THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Related Studies

Related Literature Walk into just about any classroom and you will find one: A dark green board on the wall, lined with pieces of chalk and felt erasers. Chalkboards, also commonly known as blackboards, have long been a part of daily classroom life, but just what is the history of the chalkboard? The earliest blackboards cannot properly be called chalkboards, as there was no chalk involved. They were simply small pieces of slate, and instead of chalk children would use another, smaller piece of slate to write on the board. Marks would be erased with a simple rag in order for the student to move onto the next problem. In the late 18th and early 19th century, such "slateboards" were commonly used in schools in the United States and other countries. These small pieces of slate would be bound in a wooden frame to help strengthen the board and keep them from cracking. In those days paper was expensive and hard to come by, so these mini slate blackboards provided a good substitute. The origin of chalkboards traces back to 1823 when a minister and educator named Samuel Reed Hall painted pine boards black. Chalk could then be used to write on the board and then be cleaned off to allow future use. Another precursor that led to the

invention of the modern day chalkboard was the practice of spreading a combination of lime, plaster of Paris and black soot on the wall. This effectively created a kind of chalkboard, but really messed up the wall and wasn't nearly as easy to clean. Some debate surrounds the question of who actually invented the chalkboard as it became known. James Pillans, Headmaster of the Old High School of Edinburgh, Scotland, is most often credited with inventing the chalkboard. While there is no question that Pillans used the blackboard to teach geography, little information is available that provides any insight into the actual invention process. For all we know, Pillans could have Edisoned the chalkboard by getting someone to invent it for him and then taking all the credit.

At some point in time, however, these slate boards began to be used in a brand new way. A geography teacher working in Scotland is reported to have taken the slates from the students and hung them all on the wall. He then used this to make-shift blackboard to write out geography information which all the students could read at once. A revolution in blackboard usage had begun. Adoption of this new idea came quickly. The first recorded use of this style of slate board in North America comes from 1801, when such a blackboard was in use at the United States Military Academy in West Point. Other academic military schools quickly picked up on it as well, and soon enough it began to spread throughout grammar schools.

Much of slate mining in the United States occurred in the Northeast, places such as Maine, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and a bit further to the South in Virginia. As Americans began to expand to the West, the new railroads were able to bring slate for blackboards from these states to schools across the Great Plains and prairie lands by the 1840's. No matter where Americans went, slate followed for use in public schools. By the 1850's, virtually all schoolhouses included a blackboard along with their other staples: a wood burning stove and benches for the students to sit on. Still, however, our modern chalkboards were not in common usage.
As technology progressed, the old pieces of slate finally began to be replaced by chalk. The soft limestone chalk was easier to use on the boards, and easier to clean as well. The old rag erasers have been erased by new felt chalkboard erasers, which are able to absorb more of the chalk dust and keep it out of the air. The boards themselves are no longer made of slate, but instead are a steel sheet with a porcelain enamel.

In the past couple of decades, many schools are beginning to phase out use of chalkboards for whiteboards over fears of the hazardous effects of chalk dust. The principle, however, remains the same, and blackboards will continue to be used in schools for many years to come. Copyright (c) 2008 Wes Fernley. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1734217

Chalkboards are not nearly as pervasive as they used to be. The traditional chalkboard has been replaced by dry erase boards that use ink markers for writing and drawing rather than chalk. Many millions of people have been exposed to the smell of chalk and

the cringe-inducing sound made by fingernails being scratched down a chalkboard, but some of the facts about this traditional piece of school equipment remain unknown. The original chalkboards were made of slate and colored either black or dark grey. This gave rise to the term blackboard to describe a chalkboard. Many Americans have never even seen an actual blackboard, however. This is because the next generation of chalkboards were more often colored green. These greenboards are constructed of porcelain enamel attached to steel at its base. Chalkboards do have an advantage over the newer plastic dry erase boards. The surface of dry erase boards are slippery and thus subject to illegible writing. The rougher surface of chalkboards means that writing done with chalk is less subject to smearing and therefore produces a clearer result that is easier to read, especially from a distance. Source: http://voices.yahoo.com/the-history-chalkboard-both-blackboard8478357.html

Chalk is a form of limestone which is distinguished by its relative purity and close, fine grain. Humans have been utilizing chalk for a variety of tasks for centuries, taking advantage of its properties for things like writing on blackboards, marking out fabric patterns for cutting, and delineating game fields in sports like tennis and American football. This mineral is extremely abundant, and it is widely quarried all over the world. The chemical formula for chalk is CaCO3. Its primary ingredient is ancient fossilized sea organisms, so chalk deposits often occur in areas which were once underwater, as the mineral forms through centuries of deposition of dead sea creatures at very high pressure. Rocks which form through the deposition of sediments and other materials are known as sedimentary rocks; chalk is probably one of the most well known examples of a sedimentary rock, thanks to its ubiquitous use. Impurities like quartz, feldspar, and silica are often found in chalk deposits.

Although we think of chalk as a very soft mineral, it is in fact remarkably resistant to weathering. This trait led to the formation of the famous White Cliffs of Dover, as the elements wore away at other mineral materials in the large chalk deposit which streaks across much of Europe, leaving imposing deposits of chalk in the form of cliffs and sea stacks behind. Chalk is also very porous, and it tends to store groundwater extremely well, releasing it during drier periods. Natural chalk can range in color from yellow to gray to white, depending on the impurities it contains. Depending on what chalk is going to be used for, it may be treated to remove impurities and refined so that it turns white. Chalk is also dyed with various coloring agents to produce things like sidewalk chalk and colored chalk for use in classrooms. You may be disappointed to learn that most classroom chalk today is not actually made from chalk, but rather from various other mineralcomposites. The powdered chalk which was once used to mark out sports fields has also since been replaced by various other minerals or sometimes paint. However, it is still possible to find a few commercial products made from chalk, and many natural history museums keep it on display, since it is a mineral of interest to many people.