We all Want Something in Life

When you are a teenager it seems as if you have no freedom to do what you want. You are living under your parents roof so whatever they say goes. But sometimes if you really want something you can persuade them to say yes. This was the case of many young girls living when the mills first opened.

Girls were getting too old to just sit at home and do nothing,they must start working.Women, like Lucy the main character in the "Daughters of Free Men" video worked to help provide money for her family. That was not the only reason why Lucy went to the city to work. She went to the city to work to explore and see the world and to be independent.Everything has benefits and costs just like working on the mills did. In the "Mill Girls"video some benefits to working on the mills were getting paid, being independent, having more opportunities and living in the city. Some Costs of working on the mills were getting treated poorly,low pay,health risks, and you could not talk to men.  Women soon realized that they were working too hard to be treated like this. In the 1800's  Lucy and all of the other girls that worked on the mills boycotted and protested down the streets. As a result these companies hired new girls.

The girls that worked on the mills pictured their lives to be a whole lot different. Although they did gain independence and get to travel to the city their were many down sides to this.  The girls realized they had been working too hard to be treated like this and had enough.

(This is a drawing of a girl working on the mills making cloth)

Winslow Homer, illustration for William Cullen Bryant, “Song of the Sower”

We Don"t Just Learn From Textbooks

In Honors History 10 class the other day we did the MOSI Google chat. The MOSI Google chat allowed us to video chat with an expert on the mills, named Jamie. To prepare for this chat we read through the MOSI website and took notes on interesting things we noticed. In groups we then defined words that would help us better understand the chat.Lastly we came up with questions to ask Jamie.

Before the chat with Jamie I thought I knew a lot about the mills.Once hearing what Jamie had to say I learned so much more. These jobs were very dangerous therefore you wouldn't want one of your family members doing it. Factories bought orphans to do the work families wouldn't allow. One of the most dangerous jobs was given to children. Children would clean the machines. They would clean the machines while they were on and running. Many kids lost arms,hands and fingers while doing this job. There was  high amount of  dust and fiber in the factories which made people not be able to see. Even though a lot did change in this industry from the 1700s to the 1900s factories were not safe nor healthy. The living conditions were just as bad. Many people caught diseases from having to share a toilet with 100 or more people.

(This picture is of thread the workers would use in the factories to produce cloth)

Overall this chat taught me that the owners of the mills did not value their workers. I enjoyed this experience a lot but one thing I did not like was the poor internet connection. I know there's not much anyone can do about that but I think if we had a clearer connection we would have gotten more out of the chat.  I would definitely do this again because I felt as if they knew a lot of information that I couldn't have found on my own.

An advanced way of making a living

Behind every museum exhibit is the curator that made it. Every exhibit goes through the analysis process. This is an important part of curating a museum because we want the people looking at our exhibit to understand spinning wheels and power looms and how they became more industrialized. It shows that we, the curators know what we are talking about. Our exhibit contains several photos and written pieces. On the left side of our exhibit are pictures of the almond loom from 1771 and the spinning wheel from 1814. These two pieces show what spinning was like before wheels and looms were industrialized. We then have arrows pointing to the right side of the exhibit. These arrows are pointing to the industrialized spinning wheels and  looms. The spinning Jenny from 1835 and the power loom at the textile mill. We also incorporated a chart showing London's growth and quotes from a reading. My group and I came up with our exhibit title because we wanted to our visitors to see how spinning wheels and power looms have changed how people live their lives. To visitors visiting the exhibit I would want them to learn the the industrial revolution changed the way people lived. Before families would spin cotton in their homes and now they work in factories. 

Living in filth:

I learned how although producing products in factories was good for their industries they also harmed our earth. These factories resulted in a widespread of pollution in many cities. This lead to dirty waterways and overpopulated poor areas of living.

Broken Children:

I learned that Britain limited the amount of hours per day and per week people under the age of 18 could work.I also learned that children did a lot of the heavy work including having leather belts tied around them with a metal chain so that they could carry heavy loads 

More Cotton, More Slaves, Less Freedom:

I learned that the more demand their is for cotton the more slaves their will be.I also learned that cotton was traded in England to other places in 1850.

Thomas Takes Great Britain:

I learned that canals were used to bring goods to other communities. I also learned that transportation evolved in 1804 to 1853.

