Why Are Blackboards Green?

Why are some chalkboards green when they used to be black? In this video, we’ll explore the fascinating history behind the shift from blackboards to green chalkboards and how this change impacted education. From reducing eye strain to improving classroom visibility, there’s more to this color switch than meets the eye.

Whether you're feeling nostalgic for your school days or just curious about this classroom staple, you’ll learn all about why some chalkboards aren’t black anymore.

Timestamps:
00:16 - Intro
00:52 - The History of Chalkboards
02:04 - From Black to Green: When the Change Happened
02:55 - Why Green? The Science Behind the Color Choice
04:03 - Practical Benefits of Green Chalkboards
05:08 - The Rise of Whiteboards and the Chalkboard’s Legacy
06:59 - Conclusion

#ChalkboardHistory #WhyChalkboardsAreGreen #ClassroomTools #EducationHistory #GreenChalkboard #SchoolDays #BlackboardVsWhiteboard #EyeStrain #Nostalgia #LearningTools #Chalkboard

[WELIVEWEDIEOMY]

I was a child in the 1950's and I absolutely remember living through this transition from black to green. Green was my favorite color at the time so it definitely had my vote. Thank You so much for explaining how and why it happened!

[Kevin-olgr]

When I was in middle school we had a blackboard still. Also has a rowdy class that always took the teacher a moment or two to calm down at the beginning of class. One day he walked in, didn't say anything, picked up a piece of chalk and SCREECHED it up the board. Never seen a class go silent so fast in my life and it was hilarious! So one good reason to still use a chalkboard.

[robertgaines-tulsa]

I remember greenboards being used to a degree in the mid-80s in my early grades. They used yellow chalk with them for better contrast. Beyond that, my school district used blackboards all the way through my graduation in the late 90s. Only my computer programming teacher started using whiteboards. He actually glued whiteboards over his blackboards. Teachers also took advantage of the steel in chalkboards to attach magnets to them. In my senior year of high school in the late 90s, some teachers were experimenting with using the old CRT TV sets mounted in their rooms with them connected to their computer to use them as a supplemental, digital board. Sometime in the 2000s, my school district switched to smartboards. Besides showing information digitally on the board, they could also play videos on them. It's something I missed out on, but the TVs connected to a computer was basically a sample of what was to come.

[skn]

Our elementary school was built in 1955 and had green boards. Our High School was built in 1933 and had blackboards with very ornate frames.

[elizabethroberts]

……my father made a blackboard for me as a Xmas present, when I was a 9yo. I loved it! I loved drawing, even though I wasn’t ‘good’ at it. I’d draw a house, a tree, the sun, & flowers’.

[griffruby]

As a child in the 1960's I once received a children's publication (I think it was a periodical but if so I only obtained the one issue) which was printed on a paper which was this light shade of green, and it was explained in an article (editorial?) in the publication that the green shade made it easier on the eyes, to prevent or reduce eyestrain (even if that word wasn't used) that otherwise would be caused by the plain white paper normally used. Unfortunately, this manner of printing (plain black ink on pale green paper) was never seen elsewhere and appears to be one of many forgotten experiments. I have to wonder if white boards might occasion less eyestrain if they were a pale shade of green instead of the harsh white they always are.

[elylioney]

I like blackboards more than whiteboards

[stumpybear]

A number of my math and science classes used overhead projectors instead. The teach would sit and write on the blank transparency. They would have a few pre-made transparancies that they would write on with the water based markers. Clean up was a simple wet cloth or paper towel.

[smorris]

I much preferred classrooms with blackboards, not green. I have a visual impairment, and it’s much easier for me to see white and yellow on back than green. It got even worse for me when some of the newer schools I went to had white boards. I could hardly see anything, unless black was used. Chalk boards are also easier and cheaper to clean with water. White boards require a chemical spray to clean every week usually.

[macsnafu]

I was going to mention whiteboards, but you covered them, so good. How much chalk dust did kids inhale from knocking the dust out of the erasers?

[robertnorth]

God help you if you accidently use a Sharpie on a whiteboard.

[stevencoghill]

Our high school had some brown boards too (brown paint instead of green)

[MillerMeteor]

I graduated in 1981, so I was in school throughout the 70s. I remember both black and green chalkboards, and never thought anything of it. I never knew there was a shift from black to green. I just thought both were being made, without any special reason. But I thought it would be interesting to watch this video, and it was.
I remember sometime when I was in high school (in a small Christian school), the school switched to white boards. Maybe I was a junior or senior at the time.

[DJapan]

Another benefit to painted steel is that magnets stick to it.

[gregblair]

I remember having a blackboard replaced by a greenboard in my grade school years. They actually installed it in the room during either Christmas or Easter break (I don't remember which anymore). Roughly around the same time, felt erasers were replaced by foam rubber erasers. I don't know if this transition's timing was purely coincidental, or if the new erasers worked better on the new boards.

[Robb-jfvg]

In my youth an school years (b. 1953) all the boards were green! And most of the time, Teacher's chalk was yellow!

[catreader]

Regarding the option of color when using whiteboards: My first elementary school had actual slate blackboards. Our teachers used brightly colored chalks to highlight key elements. Bonus was that on special occasions the students were allowed to use one or two panels to draw mural-like expansive drawings. The two classrooms had a large area of blackboard to student ratio, which worked both for the artistic expression and for teaching multiple grades in one classroom. When I moved to a modern elementary school, the extremely smooth green chalkboards were not a surprise, but I was bemused at first by the pale yellow "dustless" chalk.

[JamesPhieffer]

My elementary school opened around 1970, so when I started there later that decade, the chalkboards were green.

When I went to junior high in grade 7, it was a much older school with blackboards. I assumed the difference was due to the relative ages of the schools - green was just the new thing.

And forty+ years later, I finally know the whole story.

As to whiteboards, I'm inclined to wonder if, in a school environment, it's just change for changes sake. After all, there was coloured chalk long before whiteboards were dreamt up.

[wtty]

Nice visuals. Seeing teachers using them brought back a lot of memories.

[toddatglencovewoodworks]

How about the history of the bottle cap?