Most students think of Labor Day as the end of the summer vacation, even
if some kids start school before the official holiday. It marks the end
of the beach season for sure. Yet for many, the true meaning of the
holiday gets lost in the celebration of a long weekend. Few realize that
Labor Day is considered the "
working man's holiday,"
or that the term "labor" by definition means exhausting, hard, physical
work.
It was created to celebrate the vast majority of the American
population who provided the fuel behind this country's success as an industrial
nation. It was first celebrated in 1882, and in 1894 Congress passed an
act making the first Monday in September a legal holiday. We've put together a collection of Labor Day infographics in this post that can be used to engage kids
in a discussion during this opening week of school. They are loaded
with information for lessons in multiple disciplines. Like other
holiday infographics we've written about in the past, they connect with calendar events during the school year.
While we are sure some kids might say that school is hard, physical
work, it pales in comparison to the occupations represented in the
infographics on the
Most Hazardous Jobs in America from
Zazenlife or the
Workplace Fatality Data from the
Huffington Post. Both identify the different hazards of occupations with statistical information on gender and ethnicity. The
data will surprise and enlighten students to the hard facts of what workers face.
The
Labor Day infographic from
Fast Company compares the job sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and
services of the United States. In this visualization the data is
compared to other industrialized countries for 1971 and 2010. It also
provides the change in women's share of the labor force and unemployment
for the same years.
The catchy design for
Labor Day by the Numbers from
Fixr
uses a map of the United States to separate the different jobs and the
number of people working in them. Check out the list of Top 10 Work
Songs for the Labor Day BBQ or Top 10 Labor Day Movies and see if students
know what they are. A little pop culture goes a long way in any lesson. Ask them to take a guess as to what they think most Americans spend
their money on during the holiday weekend, too.
Just a few others to share with students include
Vacation Time Goes Unused by Most Americans and
How We Spend Our Labor Day.
Interestingly enough, most Americans don't take all of their vacation. Many work on Labor Day, fewer than 25% use it to reflect on workers'
rights, and still fewer think about the history of worker protection.
In a time of job uncertainty and difficult economic times, teaching students
the hard facts about labor history and the financial impact on our country
is important. It's fun to include the data on what we do to celebrate,
but it is sobering to see how many people work in dangerous and life-threatening occupations.
Perhaps the most
telling detail is how too few understand the true
meaning behind it. These infographics give us an opportunity to talk to
our students about the day as well as point out comparisons that are
necessary for our students to know. As resources, they provide a wealth
of data for lessons.
Interesting graphic about vacation days!
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