Making Life Easier

In Honors History 10 class the other day we used our devices to find out what was 'revolutionary' about the industrialization. To do this  we got into groups and read an article about the industrial revolution. Each group had a topic and they had to find information on some key facts.

The industrial revolution changed many if not all things. One thing that made the industrial revolution 'revolutionary' was technology. Technology was just starting to become more advanced. Iron was a big part of this improvement. Abraham Darby was able to produce a better quality iron for cheaper. He did this by using coal to smelt iron. With this new technology he was able to build railroads.The steam engine was also another new technology. The steam engine had two uses one was to use coal to pump water out of mines, the other was to power boats and locomotives by the stream. These new ways of technology let people have other jobs besides just farmers.

Another thing that made the industrial revolution 'revolutionary' was transportation. Their were two different types of transportation the steam locomotive, and the steam boat. The steam locomotive was a train powered by steam. It was very popular to the landlocked countries that could not get goods by sea.The steam boat was a boat powered by steam. Steam boats could carry 10 to 20 times the amount of goods on a wooden ship. Also steam boats travel above faster pace which enabled faster shipping.These two ways of transportation opened up more jobs and allowed more access to goods.

Kings of the River

Thomas, Margaret S. Kings of the River. Digital image. Briscoe Center for American History. Web. 8 Sept. 2014

 

Google Has The Answer to Everything

In Honors History 10 class the other day we put our Google search skills to the test. We had to dig through websites to find whether they were reliable or not. This class activity taught me how  to find reliable information and how to really Google  search.

One of the fun activities we did in class was A Google a Day. A Google a day is a website that asked questions and in order to find the answer we had to use Google.Google provided hints if you were having a hard time finding the answer. It even gave searchers tips and tricks on how to have a successful search. I found this activity to be very fun because I enjoy activities that give me determination to find the answer. One thing I learned from this experience that I didn't know before was if you type site: it will bring you to a specific website.

When looking at a website it must have three things accuracy, authenticity, and reliability. Accuracy is when information is correct and precise. Authenticity is when the information is legit. Reliability is when you can trust the information. One website that didn't contain these three things was The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. This source is not reliable because the pictures and videos look fake. Also their are no other sources about the "tree octopus" and if it was real their would be more information about this animal. Also when I looked up the authors name it said he was an internet hoax, which means he is a joke and we shouldn't trust what he says on this website. Although some of the stuff he writes may seem true you can tell that this website should never be trusted. The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus could not be used in school as a source because the information is not accurate, authentic and reliable.

 (Google Offers Many App Options)

 Edelstine, Sam. Google Offers Many App Options. Digital image. School of Information Studies Syracuse University. Syracuse University, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 7 Sept. 2014.

Do What You Love and Love What You Do

Hi, My name is Kathryn and i'm in 10th grade Honors History. I have been through many teachers in the past. Some have been great and others not so much. Teachers impact students lives greatly whether it's for better or for worse. Me being a student I look up to my teachers as role models.

Students are told throughout grade school to spend their lives doing something they love. If you have a passion for something you should do it, but if you don't then why are you wasting your time? Many kids struggle with getting the education they need and deserve because teachers have simply given up and don't care.  When someone, like a teacher loves kids and is passionate about their job it makes me the student want to come to school and continue learning. Good teachers are people who are willing to go out of their way to help their students because they love their job.They value their students and treat them with respect. One of my favorite middle school teachers was exactly this way. She got me to really love school by just having a smile on her face everyday. She bent over backwards to get students what they needed in order to succeed. She gave us freedom to be students and explore our learning styles.This year in Honors History my teacher can support me by always lending me a helping hand.

(Author unknown, Course Registration)

Photographer unknown. Course Registration. No date. Photograph. Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem North Carolina. 

 http://parents.wfu.edu/information-for-first-year-parents/course-registration/

A good education is a valuable thing that many kids in the world do not get to experience. In the video " An Open Letter to Students Returning to School" John Green talks about our duties as students. I agree with John Green that it's our duty as students to use the education we receive to do great things. We are handed this amazing opportunity to learn that others do not get. We should apply our knowledge the best we can in order to do great things. Everyone has goals in order to improve whether they are school related or not. Some of my goals for this year are to maintain no lower than C in any class, Participate more, and to be able to run three miles without stopping. To reach my school related goals I am going to not only work hard but study information every night and make sure I am on top of all of my assignments. For my athletic goal I will train and run everyday in order to reach my goal. With encouragement from others I am determined to reach my goals