AAPI Heritage Interactive Adventure

• The Asian Pacific Student Advisory Council met on March 5, 2025.
• The meeting covered an escape room activity and a migration map lesson.
• Christopher Lee from Walter Reed Middle School is a group member
• Nathan Hu Young from Walter Reed Middle School is a group member
• Akshita Islam from Kennedy High School is a group member
• Josephine Chun from Chatsworth Charter High School is a group member

AAPI Heritage Interactive Adventure

• This project's purpose is to provide students with an interactive, interdisciplinary exploration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history and culture.
• The project aims to develop historical empathy, cultural awareness, and an appreciation for AAPI contributions.
• It also encourages digital literacy and research skills.
• The goal is to empower students to engage with history in a meaningful way.

Learning Objectives

• Students will identify and explain key events in AAPI history, including:
  • The Delano Grape Strike
  • Japanese American Internment
  • The Chinese Exclusion Act.
• Students will analyze the impact of migration patterns on the cultural and economic development of the United States.
• Students will recognize and appreciate the cultural contributions of AAPI communities, including traditions, art, and food.
• Students will compare cultural similarities and differences between various AAPI groups such as:
  • Filipino
  • Japanese
  • Pacific Islander communities.
• Students will solve riddles, puzzles, and decoding challenges related to AAPI historical milestones and influential figures.
• Students will evaluate primary and secondary sources to draw conclusions about the resilience of AAPI communities.
• Students will use interactive maps to trace migration routes and settlement patterns of AAPI communities.
• Students will identify key locations significant to AAPI history, such as:
  • Morro Bay (Filipino landing)
  • Promontory Summit (railroad completion)
  • Manzanar (internment camp).
• Students will reflect on the historical and contemporary contributions of AAPI activists and leaders.
• They will discuss the importance of advocacy, resilience, and unity in advancing civil rights for marginalized groups.
• Students will create and share digital projects using platforms like:
  • Google Slides
  • Minecraft
  • Podcasting software.
• Students will interpret and use multimedia resources to enhance their understanding of AAPI heritage.
• Students will work in teams to complete interactive activities, such as "Escape Room" challenges or scavenger hunts.
• They will present their findings and reflections in creative formats:
  • Oral presentations
  • Skits
  • Digital storytelling.
• Students will listen to firsthand accounts from AAPI community members to understand different perspectives and lived experiences.
• Students will engage in discussions about social justice and fairness, using examples from AAPI history.
• Students will design their own interactive games, timelines, or podcasts to share AAPI stories and lessons.
• Students will use:
  • Art
  • Engineering principles
  • Digital tools to showcase their learning.
• Students will conduct research to uncover "hidden figures" in AAPI history, such as:
• Larry Itliong
• Dalip Singh Saund.
• Students will investigate how historical events, such as the Immigration Act of 1965, influenced AAPI migration and community growth.

Icebreaker Activity

• A question to think about: "What is your favorite food to eat from your culture?"

Why AAPI Heritage Matters

• AAPI communities have shaped the history, culture, and progress of the United States.
• Their stories are often overlooked.
• AAPI contributions such as:
  • Building railroads
  • Fighting for civil rights
  • Helped pave the way for a more inclusive nation.
• Consider this question: "What historical events involving AAPI communities do you already know?"

Milestone Moments in AAPI History

• 1869: The Transcontinental Railroad was completed; Chinese laborers made up over 80% of the workforce.
• 1882: The Chinese Exclusion Act was signed, prohibiting most Chinese laborer immigrants for the next 10 years.
• 1917: The Immigration Act of 1917 established literary tests and prohibited laborer immigrants from nearly all Asian countries.
• 1942: Japanese American Internment happened during WWII. Around 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps.
• 1965: The Immigration Act of 1965 opened doors to immigrants from Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Luzonians Set Sail

• The Philippines has a rich maritime history.
• Filipino sailors, known as "Luzonians," were some of the first Asian explorers to arrive in the Americas.
• In 1587, they landed in Morro Bay, California, as part of a Spanish expedition.
• Filipino sailors introduced fishing techniques and seafaring knowledge that influenced coastal communities in California.

