Essex Steam Train & Riverboat 
Field Trip Lesson Plan
Sr. High World History

AIMS						      DO NOWS
Before Trip:  How did inventions provide the momentum behind the industrial revolution?
After Trip:  How did industrial revolution inventions have a profound effect on society?	Before Trip:  Describe five industrial revolution inventions and how they are still a part of your life.
After Trip:  Describe the experience of traveling on a steam train.	

MOTIVATIONS
Before Trip:  In many ways, steam powered the Industrial Revolution.  Today you will learn about it, and tomorrow you will experience it!
After Trip:  Every invention has its pros and cons.  Steam power is no exception.	

ACTIVITIES						QUESTIONS
Before Trip:  
1.  Introduce students to inventions of the
     Industrial Revolution.
2.  Break students into small groups and 
     have students create advertisements
     for ‘their’ new invention, including the 
     steam locomotive.  Have each group 
     present to the class.

After Trip:
1.  Discuss the impact of technology on 
     society, both positive and negative, 
     focusing on steam-powered railroads.
     Students will be able to use their field-
     trip experiences to accurately describe
     travel on a steam train.	Before Trip:
1.  How did inventions change society?
2.  Why were new inventions very 
     appealing to businessmen and 
     workers?

After Trip:
1.  What were some positive and 
     negatives effects of rail travel?
2.  How did railroads affect transportation 
     and trade?
3.  How do railroad fireman exemplify 
     industrial revolution labor?	

SUMMARY						ADDITIONAL LESSONS
Before Trip:  Inventions were at the very
heart of the Industrial Revolution.
After Trip:  There were many pros and some cons associated with the modern railroad technology of the industrial revolution.	1.  Railroads and Cultural Diffusion
2.  Lives of Railroad Workers in the 
     Industrial Era
3.  Formation of Unions	

Sr. High World History					Name:__________________
Date:  ________________						         Field Trip

STEAM
THE POWER BEHIND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:  During your study of the Industrial Revolution, you learned that steam power was invented, and transformed the world in which we live.  Today, you can experience that steam power.  While the locomotive pulling the train today is from the 1920s, it uses the same principles perfected during the Industrial Revolution.

1.	Describe your initial reaction to seeing a steam locomotive.  How would somebody in 1800s react to seeing such a machine?

2.	Steam locomotives are often called ‘living machines.’  Explain the meaning of this phrase.

3.	How did steam trains revolutionize travel?

4.	In the steam locomotive, there is an engineer running the locomotive, and a fireman shoveling several tons of coal into a fire of over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.  Describe the working conditions on a steam locomotive.

5.	Before railroads were invented and perfected, travel was often by foot, wagon, or boat.  Compare your riverboat and steam train rides.  What are some advantages and disadvantages of each type of transportation.  Which one do you feel is superior and why?

USING PRIMARY SOURCES:  Analyze the following quote by Matthew Boulton, the business partner of James Watt, who improved the steam engine.  Boulton was addressing the King of England, and said:

“Your Majesty, I have at my disposal what the whole world 
demands, something which will uplift civilization more than 
ever by relieving man of all undignified drudgery.  
I have steam power.”