Blackboard

"Blackboard" redirects here. For other uses, see Blackboard (disambiguation).

For other uses, see Blackboard (disambiguation).

A quadruple blackboard at the Helsinki University of Technology

A chalkboard or blackboard is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, known, when used for this purpose, as chalk. Chalkboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or dark grey slate stone. Modern versions are often green because the color is considered easier on the eyes.

Design

Students writing on a blackboard in a village school in Laos

A chalkboard can simply be a piece of board painted with matte dark paint (usually black or dark green). A more modern variation consists of a coiled sheet of plastic drawn across two parallel rollers, which can be scrolled to create additional writing space while saving what has been written. The highest grade chalkboards are made of a rougher version porcelain enamelled steel (black, green, blue or sometimes other colours). Porcelain is very hard wearing and chalkboards made of porcelain usually last 10–20 years in intensive use.

The chalk marks can be easily wiped off with a damp cloth, a sponge or a special chalkboard eraser consisting of a block of wood covered by a felt pad. However, chalk marks made on some types of wet chalkboard can be difficult to remove. Chalkboard manufacturers often advise that a new or newly resurfaced chalkboard be completely covered using the side of a stick of chalk and then that chalk brushed off as normal to prepare it for use.

Chalk sticks

See also: Sidewalk chalk

Sticks of processed "chalk" are produced especially for use with chalkboards in white and also in various colours. These are not actually made from chalk rock but from calcium sulfate in its dihydrate form, gypsum.

Uses

Magnetic blackboard used for play and learning at the children's museum, Kitchener, Canada (The Museum)

Chalkboards are often used in teaching, although in wealthier countries their use has diminished. University lecture theatres may contain a number of chalkboards in a grid arrangement, with each column mounted on rollers to allow the lecturer to move boards into reach for writing and then move them out of reach, allowing a large amount of material to be shown simultaneously. Chalkboards are also used in many establishments (typically public houses) as a form of advertising often for upcoming events and menus and to record the score in darts matches. Also in homes, specifically in the kitchen, for writing messages, shopping lists and things to remember, as well as sometimes serving a decorative purpose.

Advantages and disadvantages

See also: Discussion of advantages and disadvantages at Whiteboard

As compared to whiteboards, chalkboards have a variety of advantages:

• Chalk requires no special care; whiteboard markers must be capped or else they dry out.
• Chalk is an order of magnitude cheaper than whiteboard markers for a comparable amount of writing.
• It is easier to draw lines of different weights and thicknesses with chalk than with whiteboard markers.
• Chalk has a mild smell, whereas whiteboard markers often have a pungent odor.
• Chalk writing often provides better contrast than whiteboard markers.

On the other hand, chalk produces dust, the amount depending on the quality of chalk used. Some people find this uncomfortable or may be allergic to it, and according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), there are links between chalk dust and allergy and asthma problems. The dust also precludes the use of chalk in areas shared with dust-sensitive equipment such as computers.

The scratching of fingernails on a chalkboard, as well as other pointed, especially metal objects against chalkboards, produces a sound that is well known for being extremely irritating to most people. Many are averse also to merely the sight or thought of this sort of contact.

Etymology and history

The blackboard was invented by James Pillans, headmaster of the Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland. He used it with colored chalk to teach geography.

The chalkboard was in use in Indian schools in the 11th century as per Alberuni’s Indica (Tarikh Al-Hind), written in the early 11th century– They use black tablets for the children in the schools, and write upon them along the long side, not the broadside, writing with a white material from the left to the right. One would think that the author of the following verses had meant the Hindus : — “How many a writer uses paper as black as charcoal, Whilst his pen writes on it with white color. By writing he places a bright day in a dark night, weaving like a weaver, but without adding a woof.”

The term "blackboard" dates from around 1815 to 1825 while the newer and predominantly American term, "chalkboard" dates from 1935 to 1940.

The chalkboard was introduced into the US education system in 1801.

Gallery

• 
  Portable chalkboard in a mind-reading performance, 1900
• 
  Chalkboard in use in a school
• 
  A chalkboard, with multiple colours of chalk
• 
  A chalkboard eraser and piece of chalk
• 
  Chalkboard eraser
• 
  A cleaner for a chalkboard eraser

See also

• Chalkboard gag from The Simpsons
• Chalkzone
• Interactive whiteboard
• Sidewalk chalk
• Slate
• Sound of fingernails scraping chalkboard
• Whiteboard