[ Lesson
Toolkit ]
THANK YOU, MR. EDISON:
Electricity, Innovation and Social Change
Robert Gabrick and Barbara Markham
How can we provide students with the materials to see electrification
as both a technological and social phenomenon? To what extent do inventions
and inventors become cultural expressions of public tastes? Using
documents from the American Memory Collection and, as well as supplemental
materials, students will assess how technology shapes a public appetite
for goods, services, leisure, home and work models, therefore transforming
their lives.
Objectives
-
To have students assess the impact of electricity on the lives of people
-
To introduce students to the notion of consumption
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To have students see electrification as both a techological and social
phenomenon
-
To analyze the impact of advertising on the demand for goods
Time Required: two class periods
Recommended Grade Level
7-12.
Curriculum Fit
Lesson for unit on the l920s United States History survey
Resources Used
Procedure:
Primary Source Document: "Dear Mr. Edison"
-
After reading an actual letter to Thomas Edison written in l921 by a Kansas
homemaker, students will:
List the specific products that
Mrs. L notes have changed her life
Draw inferences as why Mrs.
L. would write to Mr. Edison
Ideally, the letter will
have each item hyperlinked. Students will be able to tell whether Mrs.
L. is correct
or not as to whether Mr.
Edison is responsible for all of the items she attributes to him.
-
Gallery Exercise of the Twenties
Students will search for three
advertisements of the period and consult examples from John Dos Passos'
The Big Money.
Students will then review
a Gallery of prepared items that would include popular consumer goods
(e.g. stove, Model T,
refrigerator, etc.). The
gallery may include a film still from the twenties, as well. Students will
write advertisements (or
a film promo) for each item.
Documents from the American Memory Collection:
Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures
and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies
Students should click on
"Timeline" and follow hypertext links to view individual inventions
Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music (l870-l885)
After linking to the document, "Electric Light," students will analyze
the song lyrics, identifying themes related to electricity.
Students may search the other pieces in the collection and comment
on why the theme of electricity would become a
subject for popular music
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal
Writers Project, 1936-1940
Students will analyze the effect of electricity on the lives of ordinary
citizens by reveiwing the following:
The Johnsons Build a House
Katie L. Persons interview
Interview with Vito Cassiola
Washington As It Was: Photographs by Theodor
Horydczak, 1923-1959
Edison Window (Visual)
After viewing this photo, students will complete an Object
Observation Sheet (Resource B by Sonnet Takahisa)
Coolidge and Consumer Economy: Prosperity and Thrift (Future
American Memory collection dealing with
advertisements of the l920s)
EVALUATION:
Students
will share ads and then decide whether they would purchase the items based
upon the ads.
Students should
keep in mind how the ads influence consumption and preferences.
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
work in progress
Top of Page
Put email address of contact for lesson here.
rwgabrick@aol.com
markham@dca.net
July 23, l999