The Hunley Thematic Unit was successfully pilot tested at Aynor Elementary School in Aynor, South Carolina. Aynor Elementary  is part of the Horry County school system and is located about 30 miles from Myrtle Beach, SC.  The school has about 700 students.

    The teacher piloting the Unit was Mrs. Beverly DiMaio, then head of the school Science Laboratory.  Mrs. DiMaio has extensive teaching experience and has recently been involved with the Bayer/National Science Foundation Competition for Community Innovation. In the 1997-1998 school year she was the coach for four teams involved in the project and one of her teams was a National Semifinalist. For more information about the Bayer/NSF Competition see:

    Mrs. DiMaio used the Hunley Unit with two classes of 6th grade gifted and talented students in the fall of 1999.  At the end of the semester Mrs. DiMaio and her students visited the Charleston Museum to see the Hunley replica there and to tour the Museum.

    Mrs. DiMaio was pleased with the Unit and the student response to it. Some of her comments  were:

"This unit was excellent!  My kids were excited and motivated from the first day to the end.  Many parents commented on their children's enthusiasm."

"The student reading sections are exactly what I need for my class.  The district office wants us to read more factual work and a little less fiction so this unit will fit right in!"

"I have found that the classes are enthusiastic about learning the material and are sharing the information with their parents."

"They really liked the math problems on travel during the time .  I've never seen groups of kids so involved in solving math problems.  I think they understood what a hard job the legislators had!"

"We have really enjoyed your unit. I am getting terrific stories about civil war medicine, blockade runners, and more."

"The kids loved the math problems on water pressure.  At first they were totally confused but when I did the work on the overhead and explained the formulas, they got really excited about doing high level problems and were amazed at how much weight was pressing down on the Hunley."

"We are all having a great time with our study of the Hunley."

Teacher's Detailed Unit Critique

    At the end of the semester, Mrs. DiMaio was kind enough to furnish a detailed critique of the Unit and how she had used it. Click on link to read critique in its entirety.

    During the semester, many of the students made email comments about the material they were studying . Some of these were:

"I like everything you wrote but would like to know more about the diseases"

 "I love the descriptions in your stories.  It has very interesting things that I did not know about. ....... I would like to know about the kids clothes."

"I like hearing your exciting stories.  The vocabulary is hard but that is because we are only in 6th grade.  Your stories are excellent.  I liked hearing about the diseases.  I would like to know more."

"You have great descriptions especially on tradesmen, slaves, plantation owners, and farmers."

"This is very exciting.  In 5th grade we studied the Civil War.  It was boring then, but your unit keeps my attention.  The only thing I'd like to know is more about the diseases.  Thank you for letting us pilot this unit."

    During the Pilot Testing it became obvious that the students wanted to learn more about diseases and illnesses of the Civil War era and also more about the kind of clothing that people wore then.  Two lessons on these subjects were prepared for the Aynor students to supplement the material that was in their Unit. This material will be included in future revisions of the Unit.

Please send comments and suggestions via email to

gteaster@juniorhistory.com  or by writing to:

Junior History Press

PO Box 157

Summerville, SC 29484-0157, USA

To page describing Thematic Unit Study Guide

To page giving detailed Teacher's Critique of Thematic Unit Study Guide

Return to the home page of the Hunley and Charleston's Civil War History.