Curated OER
Big Business & Industrial Cities
This is a true gem. This PowerPoint is well-organized, has bullet points you control (which gives you time for discussion), has sound effects, and covers several aspects of American industrialization after 1900. The presentation begins...
Digital Public Library of America
The American Whaling Industry
When thinking about the American whaling industry most imagine Moby Dick and Nantucket sleigh rides, harpoons and scrimshaw, whale-oil lamps and baleen in women's corsets. But it may come as a surprise that the industry was also...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Labor Unions in an Industrializing U.S.
Have class members eager to enter the workforce? They'll be glad to learn that things aren't how they used to be. Have your young historians examine then discuss four primary source images related to the negative effects of...
Curated OER
Fun-Factory - NOT!
Middle schoolers design a solution to a problem based on the Industrial Revolution. In this design lesson plan, students come up with architectural designs and present them to teachers in a simulated factory.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Life Before the Civil War
American life before the Civil War was very different from American life today. To show this difference in a full spectrum, learners compare two communities that illustrate the differences between Northern and Southern life. Throughout...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Simple Machines, Ben Franklin and the Technology of the 1700s
Benjamin Franklin was an inventor, and he was fascinated by the mechanics of machinery. Using a fun exploration, pupils examine simple machines from the pre-Industrial era. Then, they must identify and build their own using common objects.
Curated OER
We've Gotcha Covered: The Iowa Insurance Story
Analyze the relationship between financial risks and the growth of the insurance industry in Iowa. Learners work in groups to analyze the major catastrophic events that occurred in their community. Several worksheets are included.
Curated OER
Shoal Destroying
Young scholars investigate methods used in the fishing industry. In this environmental stewardship lesson, students visit selected websites to research fishing methods and create a game based around the fishing industry.
Curated OER
Hearings on the Treatment of Women in Factories
In this women in factories worksheet, students respond to 16 short answer questions and fill in the blanks regarding information from a hearing on the treatment in women in factories during Industrialization.
Food Project
Trace The French Fry
How does locally grown produce sold at a farmer's market compare to a more complex industrial system in the way they each affect the environment, people, and the economy? Pupils explore the different types of food systems and how they...
Smithsonian Institution
Art to Zoo: Life in the Promised Land: African-American Migrants in Northern Cities, 1916-1940
This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...
Curated OER
Video Game Violence: Explore Possible Impacts
Introduce middle schoolers to the issue of video game violence with a multifaceted approach. Learners complete a gaming survey, as well as read and discuss a news feature about violent video game sales and a handout on stimulus...
Newseum
The Speed of News: Where Do We Get the News?
Times are changing. One change is the way people get and share the news. Class members pair up and interview one another to find out how their peers get news. After compiling their findings, young reporters interview an adult, compile...
Curated OER
Natural Resources
Seventh graders consider how US natural resources have helped it to become a leading industrialized power. They research, discuss, write and edit an expository paragraph in groups. They can present paragraph to another class or compile a...
Curated OER
Serving Up Reality
Students consider the factors that go into running a restaurant and examine how the restaurant industry impacts the economy of the United States. They create skeleton proposals for new restaurants and consider the costs of this type of...
Curated OER
Economies
Students discover different economic systems. In this global economy lesson plan, students research the levels of economic activity, types of economies, maquiladoras and the differences between a free market economy and other systems....
Curated OER
Report of Shop, Factory, Mill or Industrial Establishment
Students examine the pollution survey created in response to the Public Health Laws of 1903, and compare/contrast polluting factory discharges in 1903 to those allowed today. They analyze the report survey, complete a worksheet, and...
Curated OER
Sunderland: Discovering Cities
Scholars investigate a local city (Sunderland) by participating in a discussion. They explore the different elements of the UK city by identifying the industrial and economic aspects. They also read an interview of two people speaking...
Curated OER
Public I or Private I
Students explore the topic of national identity cards in the United States as a starting point in determining what types of information should be publicly accessible to the government and private industry about specific individuals.
Curated OER
Wanted: A Breath of Fresh Air
Students examine the causes and effects of air pollution, as well as ways in which various industries and government organizations are aiming to control it. They research the topic on the Internet and create posters based on their research.
Curated OER
A Whale of a Difference
Students research various perspectives on Japan's commercial whaling industry and formulate position papers representing these views. They read the Times article, Yuk! No More Stomach for Whales. Groups present their perspectives on...
Curated OER
Where, Oh Where is All the Clean Air?
Students examine the history of air pollution dating back to the Roman Empire. In groups, they research the different types of pollutants in the air and how they can affect the environment. They participate in various experiments to...
National First Ladies' Library
Rosie the Riveter
Students identify and interpret the power of symbols. Then they research and identify what type of information that they can locate at the Library of Congress website and list what they learned from it in the time allotted. Students also...
Curated OER
Creating a Shared Culture
Students simulate working on an assembly line in a shared culture. In this consumerism lesson, students participate in a lecture and note-taking session before working on a simulated assembly line. They work in a timed situation to...