Hearth Interactive

A Hearth Library collection

Innovation in History

New ideas, and the people who tried them, sold them or fought them

Sources for the 2027 National History Day theme, “Innovation in History: Impact, Influence, Change.” Each thread follows one new idea in the words of the people who lived with it. They cover inoculation and the first vaccine, counting and mapping disease, imagining travel into space, new ways to travel, eat and shop, and the Roman calendar.

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Teach this collection

Classroom units on Hearth Learning. Each asks one big question and gathers its sources, teacher notes, a worksheet for each source and a download for your LMS.

  1. Unit 1From inoculation to vaccineHow did a new way to prevent smallpox spread, and why did people resist it?5 sources
  2. Unit 2Counting and mapping diseaseHow did gathering evidence change what people did about disease?2 sources
  3. Unit 3Imagining space travelHow did ideas about space travel move from stories to a national program?5 sources
  4. Unit 4New ways to travel, eat and shopWho gained from new ways of serving travelers, diners and shoppers, and what changed for them?5 sources
  5. Unit 5Fixing the calendarWhy did the Romans need to reform their calendar, and how did the reform last?2 sources

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Sources