• Target Keystage(s): Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4,
• Curriculum Subject(s): Art and design, English, History, Information and Communication Technology,
• Who Do We Think We Are Theme(s): History/Settlement,

Above: Image from the Discovery Box website

The Discovery Box website is part of the Abolition Project developed by MLA East of England and E2BN and provides information, lesson plans, and tools for teachers on the work of Thomas Clarkson and other abolitionists in their fight to end the Transatlantic Slave Trade. 

The content featured on the Discovery Box site specifically focuses on Thomas Clarkson's use of his collection box of slavery artefacts to demonstrate the inhumanity of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.  He would take his box on his horseback travels to rally support for his cause in ending slavery. The Discovery Box allows students and teachers alike to virtually create a box similar to Clarkson's through the use of anything from a text file to a movie. 

Not only can you create a virtual box on slavery, but you can also create a box based on any topic - such as an event, historical period, a famous person, or a topical issue. 

The site is most beneficial to WDWTWA in that it enables students to visualise history and to take a ‘hands on' approach to learning about important events of the past. Also included on this site is a teachers' section where there are ideas listed on applying the website to support the curriculum at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4.  The site takes a very cross-curricular approach and provides opportunities to create virtual boxes on a wide range of topics and themes linked to citizenship, art and design, history, English, and geography.

For further information, and access to the Discovery Box interactive learning resource, please select the following link: http://discoverybox.e2bn.org/.