Ancient Writing Systems: Baybayin

• Baybayin, also called Tagalog or Basahan, was mainly used by the Philippines before Spanish colonization in the 1560s.
• After Spanish colonization, it largely died out and was replaced by the Latin alphabet.
• Recently, there has been a resurgence of the Baybayin language.

Escape Room Station 1: Filipino Sailors' Arrival

• The challenge involves solving a puzzle in Baybayin script.

Building America (Chinese Railroad Workers)

• In the 1860s, Chinese immigrants played a role in constructing the Transcontinental Railroad.
• Key Fact: Chinese workers earned lower wages ($27-$30/month) compared to non-Asian workers ($35/month).
• They also worked longer hours.
• Chinese workers were responsible for difficult tasks, like blasting tunnels through the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
• They made up about 85% of the Central Pacific Railroad's workforce, yet lived in worse conditions.
• They received less respect than their non-Asian counterparts, mainly Irish immigrants.

Life of a Railroad Worker

• Chinese workers ate:
  • Seafood
  • Vegetables
  • Live animals.
• They stayed clean by taking baths and washing their clothes.
• They drank tea instead of water.
• They lived in canvas tents and wooden bunkhouses in the mountains.

Escape Room Station 2: Chinese Laborers and the Railroad

• The challenge involves solving a math problem about the transcontinental railroad and laborers.
• Key Fact: 13,000 Chinese immigrants worked on the transcontinental railroad for Central Pacific.

Tracing AAPI Migration (Interactive Map)

• AAPI migration happened in distinct waves:
  • From 1500s – 1800s included Filipino and Chinese sailors, laborers, and settlers.Transcontinental railroad construction lured many immigrants.
  • From 1800s – 1924 Japanese, Korean, and South Asian immigrants sought farming and business opportunities and began arriving.
  • Beginning in the 20th century laws many laws restricting immigration were passed such as Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) and Immigration Act of 1924.
• After 1965 (Post Immigration act) more immigrants came to reunite with family or pursue educational opportunities.

Mapping AAPI Contributions

• California had its economy and infrastructure impacted by these immigrants with: -Japanese-American contributions to farming
  • Agriculture.
• Hawaii had : -laborers from Japan, China, the Philippines, and Portugal. -Sugarcane plantations. -Gateway into America for many immigrants.

Art and Science of Origami

• Origami combines creative design and skillful folding to convey elegance, precision, and beauty.
• Origami uses geometry and math, including angles, lines, and ratios, to create shapes, symmetry, and tessellations.

Modern Use of Origami

• Architecture and engineering uses origami for its lightweight design with dynamic structures to advance aerospace, robotics, and sustainability.
• Origami enables efficient designs in robotics, aerospace, and medicine, like flexible mechanisms and deployable structures.
• Deployable compact and portable structures use origami principles.
• There are also minimally Invasive Surgical Tools that take advantage of origami techniques
• Earth Quake Resistant Designs are inspired by Japanese culture.

Breaking Stereotypes

• Myth: All AAPIs are good at STEM, this overlooks talents across arts, humanities, business, and athletics.
• Myth: All AAPIs are model minorities, overlooks struggles as people with docile like personality, which in turn is used in stereotypes.
• Myth: AAPI culture is monolithic- There is diversity among the people with unique customs ,there is no single culture as a result
• Myth: All AAPIs are recent Immigrants- Many AAPIs are U.S. citizens

AAPI Diversity

• There approximately 48 countries in Asia, each unique.

Hidden Figures Scavenger Hunt

• A scavenger hunt is used to solve riddles to uncover lesser known AAPI figures

Larry Itliong

• Filipino American labor leader and Co-organized the 1965 Delano Grape Strike- fought for better farmworkers wages

Dalip Singh Saund

• First Asian American and Sikh to be to be elected into U.S. Congress in 1957