We have organized our activities and lesson plans by topic and identified their corresponding programs. We noted if they work best as a pre-visit, post-visit activities, or stand-alone lesson plan. However, feel free to use and adapt our lessons for whatever purpose you see fit. Check out our Remote Learning Modules, collections of primary documents and writing prompts that address many of the same topics, for asynchronistic assignments.
- Civics
- Environmental Impacts of Industrialization
- Immigration and Community
- Life in an Industrial City
- Literary and Artistic Responses to Industrialization
- Lowell's Changing Landscape
- Native People of the Merrimack Valley
- Slavery and the Cotton Economy
- Technology, Engineering, and Waterpower
- Transition from Farm Life to Factory Life
- Working in the Mills
Civics
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre/post lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Understanding Challenges and Finding Civic Solutions (pdf) | Using a variety of multi-modal sources, students will investigate various current or historic voices to understand the challenges facing individuals and devise possible civic solutions. Created by a Classroom teacher as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop. | Yankees and Immigrants; Exploring the Immigrant Experience; Immigration, Culture, and Community; Bale to Bolt; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City; Workers on the Line | 8 | Post-visit, Lesson |
Environmental Impacts of Industrialization
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre/post lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crumpled Paper Watershed (pdf) | Students create a model of a watershed and observe how the contours of the land determine the flow of surface water. They also investigate the physical characteristics of a watershed and the effects of human land-use decisions on the watershed. | Industrial Watershed; River as a Classroom; Human Impact on the Living Planet | 5-8 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| Who Polluted the Merrimack (pdf) | This activity demonstrates that we are all part of the problem of pollution. It also shows that protecting the environment is not a one-time event, but requires ongoing changes to our habits. | Industrial Watershed; River as a Classroom; Human Impact on the Living Planet | 5-6 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| Water Quality Tests and Data Collection Sheet (pdf) | Students will perform these six tests during the program. Reviewing the tests with students before the field trip will help them be more familiar with the vocabulary. They will use this form to collect data during the field trip. They will then analyze the data to determine the health of the river. | River as a Classroom | 5-8 | A preview of the sheet students use to collect data during field trip. |
| Industrial Watershed Lab Manual (pdf) | Your students will complete this lab manual as part of their Industrial Watershed investigation. | Industrial Watershed | 5-8 | A preview of the Lab Manual students use during field trip. |
| Topographic Maps (pdf) | This lesson reviews the concept of a water table, its relationship to landforms, and how the surface topography land is represented on a map. | Industrial Watershed | 5-8 | Lesson |
| If/Then (pdf) | Causes and effects are very important to science. In this lesson, students will examine the causes and effects of natural acts and human activity on the environment. | River as a Classroom; Human Impact on the Living Planet | 5-8 | Post=visit, Lesson |
| All the World's Water | Learn about all the world's water, our most precious natural resource. This video and its companion activity encourages students to think about how they use water and what they can do to conserve it. | River as a Classroom; Industrial Watershed; Human Impact on the Living Planet | 5-8 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
Immigration and Community
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre / Post Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On the Move: An Introduction to Immigration (pdf) | This lesson introduces students to the concept of immigration, including the questions: What factors influence where immigrants choose to settle in America? and How might immigrants feel when they arrive in America? | Yankees and Immigrants; Exploring the Immigrant Experience; Immigration, Culture, and Community | 3-5 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| Why do immigrants come to America? (pdf) | Students will use oral histories and political cartoons to understand the push and pull factors that influence immigration | Yankees and Immigrants; Exploring the Immigrant Experience; Immigration, Culture, and Community | 4-8 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| My Family's Immigrant History (pdf) | Students trace their own roots to find out about their family's immigrant history. They create a patchwork-design mural sharing their own family's stories | Yankees and Immigrants; Exploring the Immigrant Experience; Immigration, Culture, and Community | 3-5 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Sharing the Immigrant Experiences (pdf) | Assuming the persona of the immigrant they portrayed in the immigration workshop, students create letters or journal entries imagining their experience of immigrating to America. | Yankees and Immigrants | 3-5 | Post-visit |
| Resources on Contemporary Immigration to Massachusetts (pdf) | Web resources that provide data on refugees and immigrants to Massachusetts, and the social agencies who help them adjust to life in the United States. | Yankees and Immigrants; Exploring the Immigrant Experience; Immigration, Culture, and Community | 4-5 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Role Card Worksheet (pdf) | This worksheet helps students "unpack" more information about the character they played during the workshop. | Yankees and Immigrants | 3-5 | Post-visit |
| "A School for Kids Like Me" | "A School for Kids Like Me" introduces students to the controversial 1830s issue of whether or not public funds should support what was essentially a parochial school in Lowell's Irish Neighborhood. This video and activity are used on-site as part of the Yankees and Immigrants program. Do not do this activity as a pre-visit activity. | Yankees and Immigrants; Immigration, Culture, and Community | All grades | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Exploring Similarities and Differences Through Cultural Objects (pdf) | In this activity, students explore similarities and differences between cultural groups, and themselves, as represented by objects. | Yankees and Immigrants; Immigration, Culture, and Community | 3-5 | Lesson |
| Pushes and Pulls: Why People Immigrate | In this activity, students explore the stories of people who have immigrate to Lowell using the role cards from our Yankees and Immigrants program | Yankees and Immigrants; Immigration, Culture, and Community | 3-5 | Lesson |
Life in an Industrial City
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre / Post Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Questions for Reflecting on Boardinghouse Life (pdf) | Students can reflect on what life was like for Lowell's "mill girls" by reading the letters they wrote home, and responding to questions. | Bale to Bolt | 5-8 | Post-visit |
Literary and Artistic Responses to Industrialization
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre / Post Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winslow Homer, Artwork Interpretation of "The Old Mill" (pdf) | Students will examine and interpret the painting, "The Old Mill" (also known as "The Morning Bell"). | Bale to Bolt; Workers on the Line | 9-12 | Lesson |
| Literature Circle: Lyddie | Katherine Paterson's novel Lyddie is a favorite among classes visiting Lowell and the Tsongas Industrial History Center. The following teacher-developed activity, a "Literature Circle" works to stimulate student-led discussions focusing on themes, literary elements, connections to history, and reflective connections to the students' lives. | Bale to Bolt; Workers on the Line; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 5-8 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Interpreting Historical Images | This activity helps students learn to look more closely at images, and consequently learn more from any image they study. You can find historical images of Lowell on our Omeka database. | All programs | 4-12 | Lesson |
| Meeting Modern Problems - "Where is Your Walden?" (pdf) | Using intentional observation skills, this lesson helps students gain an appreciation of how we are nurtured by our local environment. Created by a classroom teacher as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop. | Bale to Bolt; Workers on the Line; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 9-12 | Lesson |
Lowell's Changing Landscape
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre / Post Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Recipe for Lowell's Industrial Revolution (pdf) | A successful recipe must include the proper "ingredients." Lowell's textile industry was no exception, relying upon all the right ingredients, it became the site of America's first large-scale production. | Bale to Bolt; Yankees and Immigrants; Workers on the Line; Engineer It!; Power to Production; Industrial Watershed; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 4-6 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| Advantages and Disadvantages of the Industrial Revolution (pdf) | The Industrial Revolution changed, for better or worse, the way Americans worked, lived, and used the land. Students will use specific details to discuss advantages and disadvantages of industrialization on the lives of the early mill workers and on the students' lives today. | Change in the Making; Bale to Bolt; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 3-5 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Lowell's Changing Landscape | These six activities were inspired by the three murals in our Change in the Making program map activity that examine how Lowell's landscape changed over time from native settlement to colonial farm to industrial city. | Change in the Making; Change Over Time: Through Children's Eyes | 3-4 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Opening the Boott Mill's Acorn Time Capsule: Make Your Own Time Capsule | Discover the secret time capsule within the Boott Mill's gold acorn and then make your own | All programs | 3-5 | Pre-visit, Post-visit, Lesson |
Native People of the Merrimack Valley
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre/post lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What happened to the Native People of Massachusetts? | Using readings in a jigsaw activity, students will attempt to answer the question, "What happened to the Native People of Massachusetts?" Created by a classroom teacher as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop. | Change in the Making; Change Over Time: Through Children's Eyes | 3 | Post-visit, Lesson |
Slavery and the Cotton Economy
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre / Post Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 the plantation South before the Civil War. Available at the Boott Museum Store (978-970-5015) $12.95 | Bale to Bolt | 8-12 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Slavery in the American South (pdf) | Students will use primary sources to examine the institution of chattel slavery in the United States and achieve a better understanding of the lives of enslaved people on Southern Plantations | Bale to Bolt | 5 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| What can be made out of a bale of cotton? (pdf) | This colorful chart shows all of the different uses for cotton. | Bale to Bolt; Change in the Making | 3-12 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Mill Girls' Slavery Rhetoric and the Realities of Enslavement (pdf) | Students examine the rhetoric used by mill girls to compare themselves to enslaved people and contrast that with the realities of enslavement in the American south. Created by a classroom teacher as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop. | Bale to Bolt | 8-12 | Post-visit, Lesson |
Technology, Engineering, and Waterpower
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre / Post Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Innovation: Materials Properties (pdf) | Students test materials for various properties to asses how they will perform at a designated task | Engineer It! | 3-12 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| Innovation: Simple Machines (pdf) | This lesson provides students with a review of simple machines and their tasks. It works best in combination with your lesson on simple machines, or as a review/additional activity | Power to Production | 3-12 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| Innovate It! (pdf) | In this activity, student teams will use the engineering design process to innovate a new design for a school desk. | Engineer It! | 3-8 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Waterwheel Power Testing (pdf) | Students will investigate how the speed and height of falling water (potential energy) affects the mechanical energy produced by a waterwheel. | Power to Production | 5-8 | Pre-visit |
| Ball Drop - Potential and Kinetic Energy (pdf) | This ball drop activity demonstrates how potential energy is impacted by a loss of energy when the object collides with the ground. | Power to Production; Waterpower: Powering a Revolution | 8-12 | Pre-Visit, Lesson |
| Squish Potential (pdf) | In this activity, students will drop a standard weight from different heights tracking the results to investigate the connection between potential energy and drop. | Power to Production; Waterpower: Powering a Revolution | 4-6 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Thinking About Power Today | This activity asks students to compare various sources of energy used in the United States today. | Power to Production; Waterpower: Powering a Revolution | 6-8 | Post-visit |
| Splash! | This website connects you to the data your class collected during the Power to Production field trip with graphs of the data and additional resources for using that data in the classroom. | Power to Production | 4-12 | Post-visit |
| Industrialization and Hydropower: Water in 1800s Lowell and the West Today (pdf) | Students examine the importance of water power to industrialization in the early textile mills from 1820s-60s and connect it with the impact of hydropower today in the arid West.
| Power to Production; Waterpower: Powering a Revolution | ||
| Engineering Design Process: Weaving and Mills | Using the work of inventor Margaret Knight as an inspiration, students use the Engineering Design Process to devise a solution to an engineering program. Created by a classroom teacher as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop. | 4 | Post-visit, Lesson |
Transition from Farm Life to Factory Life
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre / Post Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farm to Factory Production: Making a Grilled Cheese Sandwich (pdf) | In order to understand how the acquisition of goods has changed over the last 200 years, students will compare the process of making a sandwich on a farm before the Industrial Revolution with how one makes a sandwich today. | Bale to Bolt; Change in the Making; Farm to Factory; Change Over Time: Through Children's Eyes | 3-6 | Pre-visit |
| From Farm to Factory: The Nutter's Workday (pdf) | Life changed dramatically for those who left family farms to work in the growing mill cities of New England. Follow Emily and Edward Nutter through a typical day on their farm, and a typical day in the factory. Students will learn about both ways of life and compare them with their own lives today. | Change in the Making; Bale to Bolt; Farm to Factory; Change Over Time: Through Children's Eyes | 3-6 | Pre-visit |
| The World of Barilla Taylor: One Mill Girl's Experience in Lowell | This interdisciplinary set of primary sources provides students with insight into one mill girl's experience in Lowell. Includes family letters, newspaper articles, mill and hospital records, receipts, advertisements, and lithographs | Bale to Bolt; Workers on the Line; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 5-12 | Pre-visit, post-visit, lesson |
| How People Lived and Worked Before and After the Industrial Revolution (pdf) | Students will use images of a farm and a factory to further explore the changes in the way people lived and worked during the American Industrial Revolution | Change in the Making; Bale to Bolt; Farm to Factory; Change Over Time: Through Children's Eyes | 3-5 | Post-visit, lesson |
| Mill Girls
Resources | In response to the many requests for basic information about Lowell's famous "Mill Girls" we have gathered various resources in one place. | Change in the Making; Bale to Bolt; Farm to Factory; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City; Change Over Time: Through Children's Eyes | 3-8 | Background Information |
Working in the Mills
| Title of Activity | Brief Description | Program | Grade Level | Pre / Post Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The World of Barilla Taylor: One Mill Girl's Experience in Lowell | This interdisciplinary set of primary sources provides students with insight into one mill girl's experience in Lowell. Includes family letters, newspaper articles, mill and hospital records, receipts, advertisements, and lithographs. | Bale to Bolt; Workers on the Line; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 5-12 | Pre-visit, post-visit, lesson |
| Craft Production to Factory Production (pdf) | Students consider how factory production replaced the work of an individual craftsperson with a series of specialized steps. This is a the popular "in-line skate" activity. | Workers on the Line; Bale to Bolt; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 5-8 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| "Lowell & the American Industrial Revolution Packet" | 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. Available at the Boott Cotton Mills Museum Store (978-970-5015) $12.95 | Bale to Bolt; Workers on the Line; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 5-12 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| 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, and thirteen student source document to support the activities. Available at the Boott Cotton Mills Museum Store (978-970-5015) | Workers on the Line | 8-12 | Lesson |
| What is Work? (pdf) | Students explore the concept of work and how it means different things to different people. | Workers on the Line | 5-8 | Pre-visit, Lesson |
| Stay or Go? (pdf) | Students write a letter advising a friend whether or not they should come to work in Lowell's mills. | Bale to Bolt; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 5-8 | Post-visit |
| Work Awareness: Exploring Jobs and Careers (pdf) | This activity asks students to explore the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for various jobs. | Workers on the Line | 4-6 | Post-visit |
| Mule Spinners Strike (pdf) | This activity places students in an 1875 role-play, in which they assume the role of either a mill agent or of of two different groups of workers who are in competition with each other. | Workers on the Line | 8-12 | Post-visit, Lesson |
| Boott Cotton Mills Museum Weave Room (pdf) | Information about the Museum's early 20th century working weave room. | Bale to Bolt; Change in the Making | 3-12 | Background Information |
| The Early Industrial Revolution: An Overview (pdf) | Contains a brief easy-to-read history of the Industrial Revolution and a helpful bibliography of other books to use in your classroom. | Bale to Bolt; Change in the Making; Workers on the Line; Mill Girls: Life and Work in an Industrial City | 4-12 | Background Information |