A New Way of Communication

Our History class was given the opportunity to FaceTime a museum experiment, named Jamie, who is in England. Jamie is an expert on the machinery during the Industrial Revolution. He showed us how the machines in the factories and mills operated, and how people functioned during the Industrial Revolution. During the FaceTime my class was allowed to ask him any questions that came to mind and he would try and help clarify them for us. My class did not only FaceTime with Jamie, actually before that we had to do a lot of prep work. In order to prepare for the video chat my class watched a video Jamie sent us on all the machines and we had to take notes on the names of the machines he mentioned. Once the video was done we researched keywords to find information on the machines he mentioned, and learned what their function was. I learned that a Draw Frame is a machine for combing and drawing slivers of textile fiber, and a speed frame spins two roving wheels into one strong thread. These vocabulary words were very helpful to me because during the video I was able to comprehend what Jamie was talking about when he used the machine vocabulary. My teacher also asked us to prepare a few questions the day before the chat, on anything that may interest us. One of the questions I asked was, “what was the machine maintenance like and did the machines break often?” Jamie answered my questions with a response explaining how the machines did not break often, and if they happened to break they had people named, tacklers, to fix them. Once we came up with our questions we were fully prepared for the FaceTime with Jamie.

This is an image of Jamie, demonstrationg the Hopper Feeder Scutcher.

The video chat with Jamie taught me so much about the Industrial Revolution. The FaceTime was not always clear at times but it was clear enough to understand what he was saying and watch the machines function.  During the video chat Jamie talked a lot about the impact on families, safety regulations, and child labor. There was a big impact on families during the Industrialization. Girls would be granted permission from their parents to work go work in the mills and earn their own money, and send some of it home to their families. The mills bought children from orphanages as if they were slaves. The mills loved children because they could only work for low wages and able to maneuver through small places, and do the dangerous jobs no parents would allow their child to do. I was most interested in all the health conditions and safety regulations Jamie talked about during the video chat. There was lots of health issues, most people did not live past the age of thirty. Many people got caught in machines while working and lost a limb or arm. Girls must have their hair tied up or they could potentially get pulled into a machine. Many women would have bad lungs because they would take in the fibers from the thread when weaving. Something that stood out to me a lot was when Jamie said if someone were to get stuck in a machine and rescued the family members or friends were supposed to carry on with the day as if nothing happened, even if a family member could have potentially died. This showed me how ruthless the mill owners were. There was no support system during this time, which meant that if you got injured you would have a hard time supporting yourself and your family. I never really understood how bad the conditions actually were in England until Jamie explained it to us.

I thought overall, I learned a lot more talking to an expert, Jaime, on the Industrial Revolution then I would have learned reading a text book. I thought it was more engaging and it kept me interested. It was nice to be able to see how some of the machinery worked while having him explain it at the same time. It was also easier to ask questions because if a question popped into your mind all you had to do was ask, and he would explain it in full detail. The only downside was at times there was poor connection, but it did not last the whole time. I would definitely want to do this again for other topics.

Revoultionary Learning Experience

Our history class was assigned a project to create posters about the Industrial Revolution. We were split was into five different groups, each one covering a different topic. Our teacher gave us documents to analyze and use to create a poster.  We would then use the poster to teach other classmates about our topic. I was in a group with four other girls and our topic was about slavery during the Industrial revolution.

This is an image of my groups poster.

My project group was assigned the topic, how slavery contributed to the Industrial Revolution. There were five documents that we used to analyze our topic. The first document was a map of the British Cotton trade in 1850. This picture showed the cotton trade routes and countries’ exports and imports. Raw cotton was being imported to England from America and finished cotton cloth was being exported out. This wraps into the idea that without slaves there would be no cotton picked to import into England, which means they cannot export cotton cloth to other countries for revenue. The second document was “Colonialism, slavery and the Industrial Revolution,” from a teaching kit. This image was very powerful because it depicted an hour glass with slaves doing back wrenching work and the results of all their hard work is going right into the mills. The slaves did not get anything in return; the mill owners collected all the money even though they did not do anything. Source three was an image of the Boott Cotton Mill, 1850. The image simply showed what the mills looked like in the time period. Source four was a graph showing the U.S slavery statistics from 1770 through 1860. The importance of the graph was that it showed the drastic increase of slavery during this time period. The last document my group had to analyze was an Arkwright water frame, created by Sir Richard Arkwright. The water frame was instrumental in creating mass produced yarn which created the demand for raw cotton.

Image of the text on my groups poster.

The title of our exhibit is “Behind the Scenes.” We decided to name our project this because we thought it reflected the idea that the slaves did the unseen work and were not rewarded. This idea was inspired by play productions because the show would not be complete if there weren’t behind the scenes people working the lights and curtains. When someone is visiting our museum exhibit, I want them to read and understand the topic we had. I want them to understand that slaves had a huge impact on the Industrial revolution and that it wasn’t just the people in the mills that were part of the cotton production.

