Zack Edwards

Everyone,
Question for you. What is one big thing that homeschoolers have against public schools??? That it is failing our students. Who is behind this failure? Hint: It is not the teacher’s fault. There are some bad actors that have done this to the education system, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and others. So, let us go a little bit deeper.

Let us review what has happened to the education system in the past 20 years. 1) In 2001, the federal government passed No Child Left Behind, creating standardized testing for K-12 schools. Though this may have had good intentions, it had adverse results. Schools automatically began focusing on memorizing what these assessments would test, instead of teaching the actual subjects. They focused on the tests because their funding was attached to it. The main education company, providing the tests, was also providing the curriculum to answer the tests. Because they focused on Standardized testing, they began over-emphasizing the three subjects that were to be tested consistently: Math, English, and Science. While studies of these three subjects increased, schools began to deemphasize social studies. 2) In 2010, Common Core was developed by the federal government in a joint effort with organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, to help standardize learning across the country. This has upset over half of the country, yet only 11 states have designed their own standards. Even though the federal government and non-profits used their powers to direct the education system, what are the results:

• Students in the public schools have progressed 0% in their academic record, according to NAEP’s National Report Card.
• Students have reached their lowest scores since 1994 in history, according to the NAEP’s National Report Card on History.
• Students’ literacy level continues to decrease to an all time low around the U.S.
• The world is exploding in ignorance, in the subject of social studies, and everyone is in some way affected. Young people are not being taught to develop and use their critical thinking skills.

I wish the bad news stopped there. According to Fortune Magazine, and even the Washington Post, the one company who has had their hands in both horrible regulations was the United Kingdom’s own Pearson Education. They were around to help develop No Child Left Behind with George W. Bush and were well paid as their sales increasing by over 175% in the United States (according to Fortune magazine’s article “Everybody Hates Pearson”). They also worked hand in hand with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop Common Core and then tried to hide it. Bill Gates let it slip in a Washington Post interview. He claimed that they are worked together on other projects but would not divulge which projects. In return for their cooperation, Pearson Education earns $7 Billion in US curriculum sales every year – remember they are based in the United Kingdom – while their next closest competitor, a U.S. based company is earning only $2 billion in revenue in the U.S. Thanks to Common Core, Pearson now only needs to design one test per subject and modifying it slightly to fulfil the needs of 39 Common Core states. The Texas state government just paid Pearson over $126 million this year alone on standardized testing, not counting the individual curriculum sales they make to individual districts and schools, preparing the paying district’s students to pass their tests.

Recently, Pearson (UK) has changed their educational policies in designing curriculum to comply with Chinese standards and pandering to their demands to sell to the Chinese market. They also have released editorial guidelines in a recent press release that will advance the company’s commitment to fighting systematic racism in education and report more on race, gender, sexual orientation, social classes, and religion. So now their curriculum will be more in tune with current trends and certain agendas. They also mentioned how their previously written curriculum was systematically racist and that they need to make changes to address the current trends in society.

If you have been with Historical Conquest over the past 7 years, you would know that we have always promoted minorities, and those not regularly represented in history, in our games and curriculum. We never pandered to any political or government entity and we treat everyone as equals without needing political pressure to fulfill someone else agenda, whether foreign or domestic. We plan to keep this high standard of teaching history without a lens or biases. While companies like Pearson confessed to their own maleficence. The question is, who is controlling what is being taught in U.S. history class in public schools?

Now, why are we telling you all this. We are planning to compete against the behemoth Pearson Education and those who were instrumental in the development of Standardized Testing and Common Core. Zack Edwards, founder of Historical Conquest, was warned by his business mentors that if he goes down the road of using investors, that he will lose the majority control of his company; potentially being forced to become another Pearson, making lots of money, but losing their mission to teach pure unbiased history without a lens pressured by investor, political, and government agendas.

For this reason, we have come to all of you, our loyal fans and supporters, to ask for some help as we finalize our software and continue with the creation of our units. Now, we are not asking for anything big, but a $5 or $10 subscription to our website as we raise financing to fund our historians, finish our gaming portal, and prepare our curriculum. This year we will be releasing our entire American History curriculum from Mesoamerican and Native American history, through the American Revolution, Civil War, and Civil Rights, to the Cold War and recent U.S. history. Though our last programmer – who was developing the digital version of Historical Conquest – burned out, we have found someone to take over and finalize HC Digital, as well as our second game Timeline Conquest and our gaming portal, which allows for Stealth Testing (ST).  ST basically means testing while playing a video game. This is the newest and truest way to test students without the anxiety and stress of taking a test.

So, by August, with your help, we will have both Historical Conquest and Timeline Conquest up and running, our American History curriculum available and our newest promotion and a new way to get the word out, a national history podcast, which will be premiered within the next two weeks and new episodes produced weekly, starting with Mesoamerica and teaching throughout U.S. history. We are producing it as we speak. You will be the first to hear it here on this newsletter; so, please stay tuned.

With your help we believe we can get the United States to be the leader in History curriculum development and bring control back to the American public and not government or foreign entities.

• https://fortune.com/2015/01/21/everybody-hates-pearson/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bill-gates-pulled-off-the-swift-common-core-revolution/2014/06/07/a830e32e-ec34-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/09/23/common-core-the-gift-that-pearson-counts-on-to-keep-giving/
• https://www.philanthropydaily.com/gates-philanthropy-failure-common-core/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/07/12/how-microsoft-will-make-money-from-common-core-despite-what-bill-gates-said/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bill-gates-pulled-off-the-swift-common-core-revolution/2014/06/07/a830e32e-ec34-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html

This week-long activity is best used at the beginning of the school year, or the end of the school year. Here, you will be teaching your students about how history builds upon itself. In other words, every event and person was influenced by some other event or person before them, and those events were affected by other events before them. The same goes with looking forward to history. This will help them build their critical thinking skills and will allow them to understand the background behind larger events in history. Now imagine you are in a classroom and about to teach this lesson:

5 minutes later – How many of you know what genealogy is? It is the study of our ancestors and how they are related to us. If you have seen this before, it is called a family tree or a pedigree chart. It shows the relationship between you and your relatives. I am related to my parents; they are related to their parents, and so on.

Now, if you are the center of your family tree, you would write down your parents, their parents, and each of their parents, until it looks like a large tree of all your ancestors. You know, let us do this as an activity.

