Industrial Revolution
Teacher Resources
Lesson Guide
Want an easy reference for lesson vocabulary, pacing, and sample answers? Look no further than this guide.
Causation One-Pager
Causation is an important theme of this lesson. Help your students master this historical thinking skill with our one-pager’s tips on how to use the Causation Tool and Feedback Form.
Driving Question: What were the positive and negative impacts of industrialization?
Industrialization kicked off the Modern Revolution and brought forth changes that continue to impact our world. New sources of energy coupled with new innovations led to changes in almost every aspect of people’s lives.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the origins of the Industrial Revolution.
- Analyze the scale and impact of the Industrial Revolution.
Vocab Terms:
- factory
- fossil fuel
- industrialization
- labor
- reform
- suffrage
- urbanization
The Industrial Revolution was the product of centuries of global exchange and innovation. But what were some of the global causes that led to this revolution that changed the world?
Can we make energy without burning fossil fuels? Explore our most-promising solutions in this video in OER Project: Climate.
Whether it’s the sunlight that helps plants grow or the calories we consume when we eat food, everything comes down to energy. Let’s explore how our energy sources have changed over time.
Energy Through Time
This slideshow and activity align with Standard 11 (economic activities are dependent on access to raw materials and transportation networks) of the National Geography Standards (NGS). For more information about how Big History materials align with NGS standards, check out this standards alignment and placement resource.
A humble, sooty black rock turned the whole world upside down, but it didn’t happen everywhere at the same time. Learn why by solving the mystery in this activity.
Geography: Industrialization Mystery Maps
Did you know that there’s an easy way to give students feedback on their causation skills? The Causation Feedback Form breaks down the elements so that you can assess how well they did describing causes and effects and explaining historical significance. You can adapt the feedback form to focus only on the skills that you are assessing by crossing out sections of the form that don’t apply to a particular activity.
This is a good place to push past the oversimple “Britain had coal” explanation for industrialization. You may want to keep a running list of factors (for example: coal, wages, labor pool, finance, empire, geography,) so students see industrialization as a convergence of conditions. Truly the right place at the right time.
Working in a factory wasn’t necessarily more fun than toiling in the fields—in many ways, it was much worse for workers. These materials dig into why people made the switch to an industrialized lifestyle anyway.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What energy sources did people use before 1700?
- What were the first steam engines built to do?
- How did the textile industry change after improvements were made to steam engines?
- What were the local and global factors that led to industrialization beginning in Great Britain?
- How did the spread of industrialization lead to imperialism?
After you read
Respond to this question: How does the Industrial Revolution continue to influence your city or state?
The Urbanization Game is a student (and teacher!) favorite. Check out student exemplars and find out why teachers say, “Students can see and feel the impact of urbanization” when they play this game.
Now that you know why industrialization happened, let’s look at how it affected societies and individuals.
Urbanization Game Narratives
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- How did communication and transportation change after the innovations of industrialization and the Modern Revolution?
- What were some of the challenges of industrialization?
- What were some of the benefits of industrialization?
- What reform movements did people start to overcome some of the negative aspects of industrialization?
After you read
Respond to this question: How do the reform movements that occurred in response to industrialization continue to impact your life?
Want to take this career exploration a step further? Hop over to OER Project: Climate and check out some careers that are responding to one of the lasting impacts of industrialization: climate change.
We get it: Sometimes when you spend all this time talking about the past, you wonder why you, a twenty-first-century person, should care! Time to look at just how this era connects to your everyday life.
