Social Studies – Lesson Activity Planner: Austin Past and Present
Austin Independent School District
Grade: 8
Unit Length (Number of class periods): 2
Course: U.S. History
Topic: Science and Technology
Required Technology: Austin Past/Present DVD, DVD Player or DVD compatible computer(s), Internet Explorer, Overhead or Epson projector
Optional Technology: Inspiration software
Concept: Invention
Overarching question: How does technology (or the lack of it) impact a
place and the people who live there?
Lesson Understandings:
Lesson Questions(s):
What types of technology are evident in the formation of Austin?
How can we categorize types of technology?
What has been the most significant technological influence on Austin?
How has technology changed Austin?
Today, we understand that Austin is on the cutting edge of technology.
Companies like Dell let everyone know that Austin is a technology leader.
Technology isn’t just computers, though. As you learned during our study of
the Industrial Revolution, technology and mechanization can totally change
the direction of history. The use of technology has helped form Austin into
the city it is today.
TEKS/TAKS:
(28)(A) explain the effects of technological and scientific innovations such as the steamboat, the cotton gin, and the Bessemer steel process.
(28)(B) analyze the impact of transportation systems on the growth, development, and urbanization of the United States
(29)(B) describe how scientific ideas influenced technological developments during different periods in U.S. History
(29)(C) identify examples of how industrialization changed life in the United States
Austin Independent School District
Social Studies Curriculum Department
June, 2006
Social Studies – Lesson Activity Planner: Austin Past and Present
Austin Independent School District
Materials:
Austin Past and Present DVD: The introductory videos to each era on the TimeTour. If you’d like to shorten this lesson, focus on the ones from Frontier Capital, Railroad
and University and Town in Transition
Student notebooks
Preview:
Ask students to journal about the most important piece of technology they use on a daily basis. Why do they need it? Do they need it to survive? What sorts of inventions led
up to this one?
Student activities that support the TEKS/TAKS :
1. Discuss the journal write with the students. Tell them that it’s easy to forget about earlier technological advances because today we take them for granted.
2. Show the students selected video clips from the Austin Past and Present DVD. As they watch, have them jot down evidence of technology that they see. For example, in
the first minutes of the Frontier Capital video, students can see rifles, horse transportation, quill pen, map-making, log cabin homes, saw, axe and canons. (you may have to
guide students as some videos (Before there Was Austin, Frontier Capital) sometimes flash forward to the present.
3. After viewing several videos, divide students into groups and have each group make a web categorizing the types of technology they see. For example, they might see
technology that would fall into categories like weapons, communication, transportation, construction and so on.
4. After each group has completed their webs, redivde students so that representatives from different eras are in groups together. Have the students compare webs and write
generalizations about what they have discovered. (Transportation was more important in x time than in x time). Post the generalizations around the room and have the class
discuss them. What generalizations could they write about technology in Austin now?
Austin Independent School District
Social Studies Curriculum Department
June, 2006
Social Studies – Lesson Activity Planner: Austin Past and Present
Austin Independent School District
Assessment(s):
Completed Webs
Test Question: What category of technology do you think has had most impact on Austin? Support your answer and give examples of the types of technology that fall in this
category.
Austin Independent School District
Social Studies Curriculum Department
June, 2006