First Ever Google Hangout With A Curator

Here is a photo of the man from the MOSI museum who led us on a tour.

Recently in class we did a Google hangout chat with a man who works at Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England. To prep for this discussion we did a website investigation, watched a video from a museum curator, learned vocab for the machines we would be focusing on, and drafted questions for our curator. First, in our website search our class was given several websites about industrialization and the machines in Europe and we researched them. Second, watched a video from Jamie the man whom we had the video chat with he took us on a brief tour of the museum and he gave us some insight on how the process worked from turning cotton to cloth. In this video he gave us a couple vocab words. These words were things like hopper feeder scutcher, flubbing, draw frame, roving and many others.  I had almost no clue what any of these words were until the video. Finally, we drafted questions. This was vital because it would have been very awkward if he asked for questions and we all stared at him with a blank face.

After sitting through the chat with Jamie I learned that the textile process was a long, dangerous and tedious process. I could not imagine myself sitting down at my machine and feeding cotton through a hole for ten hours a day. Also, I learned how dirty of a job was. One of the most memorable stats Jamie gave was the fact that there was one toilet for 125 people. When I heard this I was shocked. One toilet for 125 people is absurd. In my house we have two bathrooms for five people and we still fight over it! Jamie then went on to talk about how people throw their waste into the street. When there is human waste in the streets that cannot be good for overall health. As for the growth of the industry Jamie made it clear that over time the process became a lot faster. For example when people started with the handloom and then worked their way up to the power loom the process was made a lot faster. One impact that industrialization had on families was that families lost a source of income once they were no longer able to sell cloth that they made out of their homes with handlooms once the power loom was invented. This caused some families major financial trouble. When Jamie talked about his job specifically he said that he enjoyed being able to inform others about such a very important time period.

Overall, sitting through this Google hangout session with Jamie really helped me further understand industrialization. I enjoyed being able to get information from someone who studies what we learn almost everyday, but I wish we had a better internet connection so he wasn’t as choppy. I would 100% do this again.  

Here are links to our discussion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2elcPIzAFTw&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLZpk0hCXHA&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD2DO6_We6c&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya0rK67qosw&feature=youtu.be

Museum Curator Reaction

My Groups' Project

We were group A and the main topic of our exhibit was to inform people about how the process of spinning cloth was improved and how it affected families. Our first source was a picture of the Almond Loom which was created by John Almond. The Almond Loom was a lot faster then the spinning wheel. The next source was the Spinning Jenny and that was created to over take the Almond Loom because it was faster and more efficient. Next comes a chart on London's growth. This was significant because when more people moved into the city in search of jobs more people were forced into poor living conditions. Fourth, the spinning wheel was one of the first machines used to spine thread and it could be used by almost anyone in a home. Fifth, was the mechanized loom and this was used for mass productions and in factories. Finally, comes the passage about the effect on the families that these machines had. When hand looms stopped being used families lost money because there children could no longer sell their work. As you can see our title was Tearing Down Families and we chose that because we thought that the most significant source we had for this project was by far the passage about how families were effected by the industrialization. Once hand looms were obsolete families had to rely on only the father's money and sometimes that wasn't enough, and that caused the family to suffer. When visitors look at my exhibit I hope they will learn how the machines used to make cloth changed and how that change negatively effected families. One of the most interesting facts that I learned from this museum curator activity was how much child labor was used. It is crazy to think that so many young kids around the age of ten had to work ten hour days with no breaks just to pay off their parents dept. A lot of the time these young kids' health was greatly effected and they ended up being very sickly or some even developed scoliosis. Overall, I felt that the project was a fun and entertaining way to learn about The Industrial Revolution.

Group B I learned that before the locomotive really helped bring people closer together all over the world. Also, I learned that the steam engine used fire to turn water into steam.

Group C I learned that slums were often a product of over industrialization. Also, I learned that the industrialization was the cause of pollution in many rivers.

Group D I learned that population boomed in cities like Manchester because people needed jobs. However this resulted in increased poverty.

Group E I learned child labor was used frequently. Many children became sick and died because of child labor.

How Revolutionary Really Was The Industrialization?

Recently in Honors History Ten our class has been learning about the industrialization and how it changed the world to a much better place. The essential question for our class was “What was revolutionary about industrialization?” We covered four main subtopics on the industrialization and those were, people, technology, resources, and transportation, but today I will be focusing on only people and transportation.

People played a major role in the industrialization. People made the industrialization revolutionary by having the Dutch combine smaller fields to make larger fields. This may seem simple, but it had some major results that really helped improve farming. With larger fields the Dutch were able to grow more crops and grow new crops that they didn’t originally have room for. Also, they used fertilizer to help make sure that their soil was as rich as it could be. This was crucial because famine was always an imminent threat. Besides new crops the larger fields also helped stem the inventions of new machines that were needed to farm this land efficiently. Second, the enclosure movement was when wealthy landowners kicked peasant farmers off of their land and then fenced it off. This helped the landowners gain land for sheep to graze, and that meant more wool for clothes. The rich landowners became richer because there were fewer people for them to pay. Now that the farmers had no work they wandered to the cities were there was an abundance of jobs in factories now that many new inventions have been created. Finally, during industrialization death rates began to decline. This was vital because it reduced the risk of famine, which was always a constant threat. People discovered that if women ate healthier then their babies would also be healthier and there would be better chances that they would both survive childbirth, which was a common way to die back then.

Princess — 2-4-4 G-Scale Forney Locomotive, Painting, http://www.h-l-w.com/Products/locomotives.html 

Faster transportation had a huge impact on industrialization. Steamboats and locomotives helped city growth, increased trade over long distance and helped people gain access to goods that are not grown near them. Imagine living life where we have no access to things like bananas, grapes and many other fruits. People who lived in the northern part of the world didn’t have access to not only tropical fruits, but many other necessities that were only available closer to the equator until steam boats and locomotives. Steamboats were powered by steam engines, and they traveled the ocean at an average speed of five miles per hour. Steam Locomotives were revolutionary because they made railroad travel possible and they did not need to follow rivers. The first train was created in 1830 and by 1870 trains were very popular.

 Learn More About Industrialization Here

My Eye Opening Experience On How to Google Search

         Recently in class we have done several activities to try to teach everyone how to properly search on Google, how to spot phony websites and we learned the importance of accuracy, reliability, and authenticity. In order to do so we used the Google a Day site, and researched the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. These were both very fun activities and I really learned a lot from both. 

           When we gathered as groups and took on the Google a Day challenge I didn't know what to expect. The website gives who ever takes the challenge three question and the person must try to find the answers to the questions using Google. One might think that sounds simple, but it was actually very challenging. At first my group struggled a lot with the challenge and we tried many different techniques to get the first question, which was "What is event is known as the eighth wonder of the world?” but eventually we figured out that the answer was WrestleMania. The website offers a number of tips and tricks which include, search for a specific website, change around the words in your search, take out some words that aren't needed, search for a specific file, and many more. 

A Google A Day

            Also, as previously mentioned, we did a little research on the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and found this website Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. At first glance the website appears legitimate. There is plenty of detail, pictures and videos of the animal. However, once you dig deeper you may find yourself questioning the legitimacy of the tree octopus because there are some dead giveaways on the site. For example the author says that the species is endangered but it is not on the endangered species list. This raises some questions about the species, and then if you simply Google search the animal's name you will find it is a fake species. This brings me to a very important part about navigating the Internet seas safely, accuracy, reliability, and authenticity. These three adjectives are supremely important when searching the web. Accuracy is key because the information you are reporting on has to be true or the whole report is pointless. Reliability is vital because if you use a respected author then you know your information is accurate. Finally, authenticity is important so you can site your sources properly. 

Google Logo, Photo, googleblog.blogspot.com

What I Feel is Vital to A Positive Learning Experience

              There are several aspects that I feel make a teacher really great. First, I feel it is important to have a teacher who is personable. I like when teachers can talk to you about topics other than school related issues. I feel that this creates a stronger connection between the teacher and student. Second, I enjoy when a teacher makes themselves available before and after school if a student is in need of help. Also, after school group study sessions are helpful. Finally, I appreciate when teachers use technology. I believe that if there are resources out there like phones and iPads then teachers might as well learn to use them for a positive as opposed to making students hide them away in a backpack.
My favorite teacher recently was my seventh and eighth grade spanish teacher. Mr.Maatala was funny, personable and made learning the language fun. He did a great job of incorporating games into his classroom, and because I am very competitive, games are a great way for me to learn. He also was open to us using our phones during class for google docs, or online spanish dictionaries.
One thing that you can do this year to support me would be to be available for help before and after school. Some teachers are always running around after school, making them hard to find, and some flat out leave early. Sometimes I might not fully understand what is going on in class and I need some clarification so it is helpful when my teachers are available.

               I do agree with John Green about the fact that children need to use their education to do great things. Not only do young scholars need to live up to the hype because there are people paying taxes for school even if they don't have a child, but also because the better we do in school now the better everyones lives will be better in twenty or thirty years. The generation above us in dependent upon to find new medicines, to create new technology, to stop global warming, and much more. Thats why it is so important for everyone in school to try their hardest to succeed. One of my main academic goals this year is to have a grade point average of 3.8 or higher. I feel this is doable because I am taking one more honors class this year. I will reach this goal by completing all my homework on time, and not messing around on my phone during class. Athletically, in golf I would like to have a record of at least seven wins and three losses. In lacrosse I would like to work to move my way up the depth chart on defense so I can be at least one of the top six defenders on the team. I will reach my athletic goals by giving a hundred percent every practice, game or match I play in.

"Rory Mcilroy is The Betting Favorite"

Picture from hotlinks.golf.com

John Green Education Video