AAPI Heritage Month Jeopardy

Why May, trailblazers in Congress, Angel Island and Korematsu, writers, scientists and culture, for AAPI Heritage Month. Free to copy, played with phone buzzers.

6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone

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The Month

$200
AAPI Heritage Month is observed in this month.
What is May?
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May was chosen partly because the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the US on May 7 of this year.
What is 1843?
$600
May also marks the 1869 completion of this railroad, built largely by Chinese workers.
What is the Transcontinental Railroad?
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AAPI stands for Asian American and this.
What is Pacific Islander?
$1,000
The observance began as a week in 1978, and Congress made May the permanent month in this year.
What is 1992?

Trailblazers

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In 2021, she became the first Asian American vice president.
Who is Kamala Harris?
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This Japanese American congresswoman from Hawaii, the first woman of color in Congress, co-wrote Title IX.
Who is Patsy Mink?
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Elected in 1959, this Chinese American from Hawaii was the first Asian American US senator.
Who is Hiram Fong?
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Elected in 1956, this Indian-born Californian was the first Asian American in Congress.
Who is Dalip Singh Saund?
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In 1992, this Californian became the first Asian American woman to win a Winter Olympic gold medal, in figure skating.
Who is Kristi Yamaguchi?

History

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During World War II, about 120,000 people of this ancestry were forced into incarceration camps.
What is Japanese?
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This 1882 law was the first to bar immigration by a specific nationality.
What is the Chinese Exclusion Act?
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Sometimes called the Ellis Island of the West, this San Francisco Bay station detained many Chinese immigrants.
What is Angel Island?
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This man challenged his wartime incarceration order at the Supreme Court in 1944; his conviction was overturned in 1983.
Who is Fred Korematsu?
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Made up mostly of Japanese Americans, this regiment became, for its size and length of service, the most decorated in US history.
What is the 442nd Regimental Combat Team?

Arts and Literature

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Amy Tan's 1989 novel about four Chinese American mothers and their daughters.
What is The Joy Luck Club?
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This Japanese American sculptor is known for his paper Akari lamps and a coffee table bearing his name.
Who is Isamu Noguchi?
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This Vietnamese American writer won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Sympathizer.
Who is Viet Thanh Nguyen?
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This Chinese-born American architect designed the glass pyramid at the Louvre.
Who is I. M. Pei?
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Hawaii's last monarch, this queen, wrote the song Aloha ʻOe.
Who is Liliʻuokalani?

Science and Innovation

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Steve Chen and Jawed Karim co-founded this video site in 2005.
What is YouTube?
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Chinese American physicist Chien-Shiung Wu worked on this secret World War II project.
What is the Manhattan Project?
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This Indian American astronaut died in the 2003 Columbia disaster.
Who is Kalpana Chawla?
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Ellison Onizuka, the first Asian American in space, was from this state.
What is Hawaii?
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This Indian-born astrophysicist, the namesake of a NASA X-ray observatory, won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Who is Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar?

Culture

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This garland of flowers is a traditional Hawaiian welcome.
What is a lei?
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This Hawaiian dance tells stories through movement and chant.
What is hula?
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Meat stewed in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and bay leaf, this dish is often called the Philippines' national dish.
What is adobo?
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This spicy fermented cabbage dish is a staple of the Korean table.
What is kimchi?
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Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, is celebrated in this season.
What is spring?

Final Jeopardy — On the Quarter

In 2022, this Hollywood star of the 1920s and 30s became the first Asian American to appear on US currency, on a quarter.

Who is Anna May Wong?

How to run this board

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month covers a huge range of people and histories, and this board is a starting point rather than a summary. Categories cover why the month is in May, political trailblazers, key moments in history from the Chinese Exclusion Act to Korematsu, writers and artists, scientists and astronauts, and cultural traditions from Hawaii to the Philippines to Korea.

The History column deals with exclusion and wartime incarceration directly, and it is worth leaving time after it for questions. The Final names the first Asian American to appear on US currency, which is a good way into a conversation about who gets remembered and how.

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