Activity
1. Write or print the following statement on an overhead
with the accompanying Question 1. Have students
write it in their notes as well as other questions
and answers discussed.
When
the American Civil War ended, one thing became clear:
Free labor was abolished! So how could all businesses
be profitable now that every worker had to be paid?
2.
List ideas students give. Chances are there will be few to none since economics
is a difficult subject to grasp and rarely taught.
3.
Share answer: The Path had already begun at least _ a
century earlier with the
invention of new industrial technologies. Technologies
increased
production
output in less time than it took a human to create.
4.
Pose Question 2: How could industrial inventions help
a business turn
a profit?
5.
Take out backpack and ask a supportive question (Question
3): What makes this technological
item so
extraordinary? If students have problems with
this question ask them to look at the lesson’s title.
6.
Answer to Question 3: The parts are all replaceable.
A person can go to several
stores and purchase them. Bust a zipper – sew on a new one.
Break a buckle or snap – loop on a new one. Tear a strap – sew
on a new one.
7.
Question 2 lecture and notes: The reason this is so extraordinary
is before the Industrial Revolution parts were not
standardized.
This is why
the Industrial
Revolution was so revolutionary. Not only was it about a machine’s
speed, it was about inventions that made inter-changeable (or standardized)
parts.
This meant buying only the part you needed since it was made to fit
into the product.
Before this, if a machine part broke it needed to be ‘made
from scratch’ and
individually fitted to the machine it came from. Depending on how
big the machine was, you had to take the whole machine to a craftsman
to fix or have the craftsman
come to you. This was time-consuming and required specialized skills.
For example: A gun is made of many parts. If the trigger wears
down so that it falls off,
you had to see a gunsmith so he could make a new one. In order
to do this the gunsmith needed the gun so he could measure the
area of the item needed to
fit properly. But in 1798, American Eli Whitney refined and applied
the “Uniformity’ System” of
production using inter-changeable parts for army musket production.
This means standardizing the machine parts (the musket), they could
be easily replaced
when necessary. The gunsmith did not need the musket to replace
a part. This is what mass production was about. The system was
so successful Eli Whitney
secured a US government contract (for $134,000) to produce 10,000
army muskets.
8.
Question 2 answer using notes: Take the following words
and create a 3-tiered Definition Concept Trail using
Verbal
Visual
Vocabulary
tables that link
to form the trail. Use the following template:
Word
Eli Whitney |
Definition
from textbook or dictionary/encyclopedia |
| Associations
(words, phrases, situations, examples etc.) |
Visual
or illustration so students remember word. |
| Conceptualizes: |
|
Word
Standardization |
Definition
from textbook or dictionary/encyclopedia |
| Associations
(words, phrases, situations, examples etc.) |
Visual
or illustration so students remember word. |
| This
leads to: |
|
| Mass
Production |
Definition
from textbook or dictionary/encyclopedia |
| Associations
(words, phrases, situations, examples etc.) |
Visual
or so students remember word. |
Define
in the following order:
- Eli
Whitney
- Standardization
- Mass
Production
Closure
9. Commentary: As noted, the path of invention began and industry would
never be the same again. While many inventions improved the quality
of human life, the technology that allowed for mass production was
to also raise questions of what the American work ethic should reflect.
After the introduction of technology in the job arena, how a worker
was viewed and treated would change drastically.
Wrap-Up Homework
Students can
finish their Definition concept trail. |
