In Benjamin Banneker's time most families wanted to have an almanac.  The almanac was a clock, calendar, doctor, and storyteller to the people of those times.  It told when the sun and moon would rise and set, about eclipse, full moons, and predicted the weather.  The almanac helped people identify good times to plant crops.  It also provided information to help keep people healthy and had important letters and other information in it.  The almanac also featured practical advice, poems, jokes, weather predictions and proverbs.  Long ago people did not have daily newspapers, radios, TV, or other electronic ways of getting information.  They had to use an almanac.

Benjamin thought about all the figuring it took to make an almanac.  He knew he could do all the figuring and make his own almanac.  Maybe he could even make a better, more accurate almanac than they had.  Click on the link below to learn more.

Marking Time  

Next you will examine almanacs by Benjamin Banneker. His almanac was in book form. Today several  almanacs are now available on the Internet.  Remember that the Internet has only been available for citizens since 1981.  Look at at least two of the almanacs that are available on the Internet, such as Old Farmer's Almanac and the World Almanac for Kids.   Remember to look for gardening, weather and astronomy links.  These are  the kind of items that Benjamin would have included in his almanac.

The Old Farmer's Almanac

http://www.almanac.com/

Farmer's Almanac

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/

The World Almanac For Kids

http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/index.html

Using a word processing program create a page for your class almanac.  Remember to include information about gardening, weather or astronomy.  The information should be relevant for the people living in your community. You can add clip or graphics to your page.