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Activity
#1: Transit Oration
Prepare and then digitally record a persuasive
speech – up to 3 minutes in duration – on
any topic related to the New York City subway. Persuade
someone who usually drives to work to take public transportation
instead. Urge someone to adhere to subway safety rules.
Urge subway riders to be careful on subway platforms,
or to use proper etiquette. Be creative, and speak your
mind.
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Michael
J. Quill, first International President
of the Transport Workers Union, addresses
a throng of workers outside the IRT’s
59th Street powerhouse in 1935. The Transport
Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO.
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Activity
#2: Poetry in Motion
Write and submit an original poem that focuses
on how the New York City subway facilitates "connections".
Your interpretation may be literal or figurative. Selected
poets will be invited to recite their poems
during a "Subway Poetry Slam".
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Click
the button above to launch some "poetry
magnets" which you may use to inspire
your work.
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Activity
#3: Clearing the Air
Design and upload a slide presentation or mini
web site that highlights the environmental benefits of
using subways specifically or public transportation in
general. How does use of public transportation compare
to the use of gas-powered automobiles in terms of impact
on the environment? Selected student presentations will
be highlighted and their authors will be invited to
use their slides to speak about their ideas to their
class.
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Subways
help reduce the emission of gases which can
be harmful to our environment. Click to see
this and other tokens up close.
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Activity
#4: Subway Screenplay
Write a short screenplay that tells a story
that is set in the New York City subway system, or that
relates to the subway in some other key way. The screenplay
should be of a length appropriate for a very short film
(5-10 minutes).
Create
a visual storyboard for your screenplay, using images
(scanned drawings, photographs, illustrations
made on the computer, etc.) depicting the major camera
shots in your story. When the screenplay is complete,
you may use tools available to you to record a reading
of the screenplay. Read
any non-spoken
narrative aspects of the screenplay as a voice-over
narration during your recording.
You
may do this activity – the screenplay, storyboard
and reading – as a group or independently.
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Adverstisement
for the motion picture Subway Sadie,
1926. Adapted
from the Broadway stage hit of the same title,
the motion picture Subway
Sadie
told the story of “a girl in a million
straphangers” who had “limousine
longings and a subway salary.” The subway‘s
unprecedented mixing of genders and classes
fascinated -- and often troubled -- contemporary
observers.
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Activity
#5: Transit by the Numbers
Create and then upload a digital image (original
art, diagram or photograph) along with a 400-600 word
essay or proof that explains how the subway system illustrates
a particular mathematical principle. Explain the mathematical
principle itself, and describe how this aspect of the
subway would be different without it. You may draw on
geometry, calculus, trigonometry, algebra or other mathematical
fields of study.
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A
close up of Blooming, a mosaic by
Elizabeth Murray, 1996. This glass mosaic is
featured on the mezzanine connecting the 4,5,6
and the N,R,W at the 59th Street subway station.
Mosaics illustrate many mathematical concepts,
including illuminating the study of "tesselations".CLICK
the image above to experiment with mosaics
and tesselations.
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Activity
#6: Physics in Transit
Create an image, diagram, digital animation
or digitized video clip, along with a 500-600 word paper
or proof, that explains how any aspect of the subway
system illustrates a particular principle in the study
of physics.
Challenge
yourself to not use the most obvious idea that comes
to your mind, but consider an aspect of the subway system
where you had not thought much about the presence of
physics principles. You may focus on a small detail,
such as something found only in a particular station,
or a more general idea, such as force at work in the
motion of all subway cars.
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Whether
you're on a subway car, waiting carefully on
the platform, or entering the station from
aboveground, physics principles are all around
you.
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Activity
#7: The New York Transit Times
Take on the role of a journalist living and
writing twenty to one hundred years ago. Write an original
news story involving some aspect of the creation or history
of the NYC Subway. Your article should rely on historic
fact for context, but it need not describe an actual
event. The piece you write may be serious or humorous,
but it must should follow conventional journalistic standards.
You might also decide to write an editorial piece; if
you do, be sure to make clear why you hold the
opinion you do (i.e. describe who is your historic character).
Your Project:
Your article should have an appropriate headline, be no more than 450 words,
and incorporate at least two quotes. You may also include an original illustration
or photograph.
MORE ...
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Subway
Car-Card, Subway Sun: Unification, June
12, 1940. New York Transit Museum.
A
1940 cartoon in The Subway Sun celebrates
public ownership of the transit system as “Mr.
Receiver” (city official Thomas Murray)
hands over the IRT to “Mr. Mayor” (Fiorello
LaGuardia).
The
private IRT had declared bankruptcy in 1932.
Although the subways were essential to New
York, bailing out a private company with
public funds was controversial. So the city
determined to buy out the private lines.
After eight years of negotiations, the IRT
and BMT officially joined the city-operated
IND, unifying mass transit under a single
city agency.
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Activity
#8: Subway Song
Compose an original song about the subway.
Perform or sing your song, and record it
using tools available to you. Your song may have lyrics
and/or music.
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Sheet
Music, Take the A Train, 1941. Music
by Billy Strayhorn, Published by Tempo Music.
New York Transit Museum.
The 1941 swing hit, composed by Strayhorn and
arranged by Duke Ellington, helped to make
the A line of the IND New York’s most
famous subway route. The song has since become
a classic, helping to make the Harlem-bound
line a memorable part of American culture.
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Activity
#9: CarCard Campaign
Design an original
CarCard and subway station billboard campaign as a publis
service announcement. Consider ad placement and be prepared
to justify your decisions.
Your campaign may be current, and be based on topics
like: subway safety or the subway centennial. You may
instead design an historical advertising campaign with
a public service message appropriate for the time period
you select. You can even design your campaign for the
future! Base your campaign on factual research. Share
a document containing
sample
images, posters and a description of your overall campaign
with your teacher. You may also choose to
present your campaign in the form a mini web site.
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Activity
#10: Subway Mind Map
Make an artistic rendering of the New York
City Subway map that emphasizes areas of personal importance
to you within the city. Where do you live? Near what
station do those you care about call home? What stop
is closest to your favorite
park, store, museum or your favorite place
to
play, read or learn? Where were you when you learned
one of your most important life lessons to date? Think
about creative ways to use a subway map
to tell people about who you are and what matters most
to you.
You
may create your map from scratch, or use an actual
subway map as a starting point.
Materials may include digital photographs, crayon,
pen and ink, collage -- you name it. Feel free to accompany
your mind map with a short (100-200 word) written summary
of your
work.
You
may also use the virtual exhibit of historic subway
maps to draw
some inspiration.
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Rapid
Transit Guide, New York City Transit Authority,
1969. New York City Transit Museum.
Go back in history, and look at some historic
depictions of the New York City subway system
as it evolved through time:
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