Let us begin by filling out this chart in class. Place your name in the rectangle marked “You.” Now, write in the next two rectangles – your mom’s name and your dad’s name. If you do not know either one, that is okay. That may be something to ask your parent. Now, how many of you know your grandparents actual name, and not just ‘grandma’ or ‘grandpa’? Write those down. Now put these in your journal, and work on them at home.

Preview: Tomorrow we will explore the part of history you really like, and let you take it in the direction you want to study it.

Day 2 – History Pedigree Chart: Consider what you did last night. Please bring out your Family Trees and take a look at them. You came from your parents, each of them came from their parents, and so forth. Now, take out your journal. What was the one thing you liked learning about in history class? What was the one example of the type of event, of which you wrote down? Now, you can take a second, and if you thought of a better example and want to change it, you can. Take a second pedigree chart, and write in the “You” rectangle the name of that one event you liked. Now, under the Mother and Father section, write in something that influenced the individual, object, discovery, or event that possibly caused this event to happen, or make that person great. Write it in the pedigree chart. What made them do what they did; what caused this event to happen? You do not have to be right, because you don’t know what they were thinking (unless they wrote that in a journal), but surmise why it happened, from the events leading up to it. If you struggle, try using an earlier person, invention, or event that caused the original event. This time, you need to study up and find out how each of these occurred. I will grade them accordingly. As I am reviewing them, I will make notes of other things that may have occurred, if I know of any.

Activity #2: Tonight’s homework is to fill all these boxes. Hint: Red flags will go off if the events are not in chronological order, or they do not flow within a timeline. Please take your time and put a little research into what caused each of these events, so we can learn how cause and effect influences history.

Next, I want you to study the first rectangle, the “You” rectangle, and tell us what happened to make it significant. Please write this in your journal on the next page, titled “Day 2.” I want you to learn more about this one event, and become a mini-expert on that one event. We will talk about it tomorrow.

Now when did these occur? Or, if a person, that significant event in that person’s life that took place, or person in their life, which influenced what they did. Find out what you can do to learn about that event, and why that occurred. 

Preview: Tonight, work on this history pedigree chart, and how history built on itself. Tomorrow, we will learn more about the events that you wrote into the parent column of the pedigree chart. We want to know a little more on how they influenced your topic to happen. 

The activity tomorrow will be the creation of another pedigree chart, and looking forward in history to what this caused to happen, learning about topics that influenced our initial event or person, and then we will build on that, going forward in history. We need to find out what was influenced by this one event we chose. How did it affect the entire world and the history that transpired? 

Day 3 – Cause and Effect Day: I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s activity. Now it is time to report back. We will take 2 minutes per student to discover more about this event. The student with the earliest event in history will start first. Okay, whose event was that. 

Figure out whose event was first, by having everyone return their History Pedigree Chart (HPC) and placing them on your desk in order. Then, as the presenter comes up, they can grab their HPC and present their one event, and how it was influenced by those they wrote down. Make a list of the order they presented, so they may present again tomorrow.

Future Group Discussion: After presenting, and while the students are starting their next activity, list your students in groups of similar themes or events that lined up with other events. This will be for tomorrow’s assignment.

Journal Entry: I would like each of you to report, in your journal – titled “Day 3” – how your chosen event was influenced by an early historic event. What do you know about the two events, and how they worked together, or why they caused your event to happen. Think deep into how one event influences another event to occur. Now research the event that occurred after your chosen event, why it was important, and how it was influenced by your event and/or the next event in the pedigree chart.

Activity: Now reverse the Pedigree chart. Where did this event lead? Take your chosen event forward in time and see if there are events, inventions, or people influenced, because of this event. Find out who, and what, was influenced because of this happening. List as many as you can find. Hint: You should be able to fill out this pedigree chart.

Take one of the lines and write up a summary, in your journal, on how the original event caused another event to happen, then the next event in the line, and another event, and then, the final event. How did one event help form a more recent event? 

Preview: Tomorrow, you will be able to choose an alternative reality, and figure out what would have happened if the event ended differently. How would the world have changed if that event ended differently? Would it have been the end of the world? Would someone else end up resolving the conflict? Would anyone have noticed? What do you think?

Day 4 – Alternative Reality: I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s activity! Now it is time to report back. We will take 2 minutes, per student, to discover more about your original event, moving forward in history. Okay, whose event was first (Since, yesterday, you learned the order of events and made a list of the order of student presentations)? Now have them report again in the same order. Have them share how each of their events lined up. Were there any that listed each other’s events in their Historical Pedigree Chart? Consider lining those presentations together, and have them presented one after another. 

Activity #4: Today you will reach a little deeper into your thinking. We want you to take your original event and create an alternative reality with it. This is how things could have turned out, if things had gone differently. On a fourth pedigree chart, I would like you to write multiple scenarios that may have occurred, if things had gone different in the original event. 

Journal Entry: Now in your journal, in a new page, titled “Day 4,” I would like you to write down the original event that occurred, and how it would have influenced a change in the timeline. Use what you found in the last History Family Tree, and find out how it would have changed that timeline. What did you find out about the timeline, and what did you learn about yourself? How do you believe those would have affected the world?

Group Discussion: Group those students with similar events together,  to discuss possible outcomes that could have happened in each of their scenarios. This is a group activity, to help each student consider how the world would have changed if their event had ended differently.

This is only an example of how the world is globally connected, and how events spur other events to occur, to the eventual outcome that we have today.  If your original event had changed, how would it have changed the world, in any specific way?  

Preview: Tomorrow, we will talk about what you want your history to look like, and focus on a boy who was picked on in school, and yet, become the wealthiest man in the world.

Day 5 – Your Future Career: I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s activity. Now it is time to report back. We will take 2 minutes, per student, to discover more about what would have happened if your original event had a different outcome, looking forward into history, as it may have been. Okay, whose event was last? 

Since you made a list of the order of student presentations, you can reverse the order. Now have them report again, with the last being first. Have them share how each of their events lined up. Were there any that listed each other’s events in their Historical Pedigree Chart? Again, have those with similar events present after each other.

Journal Entry: Now, please write down in your journal, on a new page, titled “Day 5,” what five careers you would be happy with, in the future. Then list, out of those five careers, which one you would really like to have. What are the 5 reasons you want that specific career? Then ask 5 questions you would have about that career. Please take 10 minutes to fill out your journal today.

