This inquiry leads students through the political, social, geographic, and economic changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain between roughly the years of 1760 and 1840. By investigating the compelling question “How did the Industrial Revolution move people?” students consider the ways in which movement (e.g., people, goods, services) affects a person’s geographic location and daily life as well as the structure of society. Students examine the ways in which the Industrial Revolution influenced people to physically move, how it moved aspects of workers’ daily lives, and how it metaphorically moved people forward and backward by analyzing how it affected progress. In investigating historical, geographic, and economic evidence, students develop an interpretation of the positive and negative influences of the Industrial Revolution and the extent to which these influences affected people in the past and people today.
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About the inquiry
Compelling Question
Staging Question
Where did people move to and from during the Industrial Revolution?
Formative TasksDraw a population map of Britain highlighting where people were moving and annotate the pull factors that led them there.
SourcesSource A: Image bank: Maps of Great Britain and the Industrial Revolution
Source B: Manchester from Higher Broughton
Source C: Excerpt from Observations On the Effect of the Factory System
How did daily life move before and during the Industrial Revolution?
Formative TasksUsing a Venn diagram, compare and contrast the ways daily life moved before and during the Industrial Revolution.
SourcesSource A: Excerpt from A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain
Source B: Interview with Michael Crabtree, child laborer
Source C: Excerpt from a factory inspector’s report
How did the Industrial Revolution move society backward?
Formative TasksDevelop a claim supported by evidence that explains how the Industrial Revolution moved society backward.
SourcesSource A: Excerpt from The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844
Source B: Excerpt from Hard Times
Source C: “Age Distribution in Cotton Factories”
How did the Industrial Revolution move society forward?
Formative TasksDevelop a counterclaim for the previous claim using evidence that explains how the Industrial Revolution moved society forward.
SourcesSource A: Excerpt from Thrift
Source B: “Life Expectancy at Birth, Cities in England, 1850s–1890s”
Summative Performance Task
Argument: How did the Industrial Revolution move people? Construct an argument (e.g., detailed outline, poster, essay) that addresses the compelling question using specific claims and relevant evidence from historical sources while acknowledging competing views.
Extension: Students hold a classroom debate on how the Industrial Revolution moved people, ultimately coming to a conclusion on whether it moved society backward or forward.
Taking Informed Action
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