Thumbwind Publications is in the Classroom (Nation Wide!)

Our history and social studies posts have attracted the attention of schools across the country. As new technology is being used for online classroom tools, we found this site is used in classwork across the US.

Unbeknown to us, stories on Thumbwind.com have been listed in Google ClassRoom and other online educational programs for our features on events and history in Michigan’s Thumb. Analytics reports show these historical and social issues posts receive traffic from these services every school day.

Today we received a call from a class in Ossipee, New Hampshire asking about a story we wrote about the Great Fire of 1871. They were doing a research project but needed a citation of our story in Modern Language Association (MLA) format. It was a great idea.

Going forward there will be MLA formatted citations on our History and select Social Studies posts.

Thumbwind Publications Looks to Improve For the Classroom

In order to improve the content of these classroom resources, we will be seeking additional help from the services of external editors and historians to review our content. Thus you may see updates on these older articles on our social media accounts from time to time

Thanks to our readers and numerous contributing authors for growing Thumbwind Publications into a new and important area.

Current Pages Being Used in Classwork Rubrics

The following posts are currently in use as part of a planned study in History, Social Studied, and Environmental Science

Environment News

Great Lakes Pollution – Saginaw Bay Muck Is Poop (#2) – 2017 marks 30 years since Michigan’s Saginaw Bay was deemed an Area of Concern. Outdated and failing septic tanks, overflow from Bay City and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations CAFOs. Experts confirmed local suspicions of what exactly is in the muck that has been appearing on beaches.

Are Foreign Companies Stealing Great Lakes Water? – Nestle, a company based in Switzerland, can already suck and export up to 250 gallons a minute from a well in Evart, Michigan. Now it wants a new permit that would allow the company to pump 400 gallons of water each minute of the day.

7 Noteworthy DIY Wind Turbine Renewable Energy Projects You Can Do in a Weekend – It’s getting simple to make your own renewable energy source using material found in your home or even salvaged from an old washing machine or treadmill. We explored the web for some top ideas on what it would take to create a hobby turbine or solar panel that could actually offset some energy expenses at your farm, cabin, boat, or cottage.

Michigan Wind Farm Map 2022 – The Michigan Wind Farm Map offers current, proposed, and deferred or canceled projects in Michigan. Information is taken from both public and government reports from the Michigan Public Services Commission. This site is updated as information becomes available.

Social Studies

Michigan Indian Place Names of Saginaw Valley and Thumb – Michigan Indian Place Names are important historical records of the Saginaw Valley and Upper Thumb, we have found this brief sketch about the original names from the Anishinaabeg to several places and rivers and discovered their meaning.

What is Michigan Known For? – We found this set of amazing little tidbits of obscure trivia on what Michigan is known for in automotive, shipping, and transportation. It’s an easy resource to have students learn a couple of unique bits of history of Michigan that are sometimes overlooked.

Michigan History

1881 Michigan Fire Forever Changed The Thumb – The fires of September 4th through the 6th of 1881, commonly known as the Thumb Fire, took hundreds of lives and burned well over one million acres.

The Horrid History of 3 Indian Boarding Schools in Michigan – Michigan’s Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School indoctrinated 300 children each year and ran until 1934. There were also schools in Baraga and Harbor Springs. For decades, the US took thousands of Native American children and enrolled them in off-reservation boarding schools. In fact, this was government policy to assimilate an entire people by forcibly removing children from their families and indoctrinating them into the Anglo language, religion, and way of life.

1881 Fire Parisville Michigan Devastation – The 1881 fire that swept much of Michigan’s Thumb devastated one town. However, stories of miraculous events are passed down today.