Activity: Today’s activity, your fifth pedigree chart, will be to map out your future career. I want you to list what you would like to do in the future, specifically your career. What career would you like to have in the future? Pick one. Now that you have picked just one career, write “education requirements” in the mother’s rectangle and “experience required” in the father’s rectangle. Map what it would take for you to reach that education and experience level. We want to know, step by step, what it takes to get the career you so desire. There will be more requirements than can fit on the pedigree chart, but simply focus on the ones that are the most important. You will need to research the requirements you may have.

Preview: Tomorrow will be the last step of this adventure. I hope you enjoyed it! We will be talking about where you want to see your life going and how you will get there. I know you will enjoy this one.

Day #6: I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s activity. Now it is time to report back. We will take 2 minutes, per student, to discover more about what career you want to have and what it would take with your education and experience to reach it. What did you find out about this career? Remember from our story about Elon Musk, how anyone can reach their dreams if they put their mind to it. So, I expect everyone to be respectful to everyone’s dreams. You never know, the one you tease may the person you come to, later in your life, for a job. 

Now that it does not matter the order of the students and who presents first ask those that presented in the middle to present first. You want them to present their careers first.

Group Discussion: Group the same students together as the days prior and ask them to discuss different careers they are interested in pursuing. Have their group ask questions about their desired careers and see if there are other thoughts their classmates can come up with. They may have some great insight into each potential career.

Journal: Write in your journal, on a new page, titled “Day 6”, about the career you would like to take. Answer these two questions: 1) what may stand in your way from obtaining your goal? 2) What can you do that will keep those obstacles from stopping you from obtaining your goals? Pick potential scenarios that may get in your way and see how planning ahead could stop that opposition, before it even happens.

Activity: This next activity will not be presented to your classmates. Today’s activity is your personal treasure map. This is how you see your future looking. This will be your sixth and final pedigree chart, and you are to map out your future. This time it will be from the perspective of you living your life. You can map out what will happen with you in the future, if you take one path, or if you take another path. Pick different paths you may want to follow into the future. Take the rest of the class time to map out different scenarios. This is too personal to share with the rest of the class. If you need multiple pedigree charts, please ask.

Example: Give the students your life, as an example, and what you have experienced, what could have happened if you took a different path in your life, or moving forward some of the paths you could take that could change your life. Take time before class to design this chart for yourself. Anything that is too personal leave out; only map out thoughts that you want to share. 

I hope you enjoyed this activity, and everything you learned about cause and effect in history – and how one decision or event can change the world forever. Likewise, in your own life, a decision you make can make a great difference in your future, and you can plan for things that may try to send you off course. You control your own future, and how you will react to opposition.

STUDENT MARKETPLACE: A REAL-LIFE VIDEO GAME SIMULATION

Time for another Real-Life Video Game activity, for face-to-face or virtual classroom, provided by Historical Conquest and their digital curriculum, www.HuntThePast.com. Now that testing is coming to an end, it is time to have some extra fun with your students! This is mainly for use in Elementary and Middle School, this time, but may also be modified for High Schoolers (we provide this modification in our full curriculum access). This game includes a cross curriculum of different subjects, such as English, Math, Social Studies, Business, and Diversity Studies. I know you will enjoy this one.

Day #1 – Dream Stage: A product is something of substance that is manufactured, assembled, or refined for sale. In this activity, the student will be able to run their own business and see how people respond to it. First, have the student consider what they like to do, or make. Are you into video games, or beauty supplies? Encourage them to think about what they like to do and want to do. This is important in life,  to think about what you want and like to do, so you can enjoy it for a long time.

Assignment #1a: Write in your journal what you like to do. What are your hobbies, what are your desires as you get older? What great idea would you like to make? There are no limits – imagine all the possibilities! If you’d like, draw a picture to go along with it. (3-4 lines)

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Assignment #1b: Write in your journal what you think others would like to buy – something that you can make. What items do you think would your classmates buy, if they had the money to spend? (3-4 lines)

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Now, let’s design your product(s). Think of something you can create in your classroom. This can be a product, decoration, or anything that is simple enough to recreate, and does not take too long to produce many units. You will then present it to other students in your classroom, and see if they would be interested in buying them. When considering what to make, think about what your other classmates would purchase, and for how much. Keep the price under $10. They will be given fake money to spend, and you will see how well they like it. After the results come out, you will then present them to another classroom and see if they would buy this craft/project. This project can be done through virtual or face-to-face interaction (more on this later on).

Here are just a few ideas:

Assignment #2: Draw a design and write the steps it would take to make this item, so that if you couldn’t do it, someone could follow your steps and make their own. Make sure to include a list of the items you would need to buy to make it (one full page of drawing or writing).

Take your time to consider each of these options, or find another craft that you can make that your classmates would be interested in buying.

Day #2 – Idea Development (Prototyping, Phase I): At the beginning of class, all students should return their journals, reporting back what they want to make, to sell to other students. Find two people with similar crafts and team them for this project. If there are two whose projects are not similar, see if you can team them up and they can choose one of their two ideas to produce.

Assignment #3: In your journal, write a one-page summary of who this person was; why they were so well known (or what they are known for); and what they were able to accomplish.

While you are helping other students, tell the kids to consider different alterations they can make to their designs, to make them more attractive to their buyers. For instance, with a hair clip, you don’t want to sell just one, but list a few options in your journal. Maybe add a picture to spark your creative side and discover all new hair clips. How about puffball monsters? How can you make alterations that would sell? Maybe design them to look like Disney characters or Minions – yellow with one eye – which will bring more interest from classmates who like those shows.

Assignment #4a: What would the buyers (classmates) pay to obtain these items you designed? When we get to this point, each student will receive a sheet of paper of fake money. They will need to cut each dollar out and use them to buy one or more items from their classmates. They may only charge $1 to $9 for each of their items.  Students will need to write out how much they will charge each student, and why they think their items are worth that much.

Assignment #4b: Now that your students know what they will be creating, they need to figure out how to obtain these materials to make them. Have them make a list of materials.

After these shopping lists are completed, have your students sit down while you present Amazon.com or Walmart.com through the projector, and search out a few of their items. You should only need a few of each item for this prototype stage. Also, recommend students make a few variations of their product in case one would be more acceptable to the buyers than the original.

