Grade 5
Social Studies
Unit: 10
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 5 days
Grade 05 Social Studies Unit 10 Exemplar Lesson 02: Innovations Move Our Nation Forward
This lesson is one approach to teaching the State Standards associated with this unit. Districts are encouraged to customize this lesson by
supplementing with district-approved resources, materials, and activities to best meet the needs of learners. The duration for this lesson is only a
recommendation, and districts may modify the time frame to meet students’ needs. To better understand how your district may be implementing
CSCOPE lessons, please contact your child’s teacher. (For your convenience, please find linked the TEA Commissioner’s List of State Board of
Education Approved Instructional Resources and Midcycle State Adopted Instructional Materials.)
Lesson Synopsis
Students learn about how ideas, innovations, inventions, and accomplishments changed life in post Civil War America. Students analyze primary
sources, research and create a front page for a newspaper that reflects the spirit of innovation and perserverance.
TEKS
The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) listed below are the standards adopted by the State Board of Education, which are required by
Texas law. Any standard that has a strike-through (e.g. sample phrase) indicates that portion of the standard is taught in a previous or subsequent
unit. The TEKS are available on the Texas Education Agency website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6148.
5.23
Science, technology, and society. The student understands the impact of science and technology on society in the
United States. The student is expected to:
5.23A Identify the accomplishments of notable individuals in the fields of science and technology, including Benjamin Franklin, Eli Whitney, John
Deere, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, George Washington Carver, the Wright Brothers, and Neil Armstrong.
5.23B Identify how scientific discoveries, technological innovations, and the rapid growth of technology industries have advanced the economic
development of the United States, including the transcontinental railroad and the space program.
Social Studies Skills TEKS
5.24
Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a
variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
5.24E Identify the historical context of an event.
5.25
Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:
5.25B Incorporate main and supporting ideas in verbal and written communication.
5.25D Create written and visual material such as journal entries, reports, graphic organizers, outlines, and
bibliographies.
5.25E Use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation.
GETTING READY FOR INSTRUCTION
Performance Indicators
Grade 05 Social Studies Unit 10 PI 02
Create a “Snapshot in History” front page of a newspaper covering major scientific discoveries. Use articles, pictures, and graphics to inform your readers of scientific
discoveries.
Standard(s): 5.23A , 5.23B , 5.24E , 5.25E
ELPS ELPS.c.1C , ELPS.c.1E
Key Understandings
Scientific discoveries and technological innovations advance the economic development of a society.
— What did notable individuals in the field of science and technology accomplish?
— How have scientific discoveries, technological innovations, and the rapid growth of technology advanced the economy of the United States?
Vocabulary of Instruction
Innovation
Industrialization
Inventions
Historical context
patent
Materials
Last Updated 05/22/13
Print Date 06/26/2013 Printed By Karen Johnson, MIDLAND ISD
page 1 of 14 Grade 5
Social Studies
Unit: 10
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 5 days
butcher paper or chart paper,
pencil colors and/or markers (1 set per group)
scissors (1 per group)
Attachments
All attachments associated with this lesson are referenced in the body of the lesson. Due to considerations for grading or student assessment,
attachments that are connected with Performance Indicators or serve as answer keys are available in the district site and are not accessible on the
public website.
Handout: Timeline
Handout: Edison’s Patent for the Electric Light Bulb
Handout: Thomas Edison
Handout: Alexander Graham Bell’s Design Sketch of the Telephone and Patent
Handout: Alexander Graham Bell
Handout: My Research
Handout: The Transcontinental Railroad in Historical Context
Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Transcontinental Railroad
Handout: Template for Newspaper
Resources
An additional resource that the teacher may find useful is http://archives.gov/education/lessons/industrial-us.html
Advance Preparation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Become familiar with content and procedures for the lesson.
Refer to the Instructional Focus Document for specific content to include in the lesson.
Select appropriate sections of the textbook and other classroom materials that support the learning for this lesson.
Preview available resources and websites according to district guidelines.
Prepare materials and handouts as needed.
