Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Ohh-ohh, fleas on rats, fleas on rats



Above is a rather odd song about the Black Death. I'll warn you, the "fleas on rats" chorus is liable to get stuck in your head, I know it drove me nuts as I merrily hummed it for a day or two.

It's from a series of educational songs produced to introduce various subjects in high school (at least that's what I gather from the comments). I don't know how well they work, but I imagine they are pretty good for kicking off a lecture on a given topic. People younger then me fondly remember Schoolhouse Rock from Saturday mornings, I suspect the generation now in high school will have fond memories of these.

It is from a YouTube channel called historyteachers (History for Music Lovers). If you go there you can find more of their video efforts.

Along with the Black Death one, I quite liked Copernicus ("Because" by the Beatles).


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I HEARD THIS SONG IN MY HISTORY CLASS SO FUNNY

Sweedie-The-Cat said...

To see all 52 awesome history videos, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/historyteachers/videos

Their Official TEDX Hawaii Presentation, Nov 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44jxjM_7jnY

The Creativity Salon Interview (With the late great Neil Tepper)
Ignore the first 1.5 mins, as it is some sort of commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmcuo1Uf_TE&feature=player_embedded#

Here is one young lady who was inspired by them to make her own videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarahjoygordonpdx
http://www.youtube.com/user/sarahjoygordonpdx/videos

If you want to see some other neat videos go see:

Another good history link (Hip Hughes, Buffalo, NY), not related to the history teachers), is here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/hughesDV

Here is a good math/science link (Mr.Edmonds), not related, either), is here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/dsecms

Then, there is Dan Rojas at Green Power Science on YouTube
(Kids, do not try this stuff at home, ok!)
http://www.youtube.com/user/GREENPOWERSCIENCE/videos

And if you are into farming...
http://www.youtube.com/user/onelonleyfarmer/videos

Also, if all you want is Amy Burvall's Voice Blowing your Mind Away, sans Video:
http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=Amy+Burvall

Me? Just a fan of several of these people, and spreading the word to good things to see and hear!
Thanks!
Pete

Unknown said...

My Utah Studies teacher showed this to the class today. Right now I have the "Oooh fleas on rats, fleas on rats" part stuck in my head. It is driving moi crazy!