Assignment #5: Since you do not want your students spending their own money, and you may not want to spend your money to buy these materials, it is time for the students to ask an investor. They should start by thinking of their parents, then a family friend; if they are unable to find one on their own, try someone that you know that may want to help. To obtain these materials or this money, the students need to write a personalized letter to someone, asking them for the materials they need, or the money to make the purchase. There are three options that you can suggest, to include in their letter explaining this program to the investors. 

1. Providing the materials needed by ordering them online and having them shipped to your school c/o your name;
2. Have them purchase part of the order and send them with their student; or
3. Provide the funding for you to purchase the materials.

However you decide to do it, this normally takes a good amount of time, depending on the materials. Hand delivering it would be the best option. If this is requested on a Wednesday or Thursday, the hope is that the materials will be there by Monday, which will give you time to complete the other assignments before crafting the product.

Day #3 – Prototyping Stage (Speech and Art Class Cross Curricula): In the first half of the class period, have the teams present their study on people from history. Allow them each 1-2 minutes to discuss this person. Allow them to use their laptop or tablet to present the person’s image to the class. At the end of the presentation, start a discussion about each of these people and how they made a difference in their own life, and the lives of others. 

Assignment #6: In the second half of the class period, see if they can build a working prototype of their product. Even though your students do not have the materials to make multiple products, the hope is that you could gather the materials that would allow them to create their first working prototype, or even a few alterations. 

Walk around the class and see how you can help them. Tell them that the next time you meet, they will be presenting the items to their classmates, who will have the chance to buy them.

Day #4 – Scientific Method (Science): Now that your students are excited to start building their little creations, it is time to teach your students a little science, through the Scientific Method (SM) of discovery. Here are the steps you could write up on the board, which they should add to their journal as they are writing.

 1. Ask Questions – List 5 questions about your product and the potential customers it will attract.

1. Question 1: ______________________________________________________________
2. Question 2: ______________________________________________________________
3. Question 3: ______________________________________________________________
4. Question 4: ______________________________________________________________
5. Question 5: ______________________________________________________________

2. Research – Are there products sold today like yours that are successful, or are competitors? (What competitors do you have and how were they successful? What makes them different? Find one competitor and write a one-page journal entry on what it is and how they are different.

3. Hypothesis – Think of what you believe to be true about your product and future sales.

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You are here in the process. Tomorrow you will experience the “Experiment” phase, and then future steps.

4. Experiment – In-class marketplace to experiment the interest other students may have.

5. Analyze Data – Was your hypothesis correct, or were you off in some way? What happened?

6. Accepted – If your hypothesis was correct, keep it, and move forward with sales.

7. Rejected – If your hypothesis was incorrect, make alterations, and try again!

Teams will create a unified Hypothesis they agree on, but each student should keep this in their journal.

Day #5 – Research and Development (Speech and Financial Education Cross Curricula): Today is the first day of the marketplace. You want your students to test their idea with other classmates, and see if they are interested and will buy. The first half of the class will finish their projects and prepare to present them to those in their class. The idea is, that each team will have 3-5 minutes to present and talk about their product, and how it will change the buyer’s life.

Before the presentations, pass out a worksheet that lists the items that are for sale, including their prices. Each student is told that they have $10 to spend on these items. They must spend it all. They will receive each of the items in return, when the class builds the products. If they have money left over, it is lost. This will spur a student to use up all their money and receive, in return, the items they want the most, giving a realistic perspective of what may sell. Students may not buy their own product. While the teams are presenting, have the students fill out a line of insight (suggestions and helpful critiques) about the product each team is presenting, as seen below. The critiques will give feedback to the students and the items purchased will allow the students to know how successful they were in pricing the item,  and what can be changed before selling it to another class within the school.

1. Corner Mark Monsters – How many units do you want to buy: ________________________

     Comments on the Products: ____________________________________________________

This insight for each of the projects will provide the team with more understanding of their SM experiment. Students may then take this information and analyze whether their product is ready for the marketplace. Each student will be able to meet as a team to discuss this, but should fill out their own journal with any insight they may have. 

This is a great time to discuss with them the value of money, and how to spend it wisely.  

These products will be built when the other class comes through and all purchases are made.

You will take these student surveys from the students and form them into a single report, to present each team. From this report, you may also consider telling the class who made the most sales and the team that made the most money. You also need to provide each team with any critiques that were given.

This report should be simple and include: the number of units that were sold, for what price, and the comments that were made on each of the forms. The students who wrote them are not to be divulged, to keep bullying or any type of intimidation away. All comments will be viewed and vetted by the teacher.

Consideration: If no one buys a product, this may be a good time to meet with the team and look at the critiques that were given. These will tell a better story of what people were looking for, and why they wouldn’t buy the product. Allow the students to consider alterations, substitutions, or even lowering the price.

Day #6 – Manufacturing (Math Cross Curricula):  Students should estimate how many items will be needed to produce, when selling it to another classroom. Each student can take the number of students who bought their product in their room, and then add a safe quantity to the number of students in that classroom. Will they need more or will they need less? You decide, but you want to have the crafts on hand when the student comes to buy. People rather buy something that is on-hand rather than something backordered.

Assignment #7: Create a worksheet with help from their Math teacher, or design it yourself. You want them to see how Math can find its way into their products. Include questions such as these:

1. Ten units of your product were sold in your classroom of 20 students. The next class to visit will have one half more students in attendance. Of this amount of information, how many products do you think this next class will buy, if they buy at the same rate as your class? Hint: For every two students in your class, one item was purchased.
2. ______ units (actual numbers from the classroom marketplace) of your product were sold in your classroom of ______ students. The next class to visit will have ______ students attending this marketplace. How many units do you think you will sell to this next classroom?
3. If you are to make 20 units for the marketplace and you need two eyeballs for each creature craft you are making, how many eyeballs will you need? How many feet will you need, if you need two per unit?
4. If you are to make ______ (how many units did you choose to make) units for the marketplace and you need ______ of Material A, ______ of Material B, and ______ of Material C, how many of each of these items will you need to make these units? Fill out the table below:

5. In the critiques by fellow classmates, did they have alternative options for their classmate’s products? What were they? List them above.

6. What if the world stopped producing Product A and Product C? What alterations could you make, and what materials would you use in their place? Would these items be a better seller than your original idea?

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7. Would you spend more money on materials if you were to create your product twice the size? What materials would you need more of (list the Material you must buy more of)? Would you be able to charge more for these larger items?

