The industrial revolution
The transition from agriculture to factories
Having an idea about the issue
Watch the video and listen to the text, writing down the keywords about the industrial revolution
Compare your word list with your schoolmates’ ones: share and select the most significant keywords.
Identify the main categories, which include the keywords, i.e.
1. Way of production
2. Mean of production (people involved)
3. Consequences
Create a glossary with the words chosen. (paper 1)
Industrial revolution begins
Read the texts and summarize what you have learnt from the previous text by filling the following map.
In the final decades of the 18th century, Europe (and the thirteen English colonies of North America) was the scene of important revolutions. In America, the colonies fought to separate themselves from the control of the English king, George III, and Parliament. In Europe, the great political upheaval called the French Revolution sent shock waves across the continent as revolutionaries executed Louis XVI and his queen, and founded a republican form of government.[…] Read the whole text
The networks of change
The main features involved in the Industrial Revolution were technological, socio- economic, and cultural. The technological changes included the following:
- the use of new basic materials, chiefly iron and steel,
- the use of new energy sources, including both fuels and motive power, such as coal, the steam engine, electricity, petroleum, and the internal-combustion engine, […] Read the whole text
Consider all the information you have gathered till now and, working in three groups, describe in your own words the changes brought about the industrial revolution. You are given one subject between technological, socioeconomic or cultural changes, using the keywords given in paper three.
It’s up to you: face the sources!
Now you hold the essential knowledge to face to the original historical sources about the Industrial Revolution. Four paths are put you forth for getting deeper your study: each of them considers different sources and calls for a final product.
Choose one of these paths and share your choice with your schoolmate. Your class has to be split into 6 groups, based on personal interests. However, each group must have the same number of components. Make a wise choice! … otherwise, your teacher will choose on your behalf.
The topics
The urbanization
The growth of cities is one of most relevant effects of the Industrial Revolution; the unit contemplates the demographic and social aspects of urbanization. It takes into consideration two texts, one literary and one historical, a map and a table about demography; the final task considers the
Final product: drawing a diagram and writing a presentation.
Download the sources and the materials you need
The social problems
The economic changes provoked new poverties. Many peasants, who had moved to cities, didn’t find out a work, so they could not live on their wages. The Government introduced the Poor Law to set up a way of public care for weak people. It takes into consideration different sources: an illustrative draw and three contemporary texts.
Final product: write a report
Download the sources and the materials you need
The significance of steam engine
The transformation of the way of production is studied by this unit. You can discover how the consequences of the introduction of the steam engine reading two texts dated back to XIX century, and analysing graphs and tables.
Final product: create a slideshow
Download the sources and the materials you need
The steam engine and workers
The social effects of the spreading of the factory system is the topic of this path; you can read a historical text, analyse table and graph to understand the consequences of the Industrial Revolution for workers.
Final product: writing a formal letter under the name of a worker.
Download the sources and the materials you need
Infrastructures and transports: ships
The transport system changed deeply by the application of the steam engine to the ships; however, someone didn’t appreciate the new way of travelling; the sources allow to compare the different points of view.
Final product: drawing an advertisement and writing a short essay.
Download the sources and the materials you need
Infrastructures and transports: railways
The spread of railways in England changed the transport system on land too. Analyse the iconographic sources in order to get deeper your knowledge about the subject.
Final product: illustrating to your classmates your results with the support of a slideshow.
Final assignment: writing an essay
Why the industrialisation was a real revolution?
A revolution is a radical and wide-reaching change in conditions, attitudes, and operation. The Industrial Revolution changed deeply the production of goods, the social relationships, the environment and the culture: the world wasn’t like had been before.
Do you agree with this statement? Don’t you endorse this idea? Write a short essay (250–300 words), justifying your opinion. Warranting your claims, consider the change within each category: economy, society, culture, attitude. Support your idea with valuable examples.
Your text has to be structured in
- Introduction: state your answer about the topic
- Body: it should open all the facts, arguments, supporting evidence, and viewpoints on the subject. All information needs to be appropriately and coherently listed so that readers could enjoy smooth reading and actually understand your claims.
- Conclusion: it should contain the restatement of the thesis statement, the summary of the discussion, and the wrapping up point.