| By Mark Mikula |
As part of an agreement with the BBC, Gale has acquired 2250 videos for inclusion in a variety of electronic databases. The videos feature professional narration, award-winning production values, and dynamic images, delving into a range of topics of interest to our users. Most of them are less than ten minutes long, providing focused coverage on a wide range of topics, and they appear in Gale Researcher, the In Context family of products, and Academic OneFile.
While a significant number of the videos cover contemporary events, just as importantly, many of them focus on people and events that are expected to be covered as part of national and state curriculum standards in the classroom. In U.S. History In Context, the video “Dred Scott Takes His Fight for Freedom to the U.S. Supreme Court” discusses the polarizing 1857 legal case argued in front of the justices, many of whom were slave owners at the time. Scott was unable to secure his freedom in the case. The narration of the video provides context about how the United States, prior to the Civil War, was not ready to put an end to slavery.
“The Bill of Rights” from Academic OneFile gives an overview of the various freedoms codified in the first ten amendments, added to the U.S. Constitution in 1791, with visual cues to help students remember the various rights.
View Academic OneFile‘s video, “The Bill of Rights.”
“Pythagorean Theorem” from Gale Researcher provides a speculative anecdote about how the ancient Greek scholar Pythagoras, known primarily for his mathematical equation regarding right triangles, developed a curiosity for music. Pythagoras went on to relate his discoveries in the field of music to conjectures about astronomy.
Watch Gale Researcher’s video, “Pythagorean Theorem.”
These three topics are part of many iterations of national standards. But not only do the clips provide reliable facts, they also encourage critical thinking, which is a primary component of curriculum standards. They make history come to life by discussing themes that still resonate and events that have shaped where we are today. So open up one of our great Gale databases and check out these new video additions!
About the Author
Mark Mikula is a senior content developer for several of Gale’s history databases. In his travels, he has attended numerous film and theater festivals; the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut; and the oldest consecutively held Fourth of July celebration in Bristol, Rhode Island.