Lowell Mill Virtual Simulation
In this activity, you will work with your small groups to participate in a virtual simulation of Lowell Mill. You will need to wear your headphones or earbuds to listen to the simulation. Everyone needs to participate in the first simulation. Then, each person in the group needs to participate in two other alternate views. Click on the links on the right of the simulation to participate in the alternate views. When everyone in the group is done, share your experiences with the other members of the group. How were the alternate views alike and different? Be ready to share what you discussed in your small grouse with the class.
To participate in the simulation, click on the icon on the right.
To participate in the simulation, click on the icon on the right.
Lowell Mill was one of the first factories in the United States. Lowell Mills recruited young women, who were daughters of New England farmers, to come and work in the factory. Women worked in the factories for different reasons. Some came to help earn money for their families. Others came because the mill offered them an education as well. Some young women came to merely earn their own living. While their wages were only half of what men were paid, many were able to make a good living own their own for the first time, without the help of a father or husband. The factory system allowed women to make a living without men.
Unit 1 - The Gilded Age
Topic 1 - Industrialization
Topic 1 - Industrialization
Lesson 4
New Technology Jumpstarts Industry
LESSON MISSION
This lesson mission is your goal for the day. It is what you (the student) will be able to do when the lesson is over.
I can describe the new technologies that led to U.S. industrialization in the Gilded Age. |
UNIT RESOURCES
Unit 1 Games & Simulations
Unit 1 Videos |
LESSON READING
Technology Paves the Way
Technology is the use of science to invent useful things or to solve problems. It was new technology in the form of new inventions and innovations that allowed the U.S. to run industries and convert natural resources into products that people could use. Innovations are new ideas, improvements, or ways of doing things. Many new inventions and innovations were introduced in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These inventions and innovations allowed the development of new technologies. These technologies paved the way for U.S. industrialization.
The Electric Light
No other man contributed more to new technology during the Gilded Age than Thomas Edison. He was a scientist and an inventor. During his life he patented 1,093 inventions. Edison created the first research and development lab in the world in Menlo Park, New Jersey. He called this lab the "invention factory." His inventions earned him the nickname "The Wizard of Menlo Park."
Edison's four most important inventions were the electric light system, the phonograph, motion pictures, and the alkaline storage battery. Any one of these inventions would have hugely impacted the world; and Thomas Edison invented all four! Edison also made improvements to the telegraph, the telephone, and cement. He even developed a substitute for rubber. Edison's had many educated people working for him. He called them his "muckers".
A great scientist and inventor named, Isaac Newton once said, "If I have seen any further it has been by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Newton died long before Edison was ever born, but what he had to say describes how Thomas Edison contributed most to U.S. industrialization. Newton was talking about innovation. When you gain success by making something better, it is an innovation, not an invention. This is because someone else had the idea originally. Newton was saying that he simply took others great ideas and tried to make them better. He would have had no success at all, if not for the person who had originally had the idea.
Now Thomas Edison did invent many things but many of his successes were actually innovations. Many people give credit to Thomas Edison for inventing the electric light. Edison did not invent it. He innovated it. He made it better by making changes to it. In Edison's time, electric lights were very, very bright so people didn't want them inside their houses. They also did not last very long. Edison innovated the electric light by changing the way the light worked. He created a bulb that would not shine so brightly and would last much longer than the electric lights before. More importantly, he was able to create this bulb inexpensively by manufacturing it. It was the fact that Edison was able to make large amounts of light bulbs, quickly, and inexpensively that was the true innovation. This is because it not only opened up electric lighting to the middle class and poor, but it was the beginning of Edison's most important innovation, the electric lighting system!
The light bulb was a break through in modern technology during this time, but it was Edison’s system of electric lighting that changed everyday life for people all over the world. Edison figured out how to create an infrastructure for lighting buildings and homes in whole towns. Infrastructure is the basic parts and equipment that are needed for a service to function properly in a city or region. Edison was able to create electric lighting for whole towns by using light bulbs, electricity generators, wires to get the electricity from the power station to the homes, plugs for lamps, wall sockets, switches for the light bulbs, and many other things. Edison’s first electric lighting infrastructure was the Pearl Street Station in New York City’s financial district. It sent electricity to lights in 25 buildings on September 4, 1882.
Edison did not only change the way we lived, he also changed the way we played. In 1877, Edison invented the phonograph. The phonograph was the first way that people listed to recorded music. The phonograph would create a chain of inventions and innovations in the way people listed to music. The phonograph evolved into the record player. The record player was replaced with cassette tapes. Cassette tapes quickly gave way to CDs; and as you know, today, music can be listened to digitally over many different electronic devices.
