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Beekeeping Instruction for Injured Soldiers

Rationale By
Kelly E. Tumy
Link/Citation

Harris & Ewing, photographer. Beekeeping Instruction for Injured Soldiers. , 1918. [or 1919] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016869980/.

Source Type:
Photographs and Prints
Suggested Grade Level and Audience: Grade 5
Instructional value of primary source for the curriculum and/or classroom

Children may or may not know the extent of injuries sustained during WWI, and this photo from that time period not only contextualizes what soldiers at that time looked like, but it also shows how different life was in 1919. This is also a chance to talk about how work has changed over the decades, and teachers can discuss different aspects of the photo as well, including dress and gender roles.

Summary/Description

This is a photo of a beekeeping demonstration to WWI soldiers who have returned from war. This is one of several different types of demonstrations given to soldiers who had to return from the front and look for new work.

Context for the Primary Source

After being injured in WWI, wounded soldiers were given demonstrations of possible jobs they could pursue even though they had been injured. There was a society who did these demonstrations, and this is one photograph of that demonstration.

Focus Question(s)
  • What do you think is going on in this photo?
  • What year do you think this was taken?
  • How are the men dressed and what do you notice about that?
  • Why is one man dressed differently?
  • What are the white boxes for?
Standards Connections

Texas ELAR TEKS and Texas Science TEKS

ELA Standards

Science standards

5.9Di - recognize characteristics and structures of informational text, including: (i) the central idea with supporting evidence.

  • Students can view this source as a new kind of text and apply textual ideas to a photograph. 

5.11Bi - develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing by: (i)organizing with purposeful structure, including an introduction, transitions, and a conclusion.

  • Students can write for a variety of purposes in response to the photo and can imagine what came before this photo was taken. 

5.5D - examine and model the parts of a system and their interdependence in the function of the system.

  • Bee hives are excellent examples of systems and it is a concrete example for students. 

5.13A - analyze the structures and functions of different species to identify how organisms survive in the same environment.

  • Students can write in response to a question like: How do humans and bees survive in the same types of environments. 
Suggested Teaching Approaches

  • Teachers can begin this activity with a jigsaw of the photograph itself. Put students into groups of four or five and cut the photograph into four to six pieces. Ask students to put them together to try to figure out what the photograph is about. Ask students to identify the who, what, where, when, and how as they put the photo together. This can be done digitally or analog.
  • Ask students any of the following once the photo is assembled:
    • Why do you think beekeeping would be a suitable job for soldiers coming back from war?
    • Why would wounded soldiers need a new job?
    • How does beekeeping demonstrate a natural system?
    • How can bees and humans survive together in the same environment?
  • Research current beekeeping practices and compare/contrast to some of the structures found here. Write a report in which you examine how beekeeping has changed over the decades and what new tools are available for this profession. Students can write a report or a persuasive paper.
  • Teachers can follow this photograph with the book Honeybee by Candace Fleming (author) and Eric Rohmann (illustrator) to use as a resource for research or as a read-aloud to reinforce science concepts. It has a repeated phrase, as well as stunning language choices.
Potential for Challenge
  • Some parents may object to the visuals of injured soldiers, but the effects of WWI and the economy of the countries involved is still a core standard in many states. Anything teachers can do to help build prior knowledge of historical events will help create stronger critical thinkers as they advance through other grades.

Links to resources for approaching those topics

  • UNICEF is a non-partisan site that has resources to teach children about difficult topics.
Alternative or Complementary Primary Sources
  1. Beekeeping demonstration for Injured Soldiers is another resource. There are fewer soldiers on crutches in this one.
  2. Constructive Beekeeping is a manual and therefore does not have pictures of injured soldiers.
Additional References
  1. Manual on Beekeeping Demonstrations - This is a manual the demonstrators followed as they visited with veterans about new job avenues after the war.
  2. National Geographic has a collection of photos and essays students can use to research or to examine the systems bees have in place. These allow students to practice both science and reading concepts.
  3. National Geographic also has a full article with activities for World Bee Day.
  4. There is a documentary about how the bees are disappearing and what society needs to do to keep them alive and flourishing.
Subject:
Journalism/News , Photography , Social Studies/Social Sciences/History/Geography
Topics:
History , Photographs, Prints, and Posters
Year/Date of Creation or Publication
1918