Lesson Plan: Day 9

  

Grade: _11_

Unit: The Rise and Fall of a Textile Empire:  Lowell, Ma 1820-1861

 

 

Goal (enduring understanding):

 

Massachusetts has a rich history.  Among one of the many events of historical significance is Lowell’s rise as a textile manufacturing empire, leading to the birth of the American Industrial Revolution.

 

Lowell has had an impact on our nations history.  One of many impacts Lowell can claim is the mill girls involvement at the beginning of America’s labor movement which helped pave the way for shorter work days and woman’s suffrage.

 

Lowell has had an impact on our nations history.  One of the many impacts Lowell can claim is the affect it had on the future of economics and labor in the United States.

 

Essential Question(s):

 

Did the Lowell experiment fail?  Why?

 

Development and selection of activities and resources:

 

  • Students will be handed out a list of economic terms to be answered at the Tsongas Industrial Center
  • Students will be going on a Field trip to the Tsongas Industrial Center/Boott Cotton Mills and working people exhibit at the Mogan Cultural Center

 

Content:

 

  • Students will see a Mill weave room first hand as well as visit the exhibit at the Boott Cotton Mills
  • Students will see a boarding house in person and witness first hand what life was like for a Mill Girl
  • Students will experience factory work first hand in the Workers on the Line exhibit at the Tsongas Industrial Center

 

Curriculum Standard:

 

Economic Growth in the North and South, 1800-1860

 

USI.26 Explain the importance of the Transportation Revolution of the 19th century (the building of canals, roads, bridges, turnpikes, steamboats, and railroads), including the stimulus it provided to the growth of a market economy. (H, E)

 

USI.27 Explain the emergence and impact of the textile industry in New England and industrial growth generally throughout antebellum America. (H, E)

a. The technological improvements and inventions that contributed to industrial growth

b. The causes and impact of the wave of immigration from Northern Europe to America in the1840s and 1850s

 

c. The rise of a business class of merchants and manufacturers

 

d. The roles of women in New England textile factories

 

History and Geography

 

5. Explain how a cause and effect relationship is different from a sequence or correlation of events. (H, C, E)

 

6. Distinguish between long-term and short-term cause and effect relationships. (H, G, C, E)

 

7. Show connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and ideas and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. (H, G, C, E)

 

General Economics Skills

 

13. Define and use correctly mercantilism, feudalism, economic growth, and entrepreneur. (E)

 

14. Explain how people or communities examine and weigh the benefits of each alternative when making a choice and that “opportunity costs” are those benefits that are given up once one alternative is chosen. (E)

 

 

Assignment:

 

In your journals answer the following question with examples discussed in class as well as viewed on the field trip.

 

Did the Lowell experiment fail?  Why or why not? 

 

 

How will the essential question be assessed?

 

  • The essential question will be formally assessed  by student journals

 

 

Economic Terms Scavenger Hunt

 

Give historical examples from your visit to the Boott Cotton Mills (exhibits and movie) on the following economic terms:

 

  1. Division of Labor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Producer vs. Consumer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Wants and needs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Scarcity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Goods and Services

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Farm to factory