In 1888, Edison began working on a motion picture camera, called the kinetograph, and a machine for watching movies, called a kinetoscope. Motion pictures changed the entertainment industry forever. Soon, movies would become one of the most popular forms of entertainment and televisions would become a common fixture in American homes.
In 1901, Edison invented the first alkaline storage battery. It was used in railroad signals, miners’ head lamps, and marine buoys. Edison would be shocked to see how this battery evolved into the batteries of today. He would be even more shocked to see all the things that the alkaline battery can power.
If not for the positive attitude and hard work of Thomas Edison, industrialization would not have been as successful or come as quickly as it did.
Medical Innovations
Food Preservation
Photography
WHOLE GROUP ACTIVITY
Comprehension Check
As a class, we will read, discuss, and answer the following questions. You may take notes to help you with your Lesson Chronicles if you like, but notes are not required.
1. What technologies led to U.S.
Industrialization?
2. How is an invention different from an
innovation?
3. Why were these technologies created?
What problems were they designed to
solve?
4. Who were the main people that improved
communication in the United States? How
did these people do it?
5. Who were the main people that improved
transportation in the United States? How
did these people do it?
1. What technologies led to U.S.
Industrialization?
2. How is an invention different from an
innovation?
3. Why were these technologies created?
What problems were they designed to
solve?
4. Who were the main people that improved
communication in the United States? How
did these people do it?
5. Who were the main people that improved
transportation in the United States? How
did these people do it?
SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY
I've Been Working on the Railroad!
When the U.S. government selected the two companies to build a transcontinental railroad in 1862, they did not have a meeting point set. The government simply paid money to each company for each mile of track it laid. This led to a difficult and dangerous seven-year race between the two railroad companies. The Central Pacific built started in the west in Sacramento, California and began laying tracks toward the east. The Union Pacific began in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and began laying tracks toward the west.
In this activity, your small group will track the railroad's construction on an interactive map. First, you will break into pairs. One pair will be the Union Pacific and the other will be the Central Pacific. The Union Pacific will click on the orange dot at the bottom right of the interactive labelled "up". The Central Pacific will click on the orange dot at the bottom right of the interactive labelled "cp". Click on each dot on the map that is along your railroad's pathway to read about events that happened in the area and time period. Click the up and down buttons on the right to see the timeline. Each pair needs to answer the following questions on paper:
When each pair has completed their interactive adventure, your small group will get back together to teach the each other what you learned. We will go over all that you found in a whole group discussion to complete this activity.
In this activity, your small group will track the railroad's construction on an interactive map. First, you will break into pairs. One pair will be the Union Pacific and the other will be the Central Pacific. The Union Pacific will click on the orange dot at the bottom right of the interactive labelled "up". The Central Pacific will click on the orange dot at the bottom right of the interactive labelled "cp". Click on each dot on the map that is along your railroad's pathway to read about events that happened in the area and time period. Click the up and down buttons on the right to see the timeline. Each pair needs to answer the following questions on paper:
- Who was involved in the building of your railroad?
- What major cities and states did your railroad cross?
- What immigrant group was the largest group that constructed your railroad?
- What hardships were faced in building your railroad?
- What was life like for those who worked on the railroad?
- Did your railroad lay more or less track than the other railroad? Why?
- Where did you stop laying track? Why?
- How will the transcontinental railroad change life for everyone in America?
When each pair has completed their interactive adventure, your small group will get back together to teach the each other what you learned. We will go over all that you found in a whole group discussion to complete this activity.
INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY
Lesson Chronicles
- Enter this lesson into your Lesson Chronicles' Tables of Contents.
- Set up your entry for today's lesson by titling your paper and dating it.
- Write the Lesson Mission.
- Under the Lesson Mission, prove you have met today's mission goal by answering the following question in PQA format:
What advancements were made in transportation and communication during the Gilded Age and how did these advancements led to the industrialization of the United States?
Lesson Chronicles Table of Contents
1. Unit 1 Overview Lesson - The Gilded Age
2. Topic 1 Overview Lesson - Industrialization
3. Lesson 1 - The Factory System
4. Lesson 2 - Natural Resources Start It All
5. Lesson 3 - Connecting the Nation
Your Name Today's Date
Lesson 2 - Natural Resources
Lesson Mission: I can describe the advancements in transportation and communication in the Gilded Age and explain how these advancements led to industrialization of the United States.
The advancements in transportation and communication in the Gilded Age were ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ These advancements led to the industrialization of the United States because because__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Congratulations!
You have completed the Lesson 3 Lesson Module!