by William Walker
Background:
The 19th century was marked by a period of innovation, invention, and a huge spurt of growth known as the industrial revolution. Many inventions from the 19th century never caught on or have become obsolete, while many others, with some modifications or improvements, continue to have an effect on our everyday lives.
Essential Question:
What would our lives be like today without the technological advances of the 19th century?
Materials:
Primary Documents
Patent Drawing of the Calculating Machine
Patent Drawing of the Duryea Vehicle
Patent Drawing of the Electric Light Bulb
Patent Drawing of the Elevator
Patent Drawing of the Movie Camera
Patent Drawing of the Movie Camera 2
Patent Drawing of the Phonograph
Patent Drawing of the Sewing Machine
Patent Drawing of the Telephone
Patent Drawing of the Typewriter
Patent Drawing of the Washing Machine
All images from the National Archives www.nara.gov
19th Century Invention Timeline (pdf)
Student Motivation
- Ask students to name recent inventions or innovations that have brought
about changes in their homes and lives. Write these on the board and
briefly discuss the changes brought about by these items. Ask them if
they foresee these inventions as being useful 100-200 years in the future.
- Distribute handout of 19th Century Invention Timeline. If possible,
have students visit the interactive timeline: http://www.historynow.org/preview/12_2006/interactive.html
Ask students to complete the handout by speculating about the invention’s purpose. Then ask students to decide whether they use the invention today.
- Ask students if they use or depend on any other inventions from the 19th century. Write these on the board and discuss the effect of these items on their lives and what life would be like without them.
Activities
- Divide students into pairs or groups of three. Each group gets a cropped
patent drawing of a nineteenth-century invention. Some groups will get
two drawings of the same invention. Give the typewriter to the group
which receives the calculating machine.
- Give the groups about 5 minutes to determine what their invention
is. Some inventions will be fairly obvious while others will not be
as easy to identify. Instruct those groups with obscure inventions to
study these drawings carefully to attempt to identify their item.
- Have each group internally discuss the item or items that they have.
Additionally, have them discuss the changes that the invention brought
into peoples lives, other related inventions, and how they affect our
lives and modern society. Also have them prepare essays responding to
these questions as well as speculating as to what life would be like
without these items.
- On the second day, students should present their essays to the class.
The drawings can be hung on the board or projected as PowerPoint slides
during the presentations.
- Following presentations have the class discuss the long term and far reaching influence of these inventions on society.
