Topic: Birth of the Industrial Revolution

Author of the script: Monika Piotrowska‑Marchewa

Target group

7th grade student of elementary school.

Core curriculum

7th‑grade students of elementary school (new core curriculum)

XIX. Europe after the Congress of Vienna. Pupil:

2 ) characterizes the most important manifestations of the industrial revolution (inventions and their applications, areas of industrialization).

31 . The development of industrial civilization. Pupil:

1 ) lists the characteristic features of the industrial revolution;

2 ) gives examples of positive and negative effects of the industrialization process, including the natural environment;

3 ) identifies the most important inventions and discoveries of the nineteenth century and explains the economic and social consequences of their application.

The general aim of education

Students learn about the most important manifestations of the industrial revolution in Great Britain and on the European continent.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• shows on the map the most important industrial centres of 19th century Europe;

• describes the most important manifestations of the industrial revolution;

• lists the groundbreaking inventions of the era of industrial revolution.

Methods / techniques

• exposing methods: talk, traditional lecture, explanations and comments from the teacher;

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook; using multimedia;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text and audio drama.

Forms of work

• activity in pairs or in groups;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or traditional blackboard;

• tablets/computers;

• notebooks.

Before classes

The teacher asks students to read the subsection Unique Revolution.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher gives the students the subject, explains to the students the lesson objective and the criteria for success.

2. The students do individually Exercises 1 and 2 devoted to the beginnings and symbols of the industrial revolution, and then they check their answers in pairs. If they do not know the answer, they look for it in the e‑textbook.

3. When students complete their tasks, the teacher asks questions, e.g.:

• Why is this revolution called the industrial revolution?

• Which industries are involved in the start of industrialisation in Great Britain?

• What was the impact of the agricultural revolution on the development of the proletariat?

• Why were women and children so eagerly employed?

Asking the questions, the teacher remembers to formulate them as key questions.

Realization

1. Students will learn about the first inventions that triggered the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. For this purpose, they fulfil Instruction 1. They list the most important inventions that accelerated the development of weaving and spinning in Great Britain. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

2. The teacher tells the students that the most important invention of the industrial revolution was the steam engine. Then the students fulfil Instruction 2. They listen to the audio drama and learn how this invention was constructed and produced on a massive scale. They write down the names of people who contributed to the popularisation of the steam engine.

3. The teacher tells the students about the changes that took place in metallurgy and transport at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries and about the links between these branches of the economy and the intensively developing textile industry. The teacher uses materials from e‑textbook and from the Internet. The teacher explains how the industrial revolution spread in Europe in the first half of the 19th century. The teacher shows on the map of the 19th century Europe the most important areas of industrialisation.

4. Students do Exercise 3, marking inventions that do not match the others. They discuss the results together. The teacher takes care to provide the students with feedback when they do exercises and instructions.

Summary

1. The teacher asks students to do Exercise 4 (correctly arranged puzzles allow to answer the question). The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

2. The teacher assesses the students’ work during the lesson taking into account their contribution and involvement. For this purpose, the teacher can prepare an evaluation questionnaire both for self‑assessment and for the assessment of the teacher’s and other students’ work.

3. The teacher gives a homework for volunteer students (not an obligatory part of the script) consisting in fulfiling Instruction 3 in the abstract.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Birth of the Industrial Revolution

In the second half of the 18th century, the United Kingdom, as the first country in the world, entered the path of intensive modernisation and industrialisation of the economy. The extent and scale of the changes that took place between 1750 and 1850 have made this process known as the industrial revolution. Coal mining, the basic raw material of the industrial revolution, was based on the physical labour of people, including women and children, for most of the 19th century. Of particular importance for the British economy were technical innovations, which already in the 18th century revolutionised the process of fabric manufacturing. Metallurgy was another area that underwent revolutionary changes. Also in this area, all inventions of English engineers were immediately applied in practice, and the steam engine changed the way of iron production. The next milestone was the use of a steam engine to carry heavy loads. The ships were the first to be equipped with steam engines, and with the best effects. In 1814, a British, George Stephenson built a steam locomotive for one of the mines. A few years later, he opened the first locomotive factory for public transport.

Copying of British technologies was common on the European continent. By 1830, the whole of Western Europe and part of Central Europe had already entered the path of intensive industrialisation. The most economically advanced countries were Belgium, the Netherlands and France, as well as some areas of Germany and Italy. Central and Eastern Europe lagged behind, as the process of industrialisation was delayed there by strong feudal remains and the predominance of the agricultural economy.