Factory Fun

          This week, I got to do something I never thought I would be able to do. My class toured the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester England. The best part about this tour was that we could do it straight from our classroom via Google video chat. To prepare for our video tour, we did an internet investigation on the MOSI website Textile Gallery. We also watched a video of Jamie, our tour guide,or explainer as they say in England. The video highlighted a few machines that we would be looking at in our tour and a few that we weren't going to see. We took notes on the machines and came up with definitions as a group using Google keyword search skills. Next, as a small group, we thought of a few questions to ask Jamie when we do our chat. The questions varied from, "How long does it take to make cloth in the factories?" or "What are the dangers of working in the factories?".

          I learned  a lot of interesting things while video touring MOSI. I gained new knowledge about many machines used to make cloth. One process that stuck out to me was the Hand Cards. They are 2 big brushes that have wires that brush cotton fibers into a straight line which is turned into a thread. What struck me about the hand cards, was that the young kids would operate them.

Handcards a picture from the Google chat with Jamie

Which brings me to another thing that we discussed in our chat. One of the most interesting topics we talked about would be the dangers of working in the factories. One danger of working was the risk of Bisinossis, which is a condition when too much cotton fibers are in your lungs. Jamie also said, one of the most dangerous jobs ever, was children, 5 and under, would have to clean under machines while they were running. Jobs like these put children and other workers in grave danger. In other cases, children or girls could get there hair stuck in machines and get pulled in. Many children lost limbs or lost their lives. Jamie also said that many children tried to run away from factories so factory owners would tie them to the machines.

          This experience was very interesting. I didn't think it was possible to learn so much from a museum in another country on video chat but it was! I would love to do this again on other topics. The only downside is that if the technology wasn't functioning right, we would be able to learn. Otherwise, I loved this opportunity to learn from a museum in England.

Curate to Create

          Recently, in class we acted as museum curators and created our own museum exhibits. In order to make these exhibits, we had to go through an interesting process. The first step to making our exhibit was to gather and read all of our sources. We needed to find the main argument of each and pick out the mot important information to display. Next we had to decide how to  arranger our title, sources, and any brief placards we wanted to add. We wanted everyone who visited our exhibit to understand the main point, which was child labor. We needed to find the most accurate way to arrange our sources while making it understandable. We chose to display or exhibit as a timeline show the progression of child labor through out the industrial revolution. It is important to choose a clear and concise way to arrange your sources so the information is helpful and not confusing to visitors. 

          The next day, we toured each others exhibits. Each exhibit said something new about the industrial revolution. The first exhibit I toured was called "From Spinning Wheels to Power Looms." This exhibit explains how the innovations of the spinning machines in mills impacted people. It says, when spinning machines were invented in mills, people who previously worked in their homes had to move to cities and the populations grew rapidly. The second exhibit was called "Thomas Takes Great Britain." This exhibit describes the conflict that was presented when steam engines were invented. Many people argued against railroads and they didn't want to build them. It was surprising to me that people didn't want railroads because they could expose them to states and cities they know nothing about. The next exhibit was called "Living in Filth." This exhibit was very interesting. It shows the amount of pollution and how it affected living conditions. Coal factories polluted the air and water which made people unhealthy and made for dangerous living conditions. The last exhibit was called "More Cotton, Less Freedom." This exhibit shows that when there was a higher demand for cotton there was an increase in the US slave population. After the Textile Industry took off in 1820, the population of slaves grew even higher. 

How Technology and Transportation Changed The World

          This week in class we have been talking about "What is so 'revolutionary' about the Industrial Revolution.". We learned that there are 4 Ingredients to Industrialization. They are People, Resources, Technology and Transportation.  We worked in groups and took notes on one of the subjects, then shared our notes to the class. After taking notes, the two ingredients that stuck out to me were technology and transportation.
         
          During the industrial revolution, many new and innovative machines came about. As helpful as these new machines are, they do have some negatives. One new machine is the Steam Engine. The Steam Engine used coal to pump water out of mines, fuel boats and fuel locomotives. Another new invention was Improved Iron. Abraham Darby used coal to smelt iron and separate it from it's ore to remove impurities from coal. This iron was used to build railroads. It helped people produce better quality and less expensive iron. On the downside of these new inventions. there was a lot more pollution. Also, the machines were doing the jobs that people used to do so people started to lose their jobs. Some innovations in textiles include John Kay's Flying Shuttle, which outpaced the spinners allowing a single weaver to weave wider fabrics. Also, there was the Spinning Jenny and the Water Frame, allowing better and quicker textile production. Link to Industrial Revolution Inventions video

