The American Industrial Revolution is usually divided into at least two parts. In 1794, the earlier part of the Age of Invention, Elias Whitney patented the pivotal cotton gin (Davis, Oct., 17, 2012). His work and the impact of it are presented in this rather creative video that should definitely hold young students' attentions. The narration is well-paced and clearly, and the visuals are colorful and full of motion. This video does not hide the negative side of the cotton gin's effect, and so I would have my students consider and write about some possibilities on the following topic: What if the cotton gin had not existed? The students' would need to use other knowledge they had been learning about this time period in their answer, and tap into higher-order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and probably evaluation. A class discussion about their thoughts would also be carried out.
Davis, K. (Oct. 17, 2012). How inventions changed history (for better and
for worse) - Kenneth C. Davis. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SMNYivhGsc
I enjoyed this video; so much of life today is about inventing something new and then dealing with the repercussions. Unless, a person has insight to the down-side of inventing something, we are left with the question of "what can we do to prevent negative outcomes from inventions?" This might be a good questions for students to ponder. Thanks for posting the video.
ReplyDelete