Background Information
The time period from 1850-1900 was marked by vast change. After the Civil War, the availability of natural resources, new inventions, and a receptive market combined to fuel
an industrial boom. The promise of free land resulting from the Homestead Act of 1862 brought immigrants from economically depressed countries in Europe, while the
completion of the transcontinental railroad improved access to the West.
GETTING READY FOR INSTRUCTION
Teachers are encouraged to supplement and substitute resources, materials, and activities to meet the needs of learners. These lessons are one
approach to teaching the TEKS/Specificity as well as addressing the Performance Indicators associated with each unit. District personnel may create
original lessons using the Content Creator in the Tools Tab. All originally authored lessons can be saved in the “My CSCOPE” Tab within the “My
Content” area.
INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES
Instructional Procedures
ENGAGE – Evaluating Inventions Based on Impact
Notes for Teacher
NOTE: 1 Day = 50 minutes
Suggested Day 1 – 20 minutes
1. Group students into three or four.
Materials
2. Distribute the Handout: Timeline to each group.
3. Students cut out the thirteen boxes and three stars.
4. Students arrange the boxes in order by date.
Say:
Discuss and decide which inventions had the greatest impact.
After your group has discussed the inventions, select three inventions
that had the greatest impact and place a star by each one.
scissors (1 per group)
Attachments
Handout: Timeline
Purpose
Students evaluate the impact of inventions.
TEKS: 5.23A
5. Scribe student responses on the board.
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Print Date 06/26/2013 Printed By Karen Johnson, MIDLAND ISD
page 2 of 14 Grade 5
Social Studies
Unit: 10
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 5 days
Ask:
Why do you believe that these are the most important? (Answers will vary
but should reflect logical thinking.)
6. Let’s explore and determine if your hypotheses are correct.
EXPLORE/EXPLAIN – Primary Sources, Secondary Sources
Suggested Day 1 – 30 minutes
Day 2 – 20 minutes
1. Facilitate a discussion by asking questions such as:
What are some of your favorite activities? (Answers will vary.)
Are there some items that you use every day or really like to use? What
are they? (Answers will vary.)
2. Record responses on the board.
Attachments:
Handout: Edison’s Patent for the Electric Light
Bulb
Handout: Thomas Edison
Handout: Alexander Graham Bell’s Design
Sketch of the Telephone and Patent
Handout: Alexander Graham Bell
3. Continue discussion by asking questions such as:
Purpose
What would your life be like without them? (Answers will vary.)
Looking at the inventions that you have in front of you, are any of them
necessary in order for these items to work? (Answers will vary but should
include use of electricity, the light bulb, the telephone, and/or recorded music.)
Students read, discuss, and analyze primary and
secondary sources.
TEKS: 5.23A, 5.23B; 5.25B, 5.25D, 5.25E
4. Distribute the Handout: Edison’s Patent for the Electric Light Bulb to each of the
groups.
5. Allow students time to review the document within their groups.
6. Continue the discussion by asking questions such as:
What do you notice about this primary source document? (Answers will vary
but should include the date, the signature of the inventor, and that the drawing is
very precise.)
How important is this invention to you? (Answers will vary.)
What would your life be like without it? (Answers will vary.)
In what way would it have changed the lives of people when it was
invented? (Answers will vary but should include that there would have been a
great impact on their lives.)
7. Say:
Let’s look at a secondary source.
8. Distribute the Handout: Thomas Edison to groups.
9. Project the Handout: Thomas Edison so that students can read along as the
information is read to them. Students underline information that the group believes to
be important.
10. Read handout aloud to students.
11. Students discuss what they have underlined within their groups and reach a
consensus as to the most important message from the reading.
12. Students share their conclusions with the class.
13. Distribute the Handout: Alexander Graham Bell’s Design Sketch of the
Telephone and Patent to the students.
Ask:
What do you notice about the two primary source documents that are
displayed side by side? (Answers will vary.)
How are they alike? (Answers will vary but should include that both are primary
documents; both contain drawings; the design looks fairly simple.)
How are they different? (Answers should include that the first document is a
preliminary sketch, while the second document is the formal patent.)
What can you conclude? (Answers will vary but should include the observation
that a very simple design has had a great impact on our lives and society.)
