TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Assembly Line
The core of this instructional activity is about the power of mass production. Students will first assemble a product individually, then work in teams to design, build, test, and redesign an assembly line whose product must meet quality...
PBS
Pbs: Ford Installs First Moving Assembly Line
A look at the history of the assembly line discusses how the use of this tool was initiated by Henry Ford in his Automobile plant.
PBS
People's Century: On the Line
An overview of the assembly line and labor before World War II. Read two personal interviews from men who worked for Ford during this era. Includes teaching guide and links to additional resources.
California Digital Library
Calisphere: Assembly Line
A broad selection of images featuring assembly lines can be found on this site by Calisphere. By clicking on individual images you'll find high quality photographs and image information.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1890 1945: 1920s Consumption
In the 1920s, assembly line production and easy credit made it possible for ordinary Americans to purchase many new consumer goods.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: The Impact of Technology: Cars
This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey looks at the invention of the automobile and the development of mass production. [4:21]
PBS
Pbs: Henry Ford: People and Discoveries
This site is a brief biographical sketch on Henry Ford and includes links to topics related to mass production (such as the moving assembly line).
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Henry Ford
This site from MIT Invention Dimension is a brief profile of Henry Ford focusing on the Assembly Line.
Other
Introduction to Anthropology: Taylorism and Fordism
Read about the precepts of Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford in their applications of scientific business management that improved productivity and increased output of consumer goods.
Other
Management Control: Scientific Management
A look at the ideas of scientific management in mass producing products in the early 20th century. Includes ideas of Henry Ford, Frederick Taylor, and Elton Mayo.
Other
Bringing History Home: Industrialization History
This 3rd grade unit introduces the history of industrialization in the United States in the late 19th century. The development of mechanization and assembly line processes, reliance on unskilled labor, and geographic concentration of...
John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons: Henry Ford and the Model T
This site from John Wiley & Sons examines Henry Ford and the Model T. It provides an in-depth description of how Henry Ford solved production challenges and worker shortages. Read about the other automobile companies that survived in...
The Henry Ford
Henry Ford Museum: The Innovator and Ford Motor Company
This resource briefly explains how, with the development of the Model T, the Ford Motor Company became the largest automobile manufacturer in the world during the early 20th century.
C3 Teachers
C3 Teachers: Inquiries: Industrialization
A learning module on the Industrial Revolution in America that includes several supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Topics covered include how manufacturing...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Growth of Suburbia
The GI Bill made it possible for World War II veterans to finance the purchase of a house. This, combined with mass production of houses, led to the growth of suburban communities, including three Levittown suburbs.
PBS
Pbs: Who Made America?: Innovators: Henry Ford
One-page profile of influential innovator, Henry Ford, whose vision and ideas created low-cost forms of production that made cars affordable to the average American.
The Henry Ford
Henry Ford Museum: Visionaries on Innovation: Henry Ford
Learn about the life of Henry Ford, and his work and experiments that lead to the invention of the Quadricycle and, finally, the Model T, which was introduced in 1908. This site offers a glimpse into Ford's childhood, his work at the...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Automobile Manufacturer Henry Ford
This Library of Congress timeline series discusses Henry Ford, whose automobiles and manufacturing process made the "horseless carriage" affordable to every American.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Henry Ford and the Model T
Henry Ford created the Model T car, the first affordable automobile, and in 1913 introduced mass production of automobiles.