Wishing you peace and happiness this holiday season!
Be sure to check our December Factoids for events and related content throughout the month!
View our Winter Holidays Collection!
Take some time to view our Featured Series this holiday season! View details below.
New for December on KnowItAll.org!
HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL
BRIGGS V. ELLIOTT COURT CASE
The "Briggs v. Elliott" case was the first in U.S. history to challenge segregation in public education, and the first of five cases, which eventually were consolidated into "Brown v. Board of Education."
FEATURED IN DECEMBER
APOLLO 8'S OUT OF THIS WORLD CHRISTMAS PRESENT | HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL SHORTS
A Christmas miracle could not have been more needed in the year 1968. With the Vietnam War at its height, race relations reaching a boiling point in the U.S., and the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, 1968 had been a dreadful year. Morale was low across the globe, but something happened that Christmas which changed human history forever. NASA took a gamble by sending Apollo 8 to orbit the Moon, but the mission was a success! On Christmas Eve, 1968, Apollo 8 entered lunar orbit. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders provided the people of Earth with a Christmas gift: the first photos taken by human beings of the Earth from deep space. Seeing this tiny, blue sphere from the Moon made people forget their toils and look up into the heavens with awe-inspiring wonder. Earthrise remains one of the most iconic photographs ever taken in human history.
This video is dedicated in honor of Apollo 8's mission commander, USAF Colonel Frank Borman (March 14, 1928 – November 7, 2023).This Month on KnowItAll - View Our Holiday Programs!
HOLIDAY SPECIALS
Winter Holidays Collection - View details below!
From the Sky
The holiday season in South Carolina hosts a blend of tradition, warmth, and festive spirit. Each year, the South Carolina State Christmas Tree embarks on a journey, starting as a carefully selected 35-foot Norway Spruce from Henderson Tree Farm in North Carolina and traveling 160 miles to Columbia, where it becomes the radiant centerpiece of the Governor's Carolighting Ceremony, illuminating the holiday season with joy, unity, and the spirit of community collaboration.
First Milo Moose Day Celebration | ETV Classics Classroom
First Milo Moose Day Celebration
Milo the Moose arrives home for the Christmas celebration on the Santa Express Train with Engineer Elf. Milo shares his tales of woe about not being a reindeer. Reindeers received all the attention during Christmas and no one paid any attention to a moose. Milo knows he has magic and is determined to head to the North Pole and fly just like the reindeer. His journey to finding his magic isn't an easy one! Will Milo the Moose find his magic? Will he learn how to fly like the reindeer? Christmas might be saved if he does!
The Gargoyle
It's Christmas Eve, and the children are singing Christmas carols around a lighted tree in the courtyard below. In the bell tower of the cathedral is a small, lonely gargoyle who has for centuries watched the candles burning and listened to the children singing. A mysterious white-winged creature knocks the gargoyle from his perch. As a result of this encounter and after helping to mend the creature's wings, the gargoyle receives a Christmas miracle to comfort his lonely soul.
Hanukkah: Lighting the Darkness | Palmetto Scene
Rabbi Hesh Epstein of the Chabad of South Carolina explains Hanukkah and why this festival of lights is so important to the Jewish faith. Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that lasts for eight nights and days. It starts on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar. It celebrates the victory of a small group of Maccabees, Jewish warriors, who banded together to overcome the far more numerous Syrian Greeks who had made it illegal for the Jewish people to practice their faith. The Maccabees recaptured their homeland and rededicated their temple. The Festival of Lights commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
The Singing Christmas Tree
Live performance with costumed dancers and the singing Christmas tree with a medley of traditional holiday music and carols, with narrative of the first Christmas throughout. The final nativity tableau ends with the Hallelujah Chorus and The First Noel and the narrative of the story of Jesus. A twentieth Anniversary Celebration.
Traditions in the New Year
Take a look at some traditions celebrated in the New Year.
FEATURED SERIES
Explore these Series this holiday season!
During this season of giving, we hope you’ll take time to consider one additional gift that comes to us at this time of year—the gift of a little more time!
We hope you’ll take a little of that time to explore some of the SERIES and COLLECTIONS that are new to you on KnowItAll!
You can select the content in a number of ways:
- View our KnowItAll Series by Grade Level!
- View our KnowItAll Series by Subject!
- For your convenience, our Interactives are all located here!
Artopia
Artopia is a comprehensive web-based arts experience designed for middle school students, covering the visual and performing arts. Students will learn art history via animated one-minute movies, be guided on how to closely examine important works of art, and view videos of professional artists at work. This project was supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Ask an Author
Knowitall has produced Q&A video profiles with national authors and illustrators who visit South Carolina. These interview opportunities are provided by partners like the South Carolina State Library.
Between the Waters
Between the Waters is SCETV’s immersive transmedia website showcasing the culture and history of Hobcaw Barony, a 16,000 acre historic site on the coast of South Carolina. Located between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, Hobcaw is a crossroads representing every era of human history, providing a lens through which many threads of the nation’s story may be examined. Visitors to the Between the Waters website take a self-directed virtual tour of Hobcaw Barony, moving down the roads and rice canals, entering slave dwellings and grand houses, watching videos, examining photographs, and listening to historians and the first-person stories of former residents and relatives.
Carolina Snaps
Carolina Snaps brings you South Carolina people, places, and notable events in history...all in a snap!
Carolina Stories
The Carolina Stories series highlights the rich cultural and historical landscape that is South Carolina. From the Upstate to the Lowcountry, the stories are as geographically diverse as their subject matter and they are all produced by ETV's production teams. Some Carolina Stories include educational resources and teacher's guides.
Civil Rights Youth Media Summit
South Carolina ETV has a strong record of community service that includes civil rights programming, youth media literacy projects and technology training for teachers. In collaboration with Write/Right to Change of Clemson University's Strom Thurmond Institute, ETV American Graduate developed the ETV Civil Rights and Social Justice Youth Media Summit on March 1–3, 2013. Focusing on digital and social media as a strategy for student engagement, the Summit taught critical thinking and problem-solving skills to a select group of high school students assisted by mass communications mentors from Benedict College students, helping them to understand their place in history.
Climate Change: A Global Reality and Sea Change
The MUSC Public Information and Community Outreach Initiative (PICO) staff have collaborated with SCETV on several television broadcasts on the topic of Climate Change.
CNN’s John King hosts an expert panel as they examine the challenges and impacts of climate change. Extreme conditions, drought, floods, rising seas and hurricanes are part of the conversation. Patrick McMillan takes viewers from the sands of Hunting Island State Park to other communities along coastal South Carolina and Georgia, exploring diverse perspectives on the impact of sea level rise on the Eastern Seaboard.
Coastal Kingdom Classroom
Host Tony Mills and cinematographer Rob Lewis guide viewers through the diverse ecosystems of the South Carolina Lowcountry with a unique perspective on the region’s rich wildlife and habitats.
Conversations with Crescent
Conversations with Crescent is an animated educational series created by Black female students in South Carolina. In the series, Crescent invites viewers to extend the conversations that take place in her world and among her friends. Episodes are standard aligned and primarily lend well to learning activities in ELA and Social Studies.
The objectives of the series are:
1. To model courageous conversation
2. To promote social awareness, inclusivity, and cultural competency
3. To provide examples of Black excellence
The Cool and The Strong
Are you ready to embark on an exciting back-to-school adventure like never before? Get ready to immerse yourself in the captivating world of "The Cool and the Strong" as we bring you an extraordinary 2-hour educational programming block that will leave you inspired and believing in the power of dreams.
Creating a Career with the Arts in Mind
A series with Dr. Ray Davis, Scot Hockman from SCDE, and South Carolina artists from eight career clusters. The first series features a Panel Discussion with the artists, and the second series consists of bios of each artist. Both series reveal numerous details about these careers in the arts, as well as the educational requirements, and the technology and soft skills utilized in each field.
Creating a Career with the Media Arts in Mind
Panelists in careers related to media arts discuss the education and experiences that attracted them to a career in this field, and describe the path that led them to their chosen profession. They also discuss skills that are utilized in their job each day, describe a typical day, and give advice to students considering a career in media arts.
Curiosity Trek
You ever see an object in a museum or while out traveling which made you do a double-take? Curiosity Trek! tells the stories of historic people and events through the artifacts left behind. This series highlights more than just objects of significant historical value - also the strange and the bizarre! The people tied to these objects may be gone, but their stories live on through these artifacts!
