 6 inches down.
Step Three: Sew it up – sew the arms first. Press 1/4 inch and 1/4 inch again, then sew. Finish the top by pressing 1/4 inch and then approximately 1 inch (wide enough for your ribbon to fit) and sew it close to the edge.
Step Four: Finish it – pull your ribbon through with a safety pin. You can sew a line in the middle of each ribbon to hold it in place.
Step Five: Put it on your toddler (don’t know a toddler? There are a couple of crafty projects out there that send pillowcase dresses to little girls around the world. Send your creation to someone who needs it.)
Step One
Step Two
Step Three
Step Four
Step Five
Posted by Lauren Handley, Education Programs Coordinator at The National WWII Museum.
On January 7, 1943, it was a big day for Delta Shipbuilding Co. They launched the Liberty Ship, SS Leonidas Polk and received the Maritime Commission’s “M” pennant for outstanding achievement in production.
The National WWII Museum holds a unique item related to this event—the scrapbook of a six year old boy, Billy Michal. Billy and two other rural Louisiana schoolchildren were chosen to attend the launch in New Orleans as representatives of the winning schools in a statewide per-capita school scrap contest sponsored by the local newspaper. The children were all selected for the trip by their classmates. Billy’s entire one-room schoolhouse in Zimmerman, Louisiana numbered twelve children in all. The three children chosen for the trip, all traveling to New Orleans for the first time, were treated to an “inspection tour” of the city in a jeep, which included a stop at the Audubon Zoo and a luncheon at the Delta plant where they were shown how Liberty ships were constructed. Billy’s mother assembled mementos from this trip in a scrapbook, donated to the Museum by Mr. Michal in 2002.
All images: Gift of Dr. Billy Michal, 2002.479
Billy Michal (foreground) looks on as Mrs. Gerhauser, wife of Delta President, chistens the Liberty ship.
The cover of Billy Michal's scrapbook
Six year old Billy Michal and his fellow champions on a jeep tour of New Orleans
Billy Michal in front of his school in Zimmerman
Letter from Sam Jones, Governor of Louisiana, to Billy Michal
