Using Principals and Rules: Predictions about Inventions
Name:_________________________________
Date:__________________
Standard: 6.1.4.C.16: Explain how creativity and innovation results in scientific achievement and
inventions in many cultures during different historical periods.
Target: To make inferences as a result of information on a chart. To understand how inventions were
used in the late 1800’s and how these inventions changed American’s lives.
Citation: America’s Story by Vivian Bernstein Chapter 4: America’s Inventions
Directions: Write a three paragraph essay that explains each invention and how each invention changed
American’s lives in the late 1800’s and how we use the invention today. Each paragraph must have at
least five sentences and please use only complete sentences . Each paragraph should include a topic
sentence, three body sentences, and a closing sentence. Do your best to spell all words correctly and
use proper grammar. Each essay should be worked on for twenty-five minutes to complete. This essay is
worth twenty points. Half credit will be given for partially developed ideas and ways each invention was
used.
Use the attached graph above to write your essay. How did the inventions from 1976 to 1923 change
how Americans lived? Give specific examples for each invention and how it can be used.
Ideal Answer:
Each invention listed above was important for people during the late 1800’s and still are today.
The telephone was invented by Alexander Grand Bell. The telephone made people have the ability to
get into contact with people quickly. Before the telephone, people would have to write letters and wait
weeks to get a response. Telephones made communication instant. Thomas Edison, in West Orange,
New Jersey, invented the electric light bulb. Before the light bulb was invented, people did not have
electricity in their homes and had to rely on sunlight. After the invention, people were able to use
electric lights to light homes, streets, schools, and offices. Those two inventions we still use today at
home and school.
Shoes were very expensive before Jan Matzeliger invented the shoe-making machine which
enabled shoes to be made quicker. Most people did not have many pairs of shoes before her invention.
After, shoes were made in factors and sold in shoe stores. Today, we still have shoe stores, and shoes
are not that expensive. The airplane was invented during this time period as well. Orville and Wilbur
Wright invented the first plane that people could fly in. That meant that people could now fly from place
to place rather than taking the train or horse. Today many people fly from place to place for vacation or
to see family members.
The invention that made the daily life of American’s better was the invention of the assembly
line to make cares quickly. Henry Ford, developed a way to make cars quicker. This enabled people to
afford to buy cars. The way people traveled changed because of this invention. American’s no longer
had to travel by horse. Today almost everyone has a car that they travel in daily. All the inventions
during this time period we still use today, just updated.
Phrases or ideas about:
a. How inventions changed American’s lives in the late 1800’s (15 points)
i.
Identify how inventions directly changed the lives of Americans
b. How inventions are still used today (5 points)
i.
Identify how inventions are still used today