Join host Andrew Davis as he travels throughout the Palmetto State, showcasing some of its treasures!
diSCoveringScience
The “diSCovering science” series features interviews with scientists and researchers from South Carolina’s colleges and universities. These scientists explain the societal impacts of their work and describe their day-to-day jobs. “The series focuses on a broad range of scientific subjects including biology, chemistry and physics and multidisciplinary fields such as bioengineering, chemical engineering, high performance computing, and nanotechnology.
First Choice Fit
Marcus Lattimore from First Choice Community Center in Columbia demonstrates fun and easy exercises that can be done at home.
Flu PSAs: Illness Prevention Tips & Wash Hands Song
These PSAs were created by SC DHEC to prevent the spread of flu and other contagious illnesses. Four key illness prevention tips are highlighted in English and with Spanish subtitles, along with the Wash Hands Song with Danielle Howle (K-2).
From the Sky
From the Sky is a digital series that offers viewers a glimpse into the cities and towns of South Carolina from a “not often seen” vantage point…from above.
Go For It
From the mountains to the midlands to the coast, there's always something new to discover in South Carolina. Discover SC's Devyn Whitmire will experience some of the most unique and iconic experiences the Palmetto State has to offer.
GullahNet
In the past, people have described the Gullah culture as quaint and the language as unintelligible. A closer look reveals a complex history and language with direct links to West Africa that survived slavery and thrived on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. The Gullah experience has many variables that make it unique to each family and community.
GullahNet along with its host, Aunt Pearlie Sue (Anita Singleton-Prather), was designed to introduce Gullah culture and language to children on the web.
Healthy Hannah's Healthy Choice Heroes
Healthy Hannah is a cyber super hero who helps her friends make healthy choices by teaching them about nutrition and physical activity while taking them on adventures through cyber space.
History In A Nutshell
Join our cartoon host as he takes viewers on journeys through significant historical events in World History - In A Nutshell!
Hobby Shop
The place for hands-on math and science activities and games.
KidsECON
Laila, Ella, and Jayden are taking part in a special program at their school called KidsECON. Join them and their mentor, Peggy, on their adventures around the community as they learn how people spend and make money. [grades K-3]
Kids Work!
Kids Work! is a virtual community of workplaces designed to give students an interactive job exploration experience that connects school work to real work.
View profiles from real professionals.
Let's Go!
Check out virtual reality tours of some of South Carolina’s most interesting historical sites on your desktop computer or the Matterport App. Each tour includes an overview video and photo gallery.
Let's Go! CAREERS
Using career profiles and 360 videos, Let's Go! CAREERS brings students virtually inside the work environment, especially in areas that need skilled workers.
NASA Science Simulations
Try out these interactive science activities!
Natural State
A Natural State explores how people express a love for nature by shaping, twisting, carving, and weaving materials collected from the landscape. Some of the arts and crafts featured in A Natural State reveal the cultural heritage of South Carolina, while others employ concepts from the world of modern art.
NatureScene
NatureScene takes viewers on a field trip to South Carolina's parks, featuring naturalist Rudy Mancke.
Original SC
We could do a million stories on the beauty of this state. From the rolling mountains of the Upstate to the beautiful seas of the Lowcountry. Our state is truly unique, but what really makes South Carolina sweet is its amazing people. The people are what make South Carolina original.
Project Discovery
Check out special editions of Project Discovery.
Project Discovery Revisited
These programs are edited versions from the popular live, interactive PROJECT DISCOVERY series. Each of the condensed programs are hosted by students and feature the best on-site segments from the original program.
Reconstruction 360
Reconstruction 360 uses a 360 degree video platform as a storytelling device that lets the audience step inside pivotal Reconstruction events. By clicking on icons within the 360 video the user can access short documentaries that offer the perspectives of multiple characters. Reconstruction 360 also includes lesson plans, primary documents, and curriculum standards.
RiverVenture
RiverVenture is the story of South Carolina's cultural and natural landscape as told by its rivers. RiverVenture will take you on a virtual "float-trip" across South Carolina, following the Saluda, the Congaree, the Santee, the Cooper, and the Catawba Rivers.
Road Trip! Through South Carolina's Civil Rights History
Road Trip! Through South Carolina Civil Rights History was designed to help teachers and students to learn about the people and the events, and the importance of the civil rights movement in South Carolina from the 1940s to the early 1970s. Questions to think about:
Which Civil Rights activists impressed you? What contributions did they make to the Civil Rights Movement in SC?
What struggles, dangers and hardships did people face during the Civil Rights Movement?
If you had been a student activist at that time, what would you have done?
