Every Doll Classroom Needs a Globe

Remount a globe novelty from
an old pen onto a former doll
stand by cutting down metal
bars and sticking these inside
of the pre-made hole where 
the pen used to be.

       Modern globes are designed and constructed for handling by the pupils and the teacher. Free-moving globes in cradles are more adaptable to examination and study than are globes in fixed stands. With the axis pin in place the globe is useful in demonstrating earth movements. From the static concepts of rotation and revolution to the dynamic concepts of military air strategy, the globe is a basic learning tool. (On the left side you can see that I have 'recycled' a child's novelty globe pen by removing the writing tool and replacing it with an altered doll stand to include in our doll's classroom.)

       The earth is the shape of a sphere, or more accurately a spheroid. A globe is a scientifically constructed device that interprets the earth as a whole more accurately than any flat map can. Children can discover many facts about their world by looking at a globe. As the globe is turned on its axis they observe that the distance along the equator is greater than the distance along parallels near either the North or South Poles. They see that there is more land area in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. By using the globe and an atlas young people can discover that about 30% of the earth's surface is land and about 70% is water. With a light representing the sun focused upon a rotating globe they see the continual progression of day and night; and when the globe is made to revolve around the light, the changing seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are revealed. With a piece of string and the globe they can discover that the shortest flying distance between places is along a great circle arc between them. 

       When we look down on the North Pole, then tilt the globe on its axis, we see that the relative locations of land masses and nations in the Northern Hemisphere are strikingly different than we expected. The short air distances be- tween the United States, Europe, and Asia be- come evident. The importance of the Arctic region for air routes is readily seen. With man's increasing control over his physical environment and the invention of modern means of transportation and communication, it is urgent that schools train young citizens to interpret the physical features of the earth.

Parts of a globe illustrated and labeled.

Mexico, It's Country and People

        Mexico is a land of great contrast, contrast in the kind of country and the plants that grow there and contrast in the people. To the south in Mexico and on both coasts are the lowland tropical forests. In the north are dry lands and deserts. Central Mexico, where most of the people live, is a high fertile plateau surrounded by mountains. It is high enough to have fairly cool and comfortable weather even though it is in the tropics. In Mexico weather changes depend not so much on how close you are to the equator as on how high you climb.
       People in Mexico are both descendants of Indigenous Tribes and of Spanish descent. Some Natives still live in tribes, but others, especially in the capital, Mexico City, live much as do people in the United States. Besides these two ways of life there are also small farmers and tradesmen living in towns and villages.
       In the Valley of Mexico on the high plateau the people farm today much as their ancestors did hundreds, even thousands, of years ago. These modern Natives are descendants of the Aztecs who were conquered by the Spanish. But long before the Aztecs were important in the Valley of Mexico other groups of people developed great civilizations. The Indigenous people of Mexico are related to the Natives of North and South America and, like some of the tribes you know about in the United States, they were once, thousands of years ago, wanderers and food-gatherers. But they learned to farm and then they could settle down in one place all year around. Little farming villages must have grown up where people raised corn and beans in their small plots, just as the Mexican farmers do today.
       After many years these farming people became civilized, worked out an elaborate religion, and built wonderful cities that, strangely enough, were not to live in but were for the worship of their gods. Their cities were built around a central plaza, which was surrounded by temples built on top of great pyramids where priests sacrificed to their gods. This civilization called Teotihuancan flourished for hundreds of years in the Valley of Mexico, but gradually it lost its power to other groups. Many years later the Aztecs became important.
       In the beginning the Aztecs were only wandering tribes moving about from place to place, now settling down for a year or two and then moving on again. Finally they reached the lakes of Mexico where civilized people were already living. In a fierce battle they were defeated and forced to flee to the islands in the lakes. There they stayed and, little by little, began to take on the ways of their neighbors. After awhile they were able to conquer some of the nearby cities and then those farther away. Their city of Tenochtitlan, built on the islands, grew great and beautiful, and at the time of the Spanish Conquest the Aztecs were the most powerful people in Mexico.
       Find Mexico City on the map. Its old name was Tenochtitlan. Now find Tepoztlan, whose people paid tribute to the Aztecs and whose descendants still live in the same place. We will follow their history from 1515 to the present day. "Fleming, 1962", edited version.

Additional Chapters by Fleming, 1962:

• Tribute Bearers of Ancient Mexico
• The Conquest of Mexico
• A Mexican Boy
• The Family Farm
• School Days
• Market Day
• The Fiesta