14. Distribute the Handout: Alexander Graham Bell to students.
Last Updated 05/22/13
Print Date 06/26/2013 Printed By Karen Johnson, MIDLAND ISD
page 3 of 14 Grade 5
Social Studies
Unit: 10
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 5 days
15. Students read the handout within their groups, discuss their findings, and reach a
consensus on the most important message from the reading.
16. Have students share their group’s conclusion with the class.
17. Write all responses on the board.
Ask:
What similarities are there between the two inventors? (Both believed in
what they were doing.)
What life’s lesson can we learn from both men? (Answers will vary but may
include that we should always strive to improve and/or make things better.)
EXPLORE/EXPLAIN
Suggested Day 2 – 30 minutes
1. Group students into four.
Attachments
2. Each member of the group researches one of the following notable individuals:
Benjamin Franklin
Eli Whitney
John Deere
George Washington Carver
3. Distribute to each student the Handout: My Research.
4. Explain to students that the focus of the research is based on the following major
points:
Brief background
Accomplishments/Inventions
Impact on society
Handout: My Research
Purpose
Students research a notable individual.
TEKS: 5.23A; 5.25B; 5.25D; 5.25E
Instructional Note
Research may be done in the library or with the use
of available classroom resources. Plentiful
information is available from reliable Internet
resources that may be printed out and distributed to
each of the groups.
5. After the research is completed, each group member shares the information about
the notable individual with other group members. Students may use the Handout: My
Research when explaining to group members.
EXPLORE/EXPLAIN
Suggested Day 3 – 50 minutes
1. With a partner, students read the Handout: The Transcontinental Railroad in
Historical Context.
Materials
2. Project the Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Transcontinental Railroad (Slide 2) for
all students to refer to as they read.
3. Student A reads the first paragraph, while Student B follows along and writes one
important key point about what was read. Student B reads the next paragraph while
Student A follows along and writes one important key point about what was read.
4. The process is repeated until students finish reading the handout (article).
butcher paper or chart paper,
pencil colors and/or markers (1 set per group)
Attachments
Handout: The Transcontinental Railroad in
Historical Context.
Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Transcontinental
Railroad
5. Student pairs join to form a group of four.
6. Groups of four create a visual (an advertisement) promoting the two railroad lines
(Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad). Groups may use butcher paper
or chart paper, pencil colors and/or markers.
7. Students may refer to their handout (article) when sketching and developing the
advertisement.
8. Remind students that at this point in history, people did not have access to
televisions or Internet and the only way to promote a business was through
advertisements on newspapers or posters.
9. After groups complete their advertisement, each group presents their advertisement
to the whole class.
10. Advertisements may be kept for display to use on the Elaborate piece the following
day.
Purpose:
Students read and discuss information relevant to
the transcontinental railroad. Students create an
advertisement and present it to the whole class.
This activity helps students prepare for the
performance indicator. Students also learn about
historical context.
TEKS: 5.23B; 5.24E; 5.25B; 5.25D; 5.25E
Instructional Note:
Have a short discussion as to how the
advertisement industry has changed through time.
Perhaps collect newspaper advertisements to show
differnt styles of ads.
ELABORATE – Impact of Advertisement
Suggested Day 4 – 20 minutes
1. Project the Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Transcontinental Railroad slide 3.
Purpose:
Last Updated 05/22/13
Print Date 06/26/2013 Printed By Karen Johnson, MIDLAND ISD
page 4 of 14 Grade 5
Social Studies
Unit: 10
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 5 days
2. Students view the advertisement and compare/contrast the actual advertisement with
their own and/or other groups using a Venn diagram as a graphic organizer. (Note:
Sketch the Venn diagram on the board for students to use as a model)
3. After students complete the Venn diagram, facilitate a discussion by asking questions
such as:
What is the main purpose for advertising?
Is advertising important?
Why?
How might advertisement affect the economy of a city, state or nation?
How did the transcontinental railroad and other inventions that we have
learned about affect the economy of the United States?
Students gain a deeper understanding of
advertisement/s and their impact. Students make
connections between inventions, advertisement and
the economy (free enterprise)
TEKS: 5.23A; 5.23B; 5.25B; 5.25D; 5.25E
Instructional Note:
Review free enterprise with students as applied to
new inventions, advertisements and competition.
