Looking for a Heritage Fair Topic?

While we have lots of ideas for Heritage Fair topics in the Project section of our blog to get you started, there are so many interesting stories about Canadian history to choose from, we can't possibly list them all! Here are a few examples, recently covered in the news.

Battling enemies overseas, fighting racism on home front

This article tells the story of the Louie brothers, Wee Tan and Wee Hong, who joined the Canadian Army and fought for a country who, at the time, refused them full citizenship. They represent approximately 300 or so Chinese-Canadians who volunteered to fight in the First World War but about whom we know very little. Their story also highlights some of the struggles and triumphs that Chinese Canadians in British Columbia have experienced over the past 120 years.

Franklin ship discovery solves 'one of Canada's great mysteries'
After 168 years of searching, one of the ships that carried Sir John Franklin and his 128 men on a failed expedition to discover the Northwest Passage. Considered to be the greatest disaster related to exploration in Arctic history, Parks Canada staff uncovered the hull of a ship in the Queen Maud Gulf. This discovery not only allows for new interpretations of the fate of the Franklin expedition and supports the accuracy of Inuit oral history, it also advances Canada's claim for control of the Northwest Passage.

Leave us a comment below and tell us what stories you would be interested in seeing for a Heritage Fair project!

Mind Mapping

Want to get a head start on your 2015 Heritage Fair Project? 

Making a mind map may help you think like a historian! Mind maps are a great way to organize information visually and show how ideas are connected to a central topic. To create your own mind map, put your topic in the middle of your page and add in ideas or questions that connect to your topic. You can keep making these connections (or branches) until you run out of information (or room!). If you are feeling creative, you can also add some drawings or use different colours on your mind map.

Here are a few examples of mind maps made by Mrs. Veilleux's Grade 7 Class at McNeeley Elementary last year.

Vedanshi's Photos from the BC Provincial Heritage Fair

Thank you to Vedanshi for sharing her photos from the BC Provincial Heritage Fair 2014 in Kamloops, BC. Looks like everyone had a blast!

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=1c1ba07b417e8b1d&id=1C1BA07B417E8B1D%21660&Bsrc=Share&Bpub=SDX.SkyDrive&sc=Photos&authkey=!Agg9XIl-kbHGL1E

Welcome Back!

Now that summer is over, its time to start thinking about Heritage Fair! 2015 will mark the first year that Richmond will host its own Regional Heritage Fair. Support for this program has grown over the past 12 years thanks to our wonderful students, teachers, volunteers, donors and staff and we are thrilled to be able to involve more Richmond schools and showcase all of the hard work and creativity these budding historians put into their projects every year.

For many students, history has a bad reputation and is too often associated with memorizing endless dates and lifeless facts. The Heritage Fair program aims to bring history alive by allowing students to pursue their own historical interests, do project-based inquiry and present their knowledge to a real audience. These projects are also guided by six core historical thinking concepts that encourage students to ask questions, make inferences and think critically about the conclusions they come to.

Follow the link to check out the latest blog post on the BC Heritage Fairs website, 'Beyond Bad Karaoke: Historical Thinking and Heritage Fairs', to learn more!