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"Farming in Decline:"
Using Local Census Data to Explore the Industrial Revolution

Bird's-eye view of Beverly Farms, MA Boston, O. W. Walker [1886]

  Introduction

In a series of lessons, students examine the trend away from farming and toward manufacturing in 19th and early 20th century Massachusetts, and explore whether that trend was reflected in their own community. Students retrieve state- and county-level historical census data about farming, manufacturing, and population from the Internet. They create visual displays of the data with maps (generated from the website) and graphs (created by students). Students use the maps and graphs to answer questions about employment and immigration in their county long ago.

In the previous two lessons, students explored historical census data about manufacturing in their county. Now, students research data about change in farmland in their county during the Industrial Revolution.

This lesson is geared toward students in grades 9-12 studying U.S. history. It integrates graphing and data analysis.

Social Studies Standards Addressed

• USI.28 Explain the emergence and impact of the textile industry in New England and industrial growth generally throughout antebellum America.

• USII.2 Explain the important consequences of the Industrial Revolution.

• USII.3 Describe the causes of the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and describe the major roles of these immigrants in the industrialization of America.

Mathematics Standards Addressed

• 10.D.1 Select, create, and interpret an appropriate graphical representation (e.g., scatterplot, table, stem-and-leaf plots, box-and-whisker plots, circle graph, line graph, and line plot) for a set of data and use appropriate statistics (e.g., mean, median, range, and mode) to communicate information about the data. Use these notions to compare different sets of data.

Instructional Technology Standards Addressed

• 1.24 Produce simple charts from spreadsheet.

• 3.16 Collect, organize, analyze, and graphically present data using the most appropriate tools (e.g., spreadsheet, database, graphing, and concept-mapping tools).

Duration:  This lesson requires one class period.

Class Setup: Each student or work group will need access to a computer with Internet connection.  Before the lesson, decide whether you want students to work individually or in groups of 2 or 3 (depending on their experience and your level of computer access).

Introduce the lesson

If you have not already done lesson 1, use the suggestions there to help introduce students to census data.

In this lesson, students will explore changes in the amount of usable farmland in Massachusetts from 1850-1920. They will collect data on “Acres of Improved Land in Farms” for Massachusetts and their county from the Historical Census Browser website. If students have not done lesson 1, follow the steps to model for them how to gather data from the website.

Gather Data

Students gather data about farmland in Massachusetts and in their county

1. Give students time to gather data about Acres of Improved Land in Farms at the state and county level (and/or additional topics in agriculture that you have decided to explore).

2. Remind them to save the data in an Excel spreadsheet.

3. Explain that some tables may show “N/A” or a column of zeros for some years, which means that the data was not transcribed to this website for some reason.

Students graph the change in the number of acres of farmland

1. Ask students to use the data they’ve gathered to create 2 graphs

• Change in Acres of Improved Land in Farms (1850-1920) – Massachusetts
• Change in Acres of Improved Land in Farms (1850-1920) – Our County

Reflect on changes in farmland in our county.

• Distribute the Industrial Revolution: Farmland in Massachusetts worksheet. Give students time to answer questions.

• Students will also need copies of their graphs of manufacturing establishments in their county that they created in lesson 1.

• As a class, discuss students’ responses to the questions.

Variations for Younger Students

For younger students, you may wish to vary this lesson by doing one or more of the following:

• Gather state-level data for the students and hand out a pre-made graph; students can focus on gathering the county-level data only.

• Gather all the data from the website in advance for students and hand out printed (or electronic) data tables; students won’t do the Web component of the activity, but will just do the graphing of the data.

• Create the graphs for students, and have them use the graphs to answer the questions.

• Internet access for each student or group
• Microsoft Excel or other graphing program for each student or group
• Copies of the Industrial Revolution: Farmland in Massachusetts worksheet for each student
• If you have not done lesson 1, you’ll need to create graphs of manufacturing establishments in Massachusetts and your county as described in lesson 1 to hand out to students.

For this lesson you’ll need access to the Historical Census Browser at the University of Virginia website. (http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/index.html) This site provides access to historical census data at the state and county levels. Students will download census data from the website to make graphs.

Do a little exploring on the website before the lesson to determine how you want students to gather the data given their skill level, amount of computer access, and the time you have. You might choose to let students gather all the data themselves, divide into groups and assign each group to collect a portion of the data, or collect the data yourself to give to students.

Recommended background reading for teachers: Historical Atlas of Massachusetts, “Industrialization and Urbanization, 1860-1900” (pages 34-37)

Evaluate students’ responses on the Industrial Revolution: Farmland in Massachusetts worksheet. Were students able to:

• Correctly read the graphs to answer questions 1-3?
• Make reasonable analyses of the information on the map and graphs to answer question 4?
• Use their own background knowledge to answer question 6?

1. Examine your graph of Change in Acres of Improved Land in Farms (1850-1920) – Massachusetts. Based on the graph, describe the change in the amount of farmland in the state of Massachusetts from 1850-1920.

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2. When was the biggest decrease in Acres of Improved Land in Farms in your county?

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3. Compare the graphs of farmland in your county and farmland in Massachusetts. Did your county experience changes that were similar to those in the state? Explain.

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4. During the Industrial Revolution, many people left their farms and went to work in mills and other factories. Compare the graphs of farmland in your county and manufacturing establishments in your county. Does the data for your county reflect this trend? Why or why not?

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5. What signs do you see today of farming in your community’s past?

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This lesson was designed by Elizabeth C. Finison.
Questions? Contact: k12.msp@umb.edu

The Mass. Studies Project	These curricular modules were developed with support from the John H. and H. Naomi Tomfohrde Foundation. The "Our Town, Our City" Curricular Resources Project is an initiative of the Massachusetts Studies Project, Institute for Learning and Teaching, University of Massachusetts, Boston The lesson plan formatting is based on The WebQuest template.