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Day #7 – Manufacturing: With all the supplies arriving, provided by those who can afford the donations, it is time to build your crafts. Each student has a number they have estimated will be the number they need. The classroom can be a factory floor, and each of the students today are factory workers, building their own crafts. When they complete their entire order, they can join up with their classmates and help with their crafts. Today, the entire class will be used for creating your products and making them presentable. This can take more than one day, but all products that are estimated should be complete before the day that is set up for the next class to come in and make their purchases.

Day #8 – Marketplace: It is now time to invite the other class to visit your physical or virtual classroom. Before they attend, provide the teacher with one sheet of play dollars for their students to cut out and provide to the merchants (your students). The sheet will be provided and contain ten $1 bills. Each buyer (their student) may visit a booth and purchase an item for the set price of the item. The students may walk away from the table with the craft that they purchased.  If COVID is still a worry, then instead of using the play money that will be passed around, feel free to give them all a student survey (as you did with the classroom marketplace) and allow them to mark down the items they want, with their names on the papers. These crafts will be collected and stored for two weeks, and then passed out to the buyers’ classroom for them to collect their items.

When the marketplace is finished and the class is sitting back down, allow the students to count their money and write about the experience in their journal. Have them write a summary of what happened, how many orders they had, and what they have learned. If they believe that they sold the wrong type of item, have them list other types of items they think they should change their business plan to include. This is a learning experience for all – those who sold a “ton,” and those who were not as successful. Make sure to encourage your students that businesses fail all the time, but those that get back on their feet will be the ones that succeed. Perseverance is key!

Alternative Ending to this Activity: In the future, we will be creating a marketplace so the top selling craft from each class that participates will be able to sell on the worldwide web, and use this project as a fundraiser. Their class will compete against classes from around the United States for the greatest products and the greatest interest from real paying customers. The cash can be used by the PTA or the school directly, depending on who is coordinating the efforts.

Real Life Video Games (Activities for Both the Classroom or over Zoom) – Medieval Times

In the past, we wrote an article about teaching History in a remote environment, and gave a few ideas of longer projects to use in a Zoom type setting. Today I wanted to share with you how to gamify your classroom, in a way that will teach your students about living in any time period, as well as how these types of activities can now be used in any setting – whether face to face or virtual. 

Receive a premade packet of this, and many more activities, when you buy a Classroom Membership to www.HuntThePast.com History Curriculum.

INTRODUCTION TO REAL LIFE VIDEO GAMES – “What if you lived back then?” 

This is a simple assignment that makes learning different periods of time fun, whether teaching face to face, or remotely. This activity works with any time period, but for this example, we will show you a large class project that will help the students learn about the middle ages and the Feudal System, on a Social and Emotional Level, using Bloom’s Taxonomy. In this assignment, your class will be creating a community, during the time of William the Conqueror. This is perfect for a class of around 30 students. After this example, we will show you different eras in which you can apply this activity.

INSTRUCTIONS: In this ongoing assignment, taking approximately 7 days (but could probably be shortened to 5, if you wanted), your students will learn and remember what they need to know about life in the middle ages. Then, each time they read a unit about this era, they will have something to compare it to. In addition to a lesson each day, they will receive a new assignment (5-7 for each student). 

Day #1: Students will receive an introduction to medieval life, speaking mostly on the feudal system. They will be introduced to the different roles that were lived during the time of William the Conqueror. See Assignment #1: Draw a map representing the Feudal System and the different classes of people.  With that map, they should also return to you what three positions they would like to serve in the feudal system, written on the back. Make sure they know that they may receive a position they did not ask for, but that you will be doing another assignment like this, and can help them get the position they want in the next assignment.

Assignment #1 – Which position would you like in this assignment? All will have a chance to choose a position in one of our programs. To earn your position, you must design a map, to explain the different levels in the Feudal System. He who has the best presentation will have their first pick of position, whichever one you choose. The king is not always the most sought-after position, so the greatest map may not be the king. You may also want the King’s position, but this role is the hardest, with the hardest decisions; everything relies on this role. The queen is much the same way, having separate responsibilities, but is still the second most stressful position.

Those that do not make it within their top three choices, take down their names for special consideration for the next Real Life Video Game. Write on the back or circle the position they are being awarded, and tell them which of the three cities they will be assigned: 

Positions:  In a class of 30, you want each student to feel that they live within this certain time. We need a King (1), Queen (1), Nobles (3), Knights (3) / Vassals (3), Soldiers (3), Farmers (3), Merchants (2), Carpenters (3), Blacksmiths (3), Peasants (3), Serfs (3), and Beggars (whoever is left).

Day #3: Give the student their maps back, with the position they have been awarded. Give them their role in society as listed below. 

Assigned Position:
King, your job is to keep your kingdom safe (Knights) and the economy prospering (Vassals);
Queen, your job is to keep the Morale of the citizen’s high and keep the citizens healthy;
Nobles, your job is to counsel the king or queen (your choice) and keep them to their goals;
Knights, your job is to keep the kingdom safe and to watch the surrounding kingdoms for threats;
Vassals, you are to support and counsel the knights and distribute the land to farmers/peasants/serfs;
Soldiers, you are to support the Knights and take their orders. You need to be well armed;
Farmers, you borrow land from the Vassals and grow food on them, the Kingdom, then your families;
Merchants, you buy from the farmers and sell to foreign countries, other traders, peasants, and serfs.
Carpenters, you build and repair the infrastructure throughout the kingdom and for the soldiers;
Blacksmiths, you make metal into tools and weapons – everything from the horseshoes to swords;
Peasants, you are low social class farmers, renting and farm small plots of land, paying rent and taxes;
Serfs (find a trade), you are the underlings, or slaves, of those above you, and help trades succeed; and
Beggars and the ill, the poorest of the poor. Some are serfs, if they work, others are even below them.

Have them begin researching these positions and give them their second Real-Life Assignment. 

Assignment #3 – Which famous person, in history, was in your position? Write a one-page, twelve font essay about this person, who was also in your position. They should have lived near the time of William the Conqueror (1,000-1,400AD). What did they do, how did they do it, and why did they do it? Each student will give a 2-minute summary of their research, during the next four days in class. Tomorrow, every student will begin this presentation process, finding someone of notoriety during that time, and then report on both their position in the feudal system and what that person did.