Spinning Jenny 1769
http://deanqdrummonds.blogspot.com/2011/09/spinning-jenny-1769.html

        

         
          There was also a lot of new transportation during the Industrial Revolution. One new invention was the Steam Locomotive. This steam powered train pulls carriages along tracks, moving goods across land. After building the Steam Locomotive there were more railroads created throughout Europe and North America. Another invention was the Steam Boat. The Steam Boat enabled faster shipping. It could carry 10 to 20 times the amount of a wooden ship and travels at an above average pace. With these new innovations there was faster shipping, more goods going to different places and more jobs provided. However there are a few negatives to great innovations. One negative is pollution from coal. A few more are price raises in goods, loss of farmland and local economies were hurt because goods were being shipped to other places.

Steam Locomotive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotive

A Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus a Day

          Recently in Honors History we used two really neat activities  meant to teach us how to search and use online resources responsibly. One activity was called " A Google a Day." This activity tested our research skills by asking a series of three questions that you need to research the answers to by using the " A Google a Day"search engine. The second activity was a website called"Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus" . This activity was used to prove how well we can judge liable websites. We needed to determine if the website was Accurate, Authentic and Reliable. 

          

          "A Google a Day" was a website that is powered, obviously, by the search engine Google. As I said before, it asks three questions from the categories of Sport,  Science, Pop Culture,  History,  Arts  and  Literature, or Geography. The website times you while you research and try to answer your question. One of the fun aspects of the activity was that it was a race between the groups in our class room. It was interesting to have to, not only accurately find information, but quickly as well. One difficult and frustrating thing about this activity was that the information could be difficult to find, granted that was the point of the activity. Although, when our group put our heads together we worked through the difficulties and found the answers to all the questions. ( A Google a Day link http://www.agoogleaday.com/#game=started ) 

          The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website activity was also a very interesting activity that we did in class.The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website is a fabricated website dedicated to teach about the " Tree Octopus". Our job was to decide if the website was Accurate, Authentic and Reliable. For a website to be accurate it has to have all correct information. For a website to be authentic it has to has to serve the purpose that the name implies. Lastly, for a website to be reliable, it needs to have a trustworthy source of information and a trustworthy author. The Tree Octopus website was neither accurate or reliable, however it was authentic. It wasn't accurate because the information was false, there is no such thing as a tree octopus. The website wasn't reliable because the author is just an author, he doesn't study endangered animals and doesn't know much about them. The website was authentic because it serves it's purpose, which was to inform people about  "The Endangered Tree Octopus."(Tree Octopus Link  http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ )

The Recipe for A Great Classroom

                Hi, My name is Lauren and I'm in 10th grade Honors History. The purpose of this blog is to show the work I have created this year in History class.This post, however, is to describe the qualities of a great teacher. I've had many teachers in my 11 years of school but only a handful made an impact in  my life. The teachers who made an impact put together with good students create the perfect recipe for a great classroom. 

                

                 All teachers have the potential to be great teachers. Many live up to their potential and make a excellent learning environment for kids. Out of all the teachers I have had, the great ones all express many of the same qualities. One of these qualities is equality. Some of the best  teachers I've had treat the class like adults rather than kids. It makes the teacher seem approachable and friendly. It makes the class want to ask questions, get involved and do well in the class.  Also it seems cliche, another quality that great teachers posses is the ability to make learning fun and relatable.  A good class consists of deep discussions and meaningful conversations but there is no way to get kids involved unless the topic somehow relates to them, and that the lesson is interesting and fun. As much as a great teacher is important for success, they're only half of the ingredients for an excellent classroom.
                 
                The second half of the recipe for a great class room is the children in the class. As a student, we are given the keys to the world. It is in our hands to be the next generation of doctors, lawyers, astronauts and so much more. It is in our power to find and discover amazing things, as long as we work our hardest in school. I believe, and agree with John Green, that as students it is our job to change the world and make it a place that we will be proud of. It may seem a little far- fetched that we could do something so immense but the reality is that every small thing counts and eventually it will amount to something great and we will have fulfilled our duty as students. Personally, this year I hope to achieve a few things. Academically I'm striving for an A in all of my classes. Athletically, I really want to run my first 5K road race. In order to reach my goals I need to work very hard this year. I will complete all my assignments, study hard and meet with teachers after school for extra help. Alongside volleyball and basketball, I will train my body to run 3 miles and hopefully achieve my goal. Together students and teachers make the perfect recipe for a great classroom.


John Green Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x78PnPd-V-A&feature=youtu.be

Candy Rose Collection Mixing Bowl
http://www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/candy-rose-collection-mixing-bowl-392578