Middle School History Teacher Sean Nowicki absolutely loves three things: history, art… and Spiderman. His interactive “Web of Time and Space” classroom display has allowed him to create a teaching tool that embraces all three. 

This unique and completely original interactive display occupies the back corner of Mr. Nowicki’s second-floor classroom and has become a hub of activity during his history classes. With a sculpture-like appearance, the Web of Time and Space looks like a cross between a 3D science fair poster and a spider web. On one wall, there is an AuthaGraph map of the world—the most accurate map ever designed for a flat surface. On the other wall, Mr. Nowicki drew a graphic timeline from 250 CE - 2000 CE, the time period he and his seventh and eighth-grade students will be studying this year. As the class completes the study of an historical event, students take turns using string to connect the event (on the timeline) to the geographic location where it took place (on the map). For example, one string, labeled “The Reign of Mansa Musa,” stretches from 1312 CE to West Africa. Over the course of the year, strings will crisscross the corner display, literally creating a 3D representation of a history book.

“My goal is to make students rethink the way they view the world,” remarks Nowicki. “Most maps do not accurately portray the size and location of continents and land masses relative to each other. This display helps students visualize where and when events occurred.” Mr. Nowicki hopes that his students will gain insight into historical events that reading a history book simply can’t provide. By visually representing events in time and space, students might understand how interconnected we are to people across the world and across time. “After all, history is really a story about ourselves and how we fit into the world. I wanted this concept to literally come alive.”

And how does Spiderman fit into all this? The students have been suspending Mr. Nowicki’s collection of tiny Spiderman figurines from the strings of the exhibit. “When you factor in the spider-people action figures we have incorporated into the installation, it really is visually striking and quite web-like!”