Why study history? Why study the American Industrial Revolution?
History is necessary for students to understand the past of individual countries, ethnic groups and key events that has affected people throughout the world. It is important for students to understand the importance of point of view and perspective. Students may see history as fact, but in reality history is more complicated than a list of events and descriptions. History is a summative assessment of accounts from people considered witnesses of a particular time period. History is created by the winning side or the powerful people in society. As students move on to college, they need to understand that what is included in history is decided by a group in charge which may cause subgroups within a country or the world to be critical of their perspective of the history presented.
The essential questions presented help emphasize what is important about the unit. The unit is about the working class and the effects of the Industrial Revolution on them. Students understand that there are technological innovations created but they do not stop to consider how this may affect the way a whole society functions and the down side of innovations. These questions can be asked today, we live in an age of smart phones, new technology for communication and globalization. As companies are moving from developed countries into developing countries students forget that there are people on the other side of the world that are creating products that are not necessarily protected by rights taken for granted in developed countries.
The big ideas are similar to the essential questions. The big ideas for this unit can be used today. We see fluctuations of immigration, the rise of large corporations, the changes in consumer protections and rights. With the changes in technology and communications, students must learn to critically analyze information to evaluate whether the author is bias or unbiased and decide if they will accept or deny their perspective.
The assessments throughout this unit help students take the information or the content they learn and create something. Students are given the opportunity to create something unique to their perspective of what they have learned. Students can research information on their own, add to their already existing background knowledge of the topic and learn how to be historians. The skills students learn in history are applicable and necessary for students to have a successful future in society. People have to constantly evaluate if people are telling the true of events, information and evaluate their methods of communicating the information. They must critically think about how to vote for people running for government positions, evaluate whether the perspective shown by the media is biased and use the knowledge from history to help interact with and understand other ethnic groups. History is necessary for students to become successful and productive members of society worldwide.
The essential questions presented help emphasize what is important about the unit. The unit is about the working class and the effects of the Industrial Revolution on them. Students understand that there are technological innovations created but they do not stop to consider how this may affect the way a whole society functions and the down side of innovations. These questions can be asked today, we live in an age of smart phones, new technology for communication and globalization. As companies are moving from developed countries into developing countries students forget that there are people on the other side of the world that are creating products that are not necessarily protected by rights taken for granted in developed countries.
The big ideas are similar to the essential questions. The big ideas for this unit can be used today. We see fluctuations of immigration, the rise of large corporations, the changes in consumer protections and rights. With the changes in technology and communications, students must learn to critically analyze information to evaluate whether the author is bias or unbiased and decide if they will accept or deny their perspective.
The assessments throughout this unit help students take the information or the content they learn and create something. Students are given the opportunity to create something unique to their perspective of what they have learned. Students can research information on their own, add to their already existing background knowledge of the topic and learn how to be historians. The skills students learn in history are applicable and necessary for students to have a successful future in society. People have to constantly evaluate if people are telling the true of events, information and evaluate their methods of communicating the information. They must critically think about how to vote for people running for government positions, evaluate whether the perspective shown by the media is biased and use the knowledge from history to help interact with and understand other ethnic groups. History is necessary for students to become successful and productive members of society worldwide.