ELABORATE
Suggested Day 4 – 30 minutes
1. As a preview for the performance indicator, small groups create a “snapshot” of
history that is relevant to inventors, inventions/discoveries and the impact on the
economy.
Attachments:
2. Distribute the Handout: Template for Newspaper
Purpose:
3. Groups revisit inventors, inventions and other events that they have researched and
read about throughout this lesson. Encourage students to refer to their notes and
other graphic organizers to help them develop the frontpage of a newspaper.
Handout: Template for Newspaper
This activity helps students organize information as
they prepare for the performance indicator.
TEKS: 5.23A; 5.23B; 5.24E; 5.25B; 5.25D; 5.25E
EVALUATE
Suggested Day 5 – 50 minutes
Grade 05 Social Studies Unit 10 PI 02
Create a “Snapshot in History” front page of a newspaper covering major scientific discoveries. Use
articles, pictures, and graphics to inform your readers of scientific discoveries.
Standard(s): 5.23A , 5.23B , 5.24E , 5.25E
ELPS ELPS.c.1C , ELPS.c.1E
Last Updated 05/22/13
Print Date 06/26/2013 Printed By Karen Johnson, MIDLAND ISD
page 5 of 14 Grade 05
Social Studies
Unit: 10 Lesson: 02
TIMELINE
1900
1.5 Million Telephones
Are in Use Throughout
the U.S.
1880
First Lasting
Light Bulb
1793
Cotton Gin
1898
Nearly 3000 Power
Stations Around the
Country Lighting Two
Million Light Bulbs
1876
Telephone
1856
Patent for Process of
Removing Impurities
from Steel
1784
Bifocal Glasses
1892
Gas-powered Tractor
1859
Oil Well
1837
1875
Multiple Telegraphs
Steel Plow
1877
Phonograph
1920s
Plant peanuts and
other products
instead of cotton
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Unit: 10 Lesson: 02
Edison’s Patent for the Electric Light Bulb
National Archives
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc_large_image.php?doc=46
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Social Studies
Unit: 10 Lesson: 02
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio. Young Tom didn't do very well in school, so his
mother decided to teach him at home. She gave him lots of books to read. Tom was a curious boy.
He always wanted to know how things worked. He liked to see if he could make them work better. His
mother let him set up a laboratory in the house where he could experiment with things.
As a young man, Tom set up a lab of his own, where he could try out his ideas. He invented lots of
things in his laboratory. Guess what his favorite invention was? It was the phonograph. Before the
phonograph, if you wanted to hear music, you had to play it yourself or go to a concert.
Edison's most famous invention was the light bulb. At the time, people used gas or oil lamps to light
their homes. Edison knew it would be cheaper and easier to use electricity. The trouble was, nobody
knew how to do it. Edison worked on his idea a long time. He tried many things that didn't work. But
he didn't give up. He kept trying until one day it worked! Today, you can flip a switch and have light
any time you want it.
Edison also built the first electric power plant. Edison's Pearl Street Power Station opened in 1882 in
New York City. It sent electricity to 85 customers and made enough power to light 5,000 lamps.
Edison also invented the movie camera. When you go to the movies or watch TV, you can thank him
for his ideas and hard work. Many of the electric machines you see at home or at school came from
his ideas.
Inventing things was what Edison liked best. He thought about how things worked. Then he thought
about how he could do it better. That is called inspiration. The hard part came next. Edison had to
make his ideas work. He tried all kinds of things until he found exactly what would work. He called
that perspiration. He said that invention was “one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent
perspiration.”
U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2013). Edison (1847). Retrieved from http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=fp_edison
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Unit: 10 Lesson: 02
Alexander Graham Bell’s Design Sketch of the Telephone & Patent
Bell, A. G. (Designer). (1876). Bell's original drawing of the telephone.
[Print Drawing]. Retrieved from
http://memory.loc.gov/mss/magbell/273/27300105/0001.jpg
©2012, TESCCC
Bell, A. G. (Designer). (1876). Bell's telephone patent drawing and oath.