SC Life
Take a virtual field trip to a South Carolina cove forest and a salt marsh. These virtual field trips were produced in collaboration between Clemson University's SC LIFE Project and South Carolina ETV. The virtual field trips were designed specifically for schools lacking easy access to natural areas. The target grade level of the SC LIFE Virtual Field Trips content is middle school.
Smart Cat
Smart Cat is the official mascot for SCETV Kids. Exercise with Smart Cat by checking out the videos and following along!
South Carolina Hall of Fame - New Content!
Rudy Mancke
Rudy Mancke (1941-2023) grew up in Spartanburg and for many years hosted SCETV’s nationally renowned series NatureScene, touring fifty states and ten countries to examine and share their natural wonders.
Smokin' Joe Frazier
Joseph William Frazier was born January 12, 1944, in Beaufort, South Carolina. He held the world heavyweight boxing title from February 16, 1970, until January 22, 1973. Known for his powerful left hook, Frazier’s greatest fight was the “Thrilla in Manilla” against arch rival Muhammad Ali.
Francis Salvador
Francis Salvador (1747-1776) was an English-born plantation owner in the colony of South Carolina. He was the first professing Jewish person elected to public office in the colonies when chosen to represent the Ninety-Six District in the Provincial Congress. He joined the cause for independence and in 1776 was the first Jewish person killed in the Revolutionary War.
Web of Water
Rivers touch some aspect of our lives every day, quietly serving a need for drinking water, farming, power, industry and recreation. In the spring of 2008, educator Ian Sanchez kayaked from the mountains to the sea, making connections between our cultural and natural landscapes.
Web of Water includes videos shot on location of Ian's three week adventure, teacher and student resources, map and diagram collections, and additional streaming video from the broadcast documentary. "Webisodes" provide an inspiring look at Ian's special brand of outreach and environmental education, and insight into how rivers, landforms and landscapes of South Carolina shape who we are, where we live and why we live there.
What's Wild
Experience the wonder! Explore the spectacular! What’s Wild features South Carolina’s rarest wildlife and the amazing people who protect them.
Youth Media Health Institute
South Carolina ETV has a strong record of community service that includes civil rights programming, youth media literacy projects and technology training for teachers. The SCETV American Graduate Youth Media Institute, focusing on health and community engagement, was held at SCETV from June 8 – 12, 2015. Students used their video and reporting skills to create short documentaries on healthy food, farms and gardens. By focusing on sustainable food production and nutrition, the Youth Media Institute helped students make the connection between a healthy lifestyle and their education.
Does sustainable farming or gardening interest you? How about the health benefits? Even a small garden could substantially change your life for the better!
Zoo Minutes
Footage from the world renowned Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens is utilized in each segment with an opening that points out habitat and scientific name. These segments are perfect for any school news program, and they are suitable for all ages. From tiger to tortoise, ostrich to slippery snake, facts about these fascinating creatures are explored in Zoo Minutes.
MONTHLY OBSERVANCES, WEEK-LONG OBSERVANCES AND ONE-DAY OBSERVANCES CAN BE FOUND IN EACH MONTH’S KNOWITALL FACTOIDS!
View these each month to find out about Collections we’ve developed on topics you may never have considered we’d make available on KnowItAll.org!
- View the December Factoids!
- You can also view the KnowItAll Factoids for the full year here!
VIEW THESE AREAS EACH TIME YOU VISIT KNOWITALL.ORG!
If we were able to spark your curiosity with the resources listed above, please visit these additional areas on KnowItAll.org!
Knowitall.org features over 9,000 mobile-friendly videos, worksheets, and interactives for preK-12. Now you can drill down to the specific Topics and Subtopics you’re interested in.
Find topical content and lessons grouped together for your convenience. These are available all year long for your planning purposes.
Lesson plans for teachers that meet South Carolina standards.
Be sure to review our KnowItAll blogs! They provide dates and links to resources each month. You may be surprised by all the topics you'll find!
From the top of the home page, click on the magnifying glass, and when the search box opens, click on the magnifying glass again, and the results will come up, showing all of the assets available on KnowItAll.org. The newest content will appear at the top of the results. Just scroll down to view all of the content that is new to you! Visit often, so you won’t miss a thing!
We welcome your questions and comments! We would love to hear from you!
Wishing you much happiness this holiday season and throughout the New Year!
The Learning Continues on KnowItAll.org!
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