The assignment and the follow-up

One of the highlights of third grade at my kids' school is something called "The Wax Museum." The children each choose a historical (or current) famous figure, and research the person's life. Over the course of several months, the kids do multiple assignments, culminating in the construction of a timeline. They display this timeline at the school while dressed up as the famous person.

My son did Charles Darwin. Darwin was born in 1809, according to the timeline now sitting in my office (it is...