I visited many exhibits for the museum curator project. One exhibit I visited was called “Stolen Child.” This exhibit taught me all about child labor during the Industrial Revolution. I learned that almost 50% of children started working before the age of ten. Another exhibit I viewed was, “Not-So- Great- Britain.” This exhibit talks about the good and bad that happened during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. I learned that many workers live in slums that were very crowded, dirty with horrible living conditions. The slums were the result of the over industrialization and cheap housing. A third exhibit I visited was, “America Runs on Steam Engines.” The exhibit talked about how steam engines improved the quality of life. Transportation was a big part of the Industrial Revolution because it allowed the things in the world to be more efficient.  Steam engines were some of the new inventions and advancements which helped create our modern world. The final exhibit I visited was, “Weaving A New World.” From this exhibit I learned that weaving was originally done in people’s homes.  The industrial revolution created huge mills full of looms run exclusively by women. The museum curator project taught me a great deal about the Industrial Revolution.

Fueling a Revolution

The other day in class I learned about the Ingredients of Industrialization. My teacher asked our class why the Industrialization was so revolutionary. The answer to that is because the Industrialization changed the way of living for the better. There are four elements to the Industrialization, people, technology, transportation, and resources. Without these four elements the Industrialization would not have been revolutionary.

Transportation during the Industrialization allowed large quantities of goods to be more accessible. The invention of steam locomotives and steam engines helped deliver the goods faster and easier than ever before. This allowed growth in cities and made trading of short-lived goods possible over the long distance trade routes. Steam locomotives made railroads possible; which allowed faster trading for people allowing them to no longer follow rivers. By the late 1800s steam boats sailed the ocean and could transport 10 to 20 times more than previous ships. Now that the transportation was faster and more efficient much needed resources were easier to get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://thelibrary.org/lochist/frisco/friscoline/steam08.cfm

During the Industrial Revolution people’s lives changed greatly. Farmers combined smaller fields into larger ones to make better use of the land. They also used new farming machines and fertilizer to renew the soil. This allowed more crops to flourish. With more crops growing the death rates decreased. The abundance of food reduced the risk of famine and people began to eat healthier causing them to grow stronger. The population growth grew rapidly as less people had work which reduced the hard labor.

Don't Trust Everything You Read

Arguably, when researching online it is important to judge the reliability of the source that contains the information. Many websites online are unreliable because of the information they post. Any person can create a website and write information that may or may not be true. When gathering information online first be sure to know where the information is coming from, who is posting it, and how long ago it was last updated.

 

In History class the other day my teacher told us to join up in groups as we would participate in Google a Day. Google a Day is an online search game from Google, http://agoogleaday.com/#game=started. The game asks questions which then forces you to search the internet in order to find the correct answer. The game teaches a lot about the internet. For instance, it teaches that not everything on the internet can be trusted and the first website to pop up may not supply the best information. It teaches students to use all their resources on the internet and search things with more depth.  I found this activity to be challenging, yet fun at the same time. It was challenging finding the answer to some of the questions. When you think you found the right answer from a website and type it into the answer box, and it says “incorrect answer” it can get frustrating. However; it was a fun game to play because it allows you to surf the internet and race against other groups to try and find the answer first.

 

A dependable website must acquire three important aspects. The website must have accuracy, authenticity, and reliability. Accuracy is the state of being correct or precise. This means the website must be a reliable source and the information it contains must be true. Authenticity is the state of being authentic, which means the website is genuine and original.  Reliability is consistently good quality, able to be trusted. The website must contain these three things in order for it to be precise. In class, we were told to search for the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and this is the first thing that came up, http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/. This site is not reliable because there is no such thing as a Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. The site cannot be used in school because the information provided is not accurate. The site is authentic because it looks like a professional website and the creator makes you believe the Tree Octopus is real; however the reliability and accuracy of the website is not conceivable.

 

 

 

Lyle Zapato. (no date). Pacific Norhtwest Tree Octopus. Help Save the Endagered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. 9/7/14. http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

A New Way Of Teaching

Hello blogger! I am a sophomore in high school. I will be writing on this website frequently throughout this year explaining my thoughts and feelings about history and its many topics.

I have experienced many teachers over the years each one with their own learning techniques. There are certain qualities a teacher must have in order for them to be great. A teacher must be kind and understanding, as well as helpful and flexible.  If a student is struggling in the class the teacher should try and figure out a better way for the student to understand the material. They should communicate with the students and ask them how they prefer to be taught and try accommodating it. A great teacher must be accessible. If a student has a question for the teacher, the teacher should respond to their emails or stay after school to try and help the student.  Over the years I realized I better succeed in hands on activities during class. I enjoyed my Spanish teacher last year, Ms. Rogers because she assigned many hands on activities and projects for us to do.

I agree with John Green when he talks about the duty to use education for great things. Kofi Annan said, “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is premise of progress, in every society, in every family.” Education should never be taken for granted, it is a gift and can be used to do great thing. The greatest achievements in life all started with an education. I have many short term and long term goals I aspire fulfill this year. I want to be able to balance my academics and athletics without my grades dropping. I want to stay friends with my old but also make new friends and reach out of my comfort zone. My long term goal is to use the education I was given and help educate the less fortunate that do not receive the same level education as me. I will work hard in all my classes to maintain a good grade. I will do my best and try to focus more because I tend to get distracted to easily. I will use my time more wisely so I am not scrambling to complete something at the last minute.  I will ask lots of questions and stay after to better understand a topic if need be. I will use my resources to my benefit. I am excited to start the new school year and achieve all my goals I’ve set for sophomore year.