Helpful Hangout with Jamie

This week in Honors History, we got to speak with an expert on the industrial revolution, Jamie, who works at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England.  Before live chatting with him, our class got into smaller groups and did some background research.  We looked around the museum's website, and watched a video.  There were many words that we did not understand, but would need to in order to learn from Jamie.  We found definitions for the terms carding engine, hopper feeder scutcher, draw frame, sliver, speed frame, slubbing, roving, and power loom.  We also thought of interesting questions to ask Jamie about the industrial machines and his work.

The chat with Jamie helped me earn a lot and see a lot of the machines involved in the industrial revolution.  Before the industry, families had to make their own cloth using machines like the hand loom and spinning wheel.  In 1775, Richard Arkwright and John Kay invented the water frame, a machine powered by water that has rollers of different speeds to turn cotton and wool into a sheet for the next process.  We also learned about the power loom, a shuttle that could travel up to 45 mph, which were handled by women.  The machines were extremely loud, so many women ended up going deaf from work.  Women also lost teeth from out of control shuttles and contracted diseases from inhaling cotton dust.  All of the work in English mills was dangerous, and hurt many people.  Over time, conditions got worse with urbanization.  Many people would be living in one house and using the same toilet, so the sanitation deteriorated.  Since our class had just set up our own museum exhibits and acted as curators, we asked Jamie why he chose this profession.  He said that he was brought up in England and went to college there, and decided to further his knowledge on the industrial revolution, since it is a part of his history.

I really enjoyed the google hangout, because I learned a lot more and it was a lot more interesting than reading about something to learn.  I liked being able to see the machines up close,it made me feel like I was actually at the museum.  I also liked being able to ask questions and have them be answered right away, especially when I needed something cleared up.  I would definitely like to do things like this in class more often.

Jamie showing our class one of the many shuttles.

Display of New Skills

This past week in History, we worked in groups of 5 to create an exhibit on a category of the Industrial Revolution.  I learned many things from viewing the other exhibits, and many skills in museum curating.

The other exhibits I visited were on child labor, the revolution's effect on pollution, steam powered transportation, and new machines.  Child labor was when both genders worked together in mines, because they were small enough to fit, and they worked in terrible conditions around dangerous machines until the factory act in 1833.  The revolution's pollution was caused by the new machines and factories.  Streets would be flooded with dirty water, and poor people had to live outside. Steam powered engines connected to cities in some way, and most production of coal is around urban areas.  The steam engine allowed people to travel further distances in shorter time than before. The new machines, mostly textile inventions, there was more work to be done, which required hiring workers. The population of London increased greatly because it was a highly desirable job for women and even children.  

The museum exhibit was a new way of projecting information, and was much more interesting to learn from and create.  After reading the information about the sources we received and answered the sourcing questions, it was easy to piece everything together.  We summed up the most important information into only a few sentences, and tried to keep it interesting.  We set up the exhibit so that people's eyes would travel between information and pictures, and hold their interest.  We tried our best to use bright colors and media, as well as relevant decorations.  We came together to create a unique title, Spinning into Slavery, because it makes people wonder how those two things can possibly connect to each other.  

 

Instructions and Ingredients to the Industrial Revolution

     This past week in Honors History 10, we started our first unit on Industrialization.  Early Industrialization improved life back in the 1750's, and had a great influence on life today.

     The new technology made in Europe made many jobs and many people's lives more efficient.  The flying shuttle invented by John Kay was the first of many inventions that helped the textile industry.  In 1764, James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny, which allowed many threads to be spun at the same time.  These machines were eventually powered by water frames, invented by Richard Arkwright.  Textile factories started to be built next to fast moving streams, which allowed the amount of labor performed in one factory to be equal to the previous amount of labor performed in an entire district.  In another industry, Abraham Darby's experiments led him to produce better quality and less expensive iron, that was smelted by coal to build railroads.  James Watt invented the steam engine, which became the main power source for many things throughout the industrial revolution.

"Spinning Jenny"
http://www.newlanark.org/learningzone/clitp-ageofinvention.php

     The common people who weren't busy inventing world-changing machines were keeping very busy.  Farmers were working more productively so that they could improve the quality and increase the quantity of their products.  Dikes were built in order to shelter farmland that was by the sea, and the seed drill enabled seeds to be grown in rows so that land was not wasted. The mixing of different soils led to having more successful crops, which led to an increase in the population.  Without the constant fear of starvation, women and babies became healthier, along with the death rate declining.  With farming going so well, some peasants got kicked off of farmlands and were forced to find work in cities, and contribute to the labor force of the industrial revolution.  
   
     
     

Searching Our Way to Success

     Last week in Honors History, our class learned how to properly search information on google in order to obtain accurate results for our work.  In small groups, we played the game A Google A Day, then visited the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website.

     A Google A Day (http://www.agoogleaday.com/#game=started) is an online game made by google, that teaches people how to search efficiently on google.  The game asks a hard question, then makes players fine the answer my effectively searching on google.  Throughout the game, the answers to the questions get harder to find, but google provides helpful searching tips.  Everyone in the class had fun learning new random facts, and competing against the other teams.  Eventually, every group got stumped and we had to put all of our skills together to find the correct answer.  I learned many essential searching skills to find better information.

     When talking about information, accuracy, authenticity, and reliability are crucial.  Accuracy is the state of being precise, which means that the information that someone gathers had to be true.  Authenticity is the quality of being genuine and real, so the information's source has to be valid.  Reliability means that a source is good quality and is able to be trusted.  After discussing these three important terms, we visited the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website (http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/).  This website definitely could not be used as a source in school.  Although the website lives up to it's title and is about what it says it is, the information is not accurate, authentic, nor reliable.  There is no such thing as a Tree Octopus, so the false information is definitely not accurate.  There is no honest research behind this animal, so it is not authentic. The website is deceiving, because it comes off as a true source, which makes it very unreliable.

"Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus"
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

Trying to Make History in History 10

     My name is Kylie Bringola, and I consider myself lucky when talking about my education experience for the past ten years.  I've really liked and enjoyed many of my teachers so far, and I can find similar qualities within them.  My greatest teachers have made it their priority to get to know me personally and academically.  They have also asked for feedback from me and my classmates, and given helpful feedback to us.  As I got older, I loved my teachers that gave real world examples as to how what we were learning matters and makes a difference.  I like teachers that let me be independent, but always remind me that help is available.  This year, I am really excited to try all the new technology in class, because I'm sure it will be helpful and useful.  Most of my past History teachers have made their classes fun and interactive, which made me really appreciate what I was learning, so it would be nice to continue their techniques.  

The Secret Life of Teaching: Smart Board, Dumb Teacher

History News Network

http://hnn.us/article/154996#sthash.Olb9vswZ.dpuf

     I strongly agree with what John Green says about my resposibility as a student to make a difference sometime in the future.  I always hear so much about how my generation is the future of the world, and although it is scary to think about, it is very true.  Education needs to be taken more seriously by people my age, because we all need to make it worthwhile and use it to benefit the world.  I like to start off every school year by making reasonable goals, and hopefully reaching them within the next ten months.  My athletic goal is to get better at my favorite sport- field hockey, by working my hardest during practice and games, and training during the offseason.  My academic goal is the most important to me, and this year it is to learn a lot of new things, achieve honor roll all 4 quarters, and try to get an idea of my future college/career. I've already started to take new and different classes, and I will try my hardest to study more often, put lots of effort into my school work, and pay attention in class. My social goal is always to make new friends, whether it be the new freshman or the upperclassmen on my field hockey team, just anyone who can make my high school experience more enjoyable and memorable.

John Green's Letter to Students Returning to School: