Free Teacher Resources
We've collected some amazing resources to assist you with teaching about the industrial Revolution in your classroom including pre/post visit activities to frame your visit to the Tsongas Industrial History Center, lessons and activities developed by educators who participated in our "Inventing America" National Endowment for the Humanities teacher workshop, and primary sources and other media to enhance your lesson. Visit our Resources page.
Rental Kit
"The World of Barilla Taylor" is a resource kit of activities you can rent for your classroom. Get the World of Barilla Taylor online!
Available to Purchase
Curriculum Packet - "Lowell & the American Industrial Revolution Curriculum Packet"
(Eastern National and Tsongas Industrial History Center) Students explore the American Industrial Revolution using Lowell as a case study. This primary source-based curriculum packet features maps, timetables, regulations, hospital records, letters, photos and more. Teacher's guide and student activities are included. Grades 5-12. $12.95.
Curriculum Packet - "Cotton, Cloth, and Conflict: The Meaning of Slavery in a Northern Textile City"
Using this collection of primary source materials and related activities, students investigate the relationships between the industrial North and plantation South before the Civil War. Designed for grades 8 - 12. Available at the Boott Museum Store (phone: 978-970-5015) for $12.95. Download a printable order form (pdf).
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view any pdf files. It can be download for free from the Adobe website.
Cobblestone "Mill Girls" Issue
"The Mill Girls: From Farm to Factory" provides students with an entertaining and informative look at the life and work of Lowell's early workforce. "Mill Girls" includes background pieces on early Lowell, several short works of historical fiction, primary sources such as maps, mill girl letters, and images of factory and city life, various activity pages, and an industrial history resource list. (March 2001 issue)
Available at the Boott Museum Store (phone: 978-970-5015) for $6.95.
The Ten-Hour Movement: Women and the Early Labor Movement
The Ten-Hour Movement Curriculum Packet includes:
Historical Background Essay and Timeline, Eight activities for classroom use, Thirteen Student Source documents to support the activities.
Available at the Boott Museum Store (phone: 978-970-5015) for $12.95.
Packet - Mill Girls
In response to the many requests for basic information about Lowell's famous "mill girls," we have developed "Mill Girls" a packet that includes four historic documents and photographs that tell the story of the young Yankee women who left their farms to operate machines in Lowell's textile mills.
Available at the Boott Museum Store (phone: 978-970-5015) for $7.95.
Poster - A New England Cotton Mill
With this unique, award-winning poster, students can trace the steps of cloth production in a water-powered mill.
Available at the Boott Museum Store (phone: 978-970-5015) for $4.95.
An Activity Sourcebook: "Teaching Industrial History through Science, Mathematics, and Technology"
Looking for ways to make your industrial history units more interdisciplinary? This sourcebook contains 18 activities to help students explore scientific and economic concepts, create and interpret charts and graphs, and use data to solve problems and reach conclusions. Ideal for middle and high school.
Available at the Tsongas Center for $4.95. Download an Curriculum order form (doc) or call: 978-970-5080.
Curriculum Packet - Making the World Better: The Struggle for Equality in 19th Century America
This is a free curriculum packet produced in connection with the State House Women's Leadership Project and the installation of HEAR US, a new work of art honoring the contribution of women to public life in Massachusetts. The packet focuses on two of the State House honorees, Lucy Stone and Sarah Parker Remond. Through primary source documents transcribed and edited for use by middle school students, teachers can address many of the learning standards recommended in state and national curriculum frameworks as they engage students in exploring the struggle for equality. Contact us at: TIHC@uml.edu if you are interested in this packet.