Mini-Activity #1 – Message to the King, Queen, and Nobles: there are different issues happening in your kingdom. Not all are good. How do you want to solve these? Here they are, per city: 

Day #5:  Presentations are completed. Take the first five minutes for the city members to discuss their ideas. Remember that the Vassal gets the final say in the Estate. Each estate will present for 2 minutes, in front of the class. Then the Vassal will speak. Their job is to ask another city to help them, or to make a deal with them. They will then have 2 minutes for other estates to ask questions and offer a solution. The King takes this discussion time to listen to the Estates, and counsel with his Queen and Nobles. His group will then speak and try to resolve these issues at hand. He will also take some of the goods to feed his family and nobles. He may override your deals, or may rule that something will be done. This final judgment will be law. Now, to the next Life Assignment: Year #2. Give these to the King to pass out to everyone, through his Vassals, who will visit after the first five minutes.

Day #6:  Take the first five minutes for the city members to discuss their ideas. Remember that the Vassal gets the final say in the Estate. Each estate will present for 2 minutes, in front of the class. Then the Vassal will speak. Their job is to ask another city to help them, or to make a deal with them. They will then have 2 minutes for other estates to ask questions and offer a solution. The King takes this discussion time to listen to the Estates, and counsel with his Queen and Nobles. His group will then speak and try to resolve these issues at hand. He will also take some of the goods to feed his family and nobles. He may override your deals, or may rule that something will be done. This final judgment will be law. Now, to the next Life Assignment: Year #3. Give these to the King to pass out to everyone, through his Vassals, who will visit after the first five minutes.

Day #7: The kingdom’s issues are resolved, and the positions are released. Now everyone is equal again. Start a classroom discussion over what they learned from this activity. Find out if they believe they came up with the best choices, or if they could have done something better to resolve the issues of the kingdom. To end their journal, ask them to write another half to one-page journal entry on what they learned, and in this final scenario, what the best way to resolve the issues would be (Assignment #7).

More materials will be made available with the purchase of our entire system, available at www.HuntThePast.com. If you have any questions about our program, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly, by replying to this email, or contacting our Sales Manager, Jenn: jennifer@huntthepast.com. 

Everyone,

Do your students struggle with reading? Can they even read? Introducing our text to speech program, now enhanced. Developed by teachers who work with students who struggle with reading. This program does not only help those who struggle with reading but finally a product is released that can help SPED students learn history in a way they will enjoy. 

We don’t want to spoil the surprise but this program will be released very soon with the additional funding we hope to receive from the Department of Education. This feature is revolutionary and will change textbooks and all digital curriculums forever. Hold tight and keep checking as we reveal more about this revolutionary new product as we get closer. 

We can’t wait to share it with you and your students.

Sincerely,

Zack Edwards

What in the world?… It makes sense and you will always remember it.

You may have heard this story before: Three little pigs venture out on their own, build houses of weak materials, and get eaten by a big bad wolf. Overall, it’s a great story, but what does it have to do with retention in learning? Well, hold on to your seats, because I’m about to tell you more.

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….” there lived three little pigs who left for school.

The first little pig – let’s call him Curly – went to class, and his teacher gave him a wheelbarrow, filled with textbooks. Now Curly didn’t like to read, as it was very hard, and the textbooks were so long, and such a bore. But the teacher didn’t have time for the first little pigs, so he did the best he could, with nothing to say. He flipped through the books, but the words didn’t click. No matter how long he read, the information failed to stick.

One day, there came a knock on his door. From the other side, came a loud call, “Little pig, little pig, let’s go play. Studying is a waste, let’s enjoy the day.”

Curly knew the voice of his friend WolfCraft. Now WolfCraft told everyone he was their friend, but he tempted them to do things they knew they shouldn’t. He took the students away from their studies and distracted their minds.

But Curly tried to be good. He said, “Not by the peach fuzz of my chinny, chin, chin.”

WolfCraft replied, “Come on man, let’s go have some fun. Do I have to knock all your books down and pull you out here to play?” Curly had to admit, the books were no fun. So he relented, and left his work behind him.

Now Curly’s middle brother, Larry, did not fare much better. His teacher loved sticking her students in front of a screen, or plugging them into an audiobook. While screen time was fun and lectures could be cool, Larry’s mind often wandered, and he struggled to focus on school.

One day there came a knock on his door and he heard the words, “Little pig, little pig, let’s go play.” Larry knew the voice of his friend WolfNite.

Now WolfNite was the middle brother of WolfCraft, and he too told everyone that he was their friend, then tempted them to do things they knew they shouldn’t. He whisked students away from their studies, and filled their heads with distractions.

But Larry tried to be good. He said, “Not by the peach fuzz of my chinny, chin, chin.”

And just like WolfCraft, WolfNite replied, “Come on man, let’s go have some fun. Do I have to turn off your audiobooks and DVD’s and pull you out here to play?” Larry had to admit that the audiobooks were getting boring. So he relented, and left his work, too.

Now the third Little Pig, the oldest and wisest pig, Stewart, decided that he was going to take his education into his own hands. He began to look up the best educational practices, and began to build his own way of studying.

First, he read about the topic, but not too much, because he didn’t want to lose interest. Then, he added in some audio and video into his lesson plans, knowing that these would give him good information, and fun ways to look at the subject. Finally, he added engaging activities that challenged him; a list of YouTube influencers, who could introduce him to new ways of thinking; and extra books (even educational fiction, on each subject). But he found the most reliable material available for his education, was his own imagination. His imagination was filled with activities, stories, ways of teaching others, and a love of epic educational games.

No longer would he allow a teacher, lesson plan, or state standard to dictate his future in the world: he took full control. His educational “house” was solid. He was ready for the storm.

One day that storm came. It was the biggest, and most persistent, brother of WolfCraft and WolfNite…WolfTube – the biggest and loudest distraction of the entire school. He yelled at the very top of his lungs, “Little pig, little pig, let’s go play.”

Stewart knew how to handle him as he replied, “Not by the smoothness of my chinny, chin, chin.” For Stewart had just shaved that morning.

Now, WolfTube couldn’t stand the fact that one of his friends was actually enjoying learning, so he cried out, “Come on man, let’s go have some fun. Do I have to knock all your learning tools over, and pull you out here to play?”

