Sail Away with Davy Crockett!
Teachers Guide to the Artifact Study

Developed by the education team at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum

Description
A careful and directed study of artifacts can help your students understand the past. The artifact pictured to the right is one of many in The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum's exhibit, Sunrise in His Pocket, The Life, Legend and Legacy of Davy Crockett. This artifact study, developed by the education team at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, presents a series of photographs and questions about the artifact to help your students explore part of the story of Davy Crockett's legacy.

Please review this Teachers Guide before visiting the Artifact Study, where students can go online to analyze the featured artifact. Your students can find the Artifact Study by clicking on Students in the main navigation, or by directly visiting www.biography.com/davycrockett/artifacts.

View and print the corresponding Classroom Worksheet, a printer-friendly version of the Artifact Study.

Theme
The artifact in this study is a figurehead from clipper ship David Crockett built in 1853. It is included in the exhibition at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum titled Sunrise in His Pocket: The Life, Legend, and Legacy of Davy Crockett. This artifact comes from the section of the exhibit that explores Davy Crockett's transformation to a larger than life legend. The curator of this exhibition chose to include the figurehead because it exemplifies this process of transformation. For Americans in the mid-1800s, Davy Crockett came to symbolize the virtues they saw in their young country, particularly the pioneering spirit of the frontier. Davy Crockett, as portrayed in this figurehead, was the perfect hero for the times, as America sought to justify Manifest Destiny and pushed the frontier westward.

Objective
This study is designed to encourage students to look at an object in different ways. Learning with objects is an effective way to help students gain interest in a particular topic and to introduce broader teaching points. As your students engage with the object, they can begin to see it—and the story it tells—in a unique way or from a different perspective. Specifically, the goal of this artifact study is to generate excitement about Davy Crockett in your students as they discover new angles both visually and conceptually while looking at the object. The questions associated with each image are intended to help students interpret the artifacts' place in time as well as in the larger legend of Davy Crockett.

Suggested Uses
The images in the artifact study are designed to be viewed on the computer. Consider the following options:

If your students have access to the computer:
Allow time for your students to navigate the study either individually or in cooperative learning groups. The students should click on and look at the images provided while considering each question. The questions are created for discussion and would best be utilized by allowing adequate time for your students to discuss in small groups or in a teacher guided share time. If applicable, written responses can be recorded in journals or on the corresponding Classroom Worksheet.

If your students do not have access to the computer:
Click on each of the links and print out the images and questions. Allow time for students to look at the object on paper and to discuss the questions in groups or during a teacher guided share time. If applicable, written responses can be recorded in journals or on the corresponding Classroom Worksheet.