Under the Mast and Below the Hill
(How “place”
affected the lives of children in Fall River
and New Bedford)
Grade Level: Secondary
(11th Grade History)
Subject Area: American History
Unit Description: Industrial
and Maritime History in South Coastal Massachusetts
Essential Question: Were
the lives of the children of New Bedford
easier, happier and safer than their counterparts in Fall
River, based on the fact that each city developed a
different industry relative to its geographic location.
Enduring Understandings: Students
will gain a more clear understanding of how geography can play a vital role in
influencing the social and economic development of a region.
Objectives:
- Students
will understand that a region’s economy is based on geographical criteria
- Students
will understand what life was like growing up in a “typical” mill town
during the mid-nineteenth century. (i.e. Fall
River, Ma.)
- Students
will understand what life was like growing up in a town based on a
maritime industry (i.e. New Bedford
and whaling)
- Students
will understand how a geographic area had a
impact on immigration patterns.
- Students
will understand 19th century child labor trends and its impact
on the lives of children.
- Students
will learn to research, analyze, and evaluate primary source material.
Standards:
- Economic
Growth in the North and South (1800-1860)
US I 26, US I 27
- Social,
Political, and Religious Change (1800-1860)
US I 29
US
II 1, US II 2
- Age of
Reform: Progressivism
US
II 8, Policies
Activities:
- Students
will analyze maps of New England, including Fall
River and New Bedford Ma.
- Students
will research Web sites and primary source materials on the development of
industry in Fall River
- Students
will research Web sites and primary source materials on New
Bedford’s whaling industry.
- Students
will research Web sites and primary source materials on immigration
patterns in New Bedford and Fall
River.
- Students
will research and analyze the history of child labor and laws pertaining
to child labor from 1840-present.
Assessments: (TBD)
Note: Assessments will probably include traditional
formal and informal objective content based assessments as well as alternative
assessment activities such as journal writing, portfolios, projects, and class
presentations that call for authentic application of knowledge and skills.
Culminating Activity:
Students will visit either the Slater
Mill National Park
in R.I. or Lowell Industrial
National Park and on another day
visit the New Bedford Whaling
Museum.
After the unit is presented and
the sites visits have been made students will develop an answer to the
essential question based on
the information they have acquired in class and through their
research an site visits.