Stewart had a better plan. He opened the door wide and said, “Why don’t you come in and get me? I dare you…”

Now, WolfTube couldn’t resist a dare, so he came charging in! And Stewart sat him down and began teaching him. He even showed the wolf how he could enjoy learning through games, activities, and even educational videos.

So, what did we learn about the three little pigs?

Pig #1: He was given the dreaded pile of textbooks. They’re often poorly written, because they are word heavy and don’t speak at the child’s level. When there are too many texts to read, kids can get lost, and decide to pursue more “important” and interesting topics. Any subject can be fun, but it depends on how you present it. Do we really want to present school subjects in ways that kids dread, especially to those that don’t truly love reading? The retention of information that comes from textbooks is only 20%!

Pig #2: Audiobooks, videos, and lectures – This little pig had more tools than the first, but from K-8, kids are still developing their preferred way of studying. Some may enjoy audio, some visual, and some physical, but did you know that there are five types of learning: visual, logical, aural, verbal, and physical? Most kids don’t develop their learning style until middle school. Having a well-rounded curriculum is essential.

Pig #3: With children being so young in their development, they are continuing to grow, and learn what they want. All of the above resources are good, but don’t stop there. They still only help them retain up to 30% of the information.

In the following months, we will dive more into the types of processes that work best for students; this is a very long topic to cover, and I want to give everyone the best information possible.

If you have Facebook on your phone, please type in the search Homeschooling Parents and the Three Little Pigs. We just started a new group where parents can share their advice, experiences, and knowledge on how their kids learn the best, and ideas they used to increase retention of information.

This is the science of why Historical Conquest and epic educational games are so important to the learning of youth. Get your free copy of the game, and see how it helps you learn who Historical figures are, and what they did: https://www.historicalconquest.com/freeoffer.

How to stimulate your kids to help in your student’s learning

In modern psychology, there is constant talk about why American children are not learning as effectively as those in other cultures. The answer might be shocking. In the United States and other Western cultures, children are being oversaturated with high-intensity stimuli. The constant flow of intense stimuli on a child’s brain becomes the norm. When a child is overexposed to stimuli, they become bored quickly, and more often. These children are not able to sit down and pay attention to school, church, or even the view outside a window.

Horror movies, intense video games, etc.

What stimuli are we referring to? Those found on the screens. It used to be comics, magazines, and TV shows, but now it has become screen time, from over a dozen different devices. The stimuli, through increased detailed videos (and even YouTube videos), has trained the brain to desire that level of stimulus; otherwise, it will begin to shut down, and the child – or person – will become more bored, and not able to find enjoyment through normal activities that do not involve a screen. Just think how stimulated their minds are becoming, with more intense video games and movies. No wonder these children are having a harder time in school! What is the correlation between being desensitized and over-stimulated?

Eastern culture and its destruction through television

Science has stated that other cultures have better education systems, but to say that is ignorant of where brains are trained to retain information. If a brain has the choice between remembering something that happened from a video, or something that gives very little stimulus while it tries to retain information, the brain is more likely to grab onto the increased stimuli. Eastern cultures, as well as those of lower income countries, have a lack of this day-to-day stimuli and their brains become less likely to become bored. Their brains are less trained to want a high level of stimulus, and so are willing to remember more (In a follow-up article, I will talk about how emotion and curriculum help solidify the information that is learned).

My Greatest Example

My own children have even fallen prey to this intensity-seeking culture. My eldest son constantly wanted to be on a device. His brain was so overly stimulated while playing games, that when he was asked to put the screen away, he’d get upset, and whine and complain that he was bored. My younger son, in retrospect, always wanted to be outside. He played games and sports. He enjoyed face-to-face interactions with others, always trying to start up conversations. When I took the youngest on a 3-hour drive to one of my conventions, I asked him if he wanted to go on a screen and he accepted it. But, within 3-5 minutes, I looked back and saw that the device was turned off, in his lap, and he was looking out the window.

So, how did we solve the screen problem with my eldest? First, I began to limit his screen time to one hour a day. He complained, of course, that he had nothing to do afterward, but soon his brain began to adjust to the new norm. He began to play make-believe more, stimulating himself through sound effects and movement. This was different than a device stimulus: this was his own, and this is when his imagination began to blossom. Pretty soon, he wanted to go outside and play.

When my eldest has screen time, he uses it right away, but when it’s over, he finds other ways to stimulate his brain. Sitting still is just boring for him. Now, he is very good at reading. When the screen goes off, he seems to disappear, and when we find him, he’s usually captivated by a book. But watch out when he’s read all the books in the house! With nothing to read, he becomes bored again, and begins to whine. That’s why we love the public library.

By knowing this information, we are able to plan for the education of our youth. If they are being over-stimulated, we may need to bring down their stimulus, or increase how stimulating our teaching can be. This is all part of the learning process (more on this next week).

This is the science of why Historical Conquest and epic educational games are so important to the learning of youth. Get your free copy of the game, and see how it helps you learn who Historical figures are and what they did: https://www.historicalconquest.com/freeoffer.

How your students can learn more efficiently with very little effort: Understand how young students retain information best, and what can also hinder their efforts.

In modern psychology, there is a common saying, “the neurons that fire together, wire together.” This was first shared by Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb, almost 70 years ago. The quote means memory or focus is increased on a subject, when there is emotion attached to it. The brain has been said to have a negativity bias (an emotional attachment to all things negative) which is why, when someone crosses us, we latch on to that memory, and stew on it all day – or longer. But happy thoughts and emotions are also connected to your memories.

What does science say about all this? Memories are processed through the hippocampus, which is the close neighbor to the amygdala, and part of the Limbic System. Both the hippocampus and the amygdala serve a similar cause: to process memories and emotions for storage. When emotions and memories are tied together, they can solidify in a student’s mind. Therefore, when a student is bored, or exhausted while cramming, they’ll have more recollection of negative feelings than the materials they were studying. Yet, when they enjoy what they’re learning, reading, or doing, they are more likely to remember the information, because it’s attached to positive emotions.

How does knowing this help us learn more effectively, and efficiently? When we attach positive emotions to learning, we are more likely to remember what’s being taught. That’s why lectures are said to have only a 10% retention rate, reading a 20% retention, and those learned by audio and video a 30% retention rate. At the same time, when we do activities, learn about something we enjoy, or play with the information we need to process, this gives us a return of up to 70-90% retention.

