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Innovation Starts With Us

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Subject: Social Studies

Lesson Length: 40 - 45 mins

Topic: Industrial Revolution

Grade Level: 4

Objective: Critical thinking, Informing

Standards:

  • Science, Technology, and Society

  • Explain how the Industrial Revolution led to political, economic, and social changes.

Brief Description: Students will explore different inventions and innovations during the Industrialization era and the role of these inventions in their state and/or United States.

Know Before You Start: Students should have a good grasp of the events leading up to the Industrial Revolution in America. Students should be able to define words such as: innovation, invention, technology, and industrial revolution.

Innovation Starts With Us - Exemplar comic, panel 1 Innovation Starts With Us - Exemplar comic, panel 2 Innovation Starts With Us - Exemplar comic, panel 3

Hook:

  • Have students brainstorm technology they can’t live without. 

  • Discuss technology. Is technology good or bad? What do you consider technology? Why do people invent things? Point out that tools and resources as simple as a pencil or turning on a light switch was the newest technology during different time periods.

Activity:

  • Have students research an invention that was developed during the Industrial Revolution. 

  • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a 3 panel comic showing who invented the invention and demonstrating the purpose and impact of the invention.

  • Panel 1: What is it and what is the purpose of the invention?

  • Panel 2:  Who invented and why did they invent it?

  • Panel 3: What impact (economically, politically, and/or culturally) did the invention have on the state and/or United States during the Industrialization Era?

Closure:

  • Display students’ finished comics. 

  • Have students decide what current technology evolved from, these specific inventions from the Industrialization Era.

Differentiation:

  • Enrichment Option: Have students create a 4th panel in the comic, or a separate comic, inventing something of their own that would help them today. 

  • Provide sentence frames as needed for student comics.

  • Allow students to use speech-to-text feature as needed. 

  • Have a list of inventions for students to choose from.

Resources: Comic to print or display: Comic 1.

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