[Print Drawing]. Retrieved from
http://www.archives.gov/global-pages/largerimage.html?i=/historical-docs/doc-content/images/a-g-belltelegraphy-patent-l.jpg&c=/historical-docs/doccontent/images/a-g-bell-telegraphy-patent.caption.html
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Grade 05
Social Studies
Unit: 10 Lesson: 02
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) was born in Scotland and moved to Boston in 1872 to open a school
for teachers of the deaf. He became a U.S. citizen in 1882. His early experiments included ways to
improve and use telegraphy. The telegraph conveyed messages through a system of electrical sounds
that, when decoded, could be translated into words. It was dependent on skilled technicians and never
became a home appliance. Rather, it required you to go to a telegraph office to send or receive a
message, or perhaps a messenger did this for you. Bell wanted to invent something revolutionary: to
transmit not only the sound of the human voice, but audible words. With the telephone, Bell wrote in
1878, "It is possible to connect every man's house, office, or factory with a central station, so as to give
him direct communication with his neighbors."
Information Source:
National Archives. (n.d.). Teaching with documents:. Retrieved from http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/telephone-light-patents/
(2012). 1894 cracraft-leich phone. (2012). [Print Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.odinartcollectables.com/images/full_phone.jpg
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Grade 05
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Unit: 10 Lesson: 02
My Research
Name of Significant Individual
------------------------------------------
Picture or Sketch
Accomplishments and Inventions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Impact on Society
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Social Studies
Unit: 10 Lesson: 02
The Transcontinental Railroad in Historical Context
Oh what a moment in time! On May 10, 1869, two sides of the United
States met at Promontory Point, Utah. It was the place and the moment in
time when two sets of railroad tracks met.
Leland Stanford, whose railroad company had laid tracks east from
Sacramento, California, shook hands with Thomas Durant, whose railroad
company had laid tracks west from Omaha, Nebraska. The two tracks
finally met in the middle. Two trains traveling each direction on each track
carefully met in the middle. Where the two trains touched, the men both
raised silver hammers to pound in the final golden spike to complete the
joining of the two tracks. There were loud cheers, parades and celebrations
all across the United States.
At that very moment in time, the goal President Abraham Lincoln had with
the Pacific Railroad Act had finally been accomplished. The hard work of so
many people was completed. Armed with shovels, picks and dynamite, the
workers had labored and labored, through heat and freezing cold to
complete the enormous task. Now, there was a railroad track that stretched
all the way across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific
Ocean and back. The people in the United States could now travel from
coast to coast in just 10 days. Of course, they had to change trains at
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Grade 05
Social Studies
Unit: 10 Lesson: 02
stations several times, but the covered wagons which had been so
important would now be unnecessary.
That is the way with many inventions and accomplishments. For their time
they are invaluable. But then something else even more helpful comes
along and replaces it making it unnecessary. The railroad would replace
covered wagons.
For example, think about transportation today when so many people are
using airplanes for travel. Airplanes have now replaced trains for long
distance travel of people in many instances. This is an example of how we
understand historical context. In the context of history, words, ideas or
inventions are important because they fit the time. Trains fit the late 1800s
while airplanes now fit our time. When things change there can be another
set of words, or ideas, or inventions to fit a new time in history. Whether or
not we value something has to do with when it is placed in historical time,
or historical context.
The Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 was enormously important to people
in that historical context. It was a newer, safer, faster way to transport
people from place to place and goods from place to place. Remember how
the Civil War had divided the country? Railroads helped to make the United
States into a united country. All at once people could travel easily to see
their families, or to view the beautiful plains, rivers, and mountains of the
western frontier. People could quickly get all kinds of important goods from
one coast to the other for the first time. People from other parts of the
nation got to know one another. Immigrants could travel easily for jobs. It
made the country seem smaller and closer. Placed in historical context, the
Transcontinental Railroad was life-changing economically and socially for
people living in the United States.
Photo credit:
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (Photographer). (1869). Photograph of golden spike ceremony [Print Photo]. Retrieved from
http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=594940
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Unit: 10 Lesson: 02
Template for Newspaper
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