Using games and activities with the subjects we need to learn, means we’ll retain more. The more information we remember, the less learning becomes a chore, and the more it becomes a feast of knowledge.

Hebbian Plasticity

When a child grows up in an area with red birds, called “cardinals,” the child will commit the name to memory through exposure and repetition. This is called Hebbian Plasticity, which claims that repetition helps your brain remember and make connections, with material you’re exposed to and learning about.

Children in other cultures continue to work harder and longer with repetition, in order to better themselves. These students often don’t feel entitled to the luxuries or safety nets we, in the United States, are promised. For this reason, they strive to obtain these memories of facts and figures.

We can use both Hebbian Plasticity and positive learning environments to better our education. If we enjoy learning so much that we desire to do it again and again, then we’ll retain more information!

Mental Blocks and Emotions

There is another block that negative emotions create. When a student stresses out, or has anxiety over an assessment or test, it hinders memories from being accessed. Stopping the flow of these memories is called a memory block. Memories can be translated into actions, such as answering simple questions, but when the memory is blocked, it makes performing the action feel impossible. Educators and curriculum creators must learn to work with students to help them overcome these memory blocks.

When it comes to education, we need to find new ways to help students retain the information they learn. We must make education more enjoyable, so students desire more repetition in their studies. Let’s find new ways to enjoy the information we’re learning and teaching. This can be done through activities, games, and other processes that will stimulate the neurons to fire together, so they wire together.

This is the science of why Historical Conquest and epic educational games are so important to the learning of youth. Get your free copy of the game, and see how it helps you learn who Historical figures are and what they did: https://www.historicalconquest.com/freeoffer.

Recently, on a visit to a chain retail store, I wandered into the education section. It was brimming with books on math, science, and reading, but something felt off. The more I looked, the more I realized that the books about history were missing!

But why should that matter? Isn’t it more important to learn math and science, over something trivial like history? What do we use history for, in our everyday lives anyway? What’s the big deal?

Well, history explains who we are and where we’ve come from. As human beings, we’re always looking for answers, whether they are answers to the meaning of life, or what’s for dinner. Much of what we’re searching for can be found by studying history. Where do I come from? Who am I? What’s special about me? All of these things can be answered, by looking to the past. We are human beings, who have risen from wars, plagues, and famines. We are people living in a technical age, given to us by our ancestors, who pushed the boundaries of innovation. Without them, we wouldn’t have electricity to cool our homes, and charge our computers and phones. We also wouldn’t have cars or indoor plumbing.

We are living, breathing history. We have our own languages that have developed over thousands of years. We have strong belief systems, built on traditions. We have recipes that have been passed down from one generation to the next. The past helps us understand the human experience. Culture, values, and religion all need history to thrive.

Some people believe that learning about history is boring, but it doesn’t have to be! Historical Conquest strives to change this idea of “boring history.” We have an exciting tabletop game, that makes history fun. Students learn about the past, by playing a game! As they strategize the best ways to conquer, or achieve world peace, they’ll be studying information about historical figures and events that appear on the Historical Conquest cards. Without realizing it, they’ll memorize amazing facts about the past, and be able to apply them outside of the game. The proof of that is shown in our new collection of essays, written by students, in “Students Teaching History.”

Historical Conquest has also released a brand new American Revolution Curriculum and companion game. The curriculum is completely online, with videos and interactive activities. In this innovative work, we’ve tossed out the pressure of remembering dates, and focused on the story of history. Students will learn about the real George Washington – not the fable with the wooden teeth. They’ll also be exposed to a number of diverse viewpoints, and allowed a chance to see history from the point-of-view of women, African-Americans (both freed, and forced into slavery), French heroes, and British soldiers.

It’s important to make time for history, and to study the past, but it doesn’t have to be boring or strenuous. In fact, it can be engaging and exciting! Check out all of the mentioned products, and more, at Historicalconquest.com.

*** Check out a free sample of our Historical Conquest American Revolution Curriculum *** Click Here to Try it Out (This sample does not include the lesson plans, score cards, etc)

From World War Two to 1970, people have figured a way to be tricky, and even invisible in plain sight. Mary Taylor never knew the world was going to take her idea to a whole new level. The Germans never suspected what was coming their way. America never knew they were going to invent a plane invisible to RADAR.

After Mary Taylor patented the idea of a camouflage plane, she began to create her idea. First, she painted unorganized dots on her plane, but quickly changed to a “dazzle,” which Norman Wilkinson had earlier invented. Next, she tried stripes and zigzags, but she got completely opposite results. Then, Mary tried to cut holes to let light through. Afterwards, she changed to lights that could change color and achieved her goal. Mysteriously, in 2011, Americans found remains of her plane plans in a barn.

“Night Witches” were the nicknames of the woman’s 588th Night Bomber Regiment. The Germans gave them this name because when they approached their destination, they turned off their engines and glided toward the final leg of the mission. As soon as they had dropped their bombs, they fired the engines back up and flew away. Each mission was completed this way in a Polikarpov Po-2 bomber. Although they served for the same cause as did Russia, men disrespected them. Irina Sebrova successfully completed 1008 missions as a “Night Witch.”

In 1988, the media were informed of a plane that was undetectable by RADAR called the F-22 Raptor. The designer of this plane was awarded the aeronautical award, the most prized award in the world. The plane took many years to perfect, as, in 1970 they had begun the research for the secret plane. 

Many brilliant men and woman pioneered the idea of undetectable, invisible, and even quiet attacking planes. Even now we are amazed what planes can do. Mary Taylor affected the world in a drastic way with her camouflaged aircraft, while the Night Witches bombed without their engines on, and America stumbled upon the idea of making an undetectable plane.

CITATIONS: 
1. Nick D’Alto. “Inventing the Invisible Airplane.” Air & Space Magazine, August 2016. (Accessed June 2, 2020) https://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/art-camouflage-180959768/;

2. John T. Correll. “History of Stealth: From out of the Shadows.” Air Force Magazine, September 1, 2019. (Accessed June 2, 2020) https://www.airforcemag.com/article/history-of-stealth-from-out-of-the-shadows/;

3. Megan Garber. “Night Witches: The Female Fighter Pilots of World War II. The Atlantic, July 15, 2013. (Accessed June 2, 2020)  https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/07/night-witches-the-female-fighter-pilots-of-world-war-ii/277779/.