When the Senate released the results of its investigation in the techniques used by the CIA on detainees, many of my students had a hard time visualizing the size of the box. They could understand the reference to the "casket sized box" at least one detainee was kept in for over eleven days but the measurements, especially when reported in centimeters didn't register. I drew (as best I could) a picture on the board but that only helped a bit. Some students, especially the smaller ones made comments like, "that wouldn't be so bad." So over Christmas break I scrounged enough scrap wood from my shed to build one. The dimensions in the report were listed at 21" x 30" x 30." None of the reports specified if these were the inside or outside dimensions so I made them the inside dimensions.
When I was putting it together it actually seemed a bit bigger than what I thought it might be. Still I can't imagine spending more than a minute or two in the box let alone the 29 hours Abu Zubaida spent in the box. This was after spending over 11 days in the casket sized box. If you want more details you can read them at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/12/09/the-10-most-harrowing-excerpts-from-the-cia-interrogation-report/
Hopefully this helps students and maybe others visualize the harshness of the techniques used by people representing the U.S. government. A nation which claims to be the moral beacon of the world should be down on its knees begging forgiveness.
