A Watt Steam Engine
{photo by Nicolás Pérez / CC BY-SA 3.0}
This week it’s full steam ahead into the Industrial Revolution! We hope you enjoy the following links as an optional supplement to your home learning this week:
VIDEOS:
How People Make Things – This series of videos from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood are fascinating for all ages! They show how common items are made in factories. You can use these videos to connect what we are learning about the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution to how products are made today.
Inside an American Factory: Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904 – From the Library of Congress, these old film clips are so interesting! This is a little later in history than where we are right now, but you can view them to see where the Industrial Revolution led.
Schoolhouse Rock: Mother Necessity – We love to include a Schoolhouse Rock video when one fits the topic!
PBS: Mill Times – This part animated, part live action documentary, hosted by David Macaulay, centers on a small New England community similar to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where Samuel Slater established America's first textile mill:
The Industrial Revolution – This is an educational animated series for kids:
The Industrial Revolution – A short overview from the History Channel:
Causes of the Industrial Revolution: The Agricultural Revolution – This is a 5-minute clip from a longer documentary:
WEBSITES:
Industrial Revolution timeline
Innovations of the Industrial Revolution
Kids Discover: Industrial Revolution – This educational magazine is excellent, and this issue looks like it’s full of wonderful information and activities for kids. But even if you don’t want to purchase the magazine, they have a free Power Vocabulary download that goes along with this issue, which is a printable pdf with vocab cards, a crossword puzzle, a word search puzzle, and a matching activity all about the Industrial Revolution. You have to give an email address to sign up for an account with them, but it’s free.
Samuel Slater: “Father of the American Industrial Revolution” – This website has lots of information, links, and photos.
Victorian Britain: Children in Factories – BBC History has quite a bit about the British Industrial Revolution. This site has photos, videos, and activities about factory life for children.
BBC also has a few animations of machines that were a big part of the Industrial Revolution:
- Stephenson's Rocket Animation – Take a look inside the trailblazing steam engine.
- The Blast Furnace Animation – See how the device that shaped the industrial revolution works.
- The Spinning Mill Animation – Find out about the machinery that revolutionized textiles.
- Winding Gear Animation – Learn about the winding gear that was used to transport men and supplies up and down the shafts of coal mines.
- The Beam Engine Animation – See how the Cornish Beam Engine was used to pump out floodwater from deep mines.
- Paddle Steamship Animation – Find out how steam can be used to drive a paddle steamer boat.
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World – Also from BBC History, read about these fascinating feats of engineering!
Who Wants to be a Cotton Millionaire? – One more from BBC History, this is a game to find out if you can make it as a Victorian entrepreneur.
Who Made America? – From PBS, a list of Innovators and what they did to help shape our nation.
