CHC2D UNIT 1:
ACTIVITY 5- CANADA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH
Unit 1 TECHNOLOGY-1920’S
Time: 70 Minutes
Description
In this activity, students learn about the technological changes of the 1920’s and the significant
change they induced in Canadian society. Students will look at the advent of the radio, the mass
production of the automobile and the beginnings of commercial air travel. Through this lesson
students will learn the tools to assess significant technological change not only in the 20’s but
throughout the century and into the present.
Key Learning: Students will come to understand that new technologies such as the radio,
automobile and commercial airplane permanently changed the way Canadians live their lives.
Overall Expectations:
CCV.02 – demonstrate an understanding of the impact of technological developments on Canadians
MIV.03 – analyze and evaluate information when researching historical topics or issues;
Specific Expectations:
CC2.01 - explain how and why developments in transportation and communication technology (e.g., cars,
airplanes, telephone, radio) affected life during the twentieth century
CC2.02 - demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between invention and the economy
Prior Knowledge Required: From the Grade 8 History unit - Canada: A Changing Society
students have studied the effects of technology.
Critical Challenge: Did the new technologies of the 1920's significantly change the way Canadians
live their lives?
Habit of Mind: Empathic
Critical Thinking Vocabulary: Evaluation
Dimension of Historical thinking: Continuity and Change/ Historical Significance
Criteria for Judgement: Students will need criteria that allow them to asses what
makes/marks significant change. A technological development significantly changes life if it:
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-Alters the daily life of the individual
-Has an affect on a large section of the population
-Has a lasting impact on society
Skills for Summative Assessment: Through this lesson, students will attain the skills
necessary to provide a report card based on the degree of impact different technologies had on
the population. In addition, they may wish to create an advertisement of these new consumer
products in their newspaper.
Teaching/Learning Strategies (The Lesson)
Housekeeping, Attendance (5 minutes)
1. Mental Set (5-7 minutes): Students will be posed the question: Describe to me the means
of transportation ((Ex. Car, Plane, Bus) you used to get to: your last vacation, family
function or school, How long did it take?
-Students will be given approximately 1 to 2 minutes to think of their answers and write
them down on paper
- Some students will be called upon to give their answers orally.
- The teacher will then pose the challenge: Taking away transportation such as the Car,
Bus, Subway and Airplane, how would you have gotten to your destination and how long
would it take now? If it was not essential would you still take the trip?
-After 1-2 minutes of students will share their answer with the class.
-The class will come to realize how much more difficult and time consuming travelling
can be without these forms of transportation. The students should gain an appreciation of
just how important these forms of transportation are to their day to day lives.
2. Sharing of Objectives and Purpose (5 minutes): The teacher will share with the class the
criteria needed to assess significant change. (See criteria for judgement)
-The three main criteria will be written on the board and discussed. It will be illustrated
that through the mental set students have already achieved one of the criterion. (Alters the
daily life of the individual).
-They will also be told that they will have to do a report card during their culminating
activity and that the ability to evaluate significant change will be an important skill.
3. Input/Information (20 minutes): The teacher will provide students with a note taking chart
(Appendix 1).
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-Through the use of lecture and collective brainstorming students will need to uncover 4
major facts/ pieces of information about the automobile, radio and airplane in order to fill out the
chart.
- Teacher provided information will centre on the significant changes that these new
technologies made to the life of Canadians. Ex. The automobile allowing for faster transportation,
the radio providing nightly entertainment and hockey games.
- The 4 main points will be made explicitly clear to the students, i.e “Point number one for the
radio is that it provided a new form of entertainment”
-The chart will be taken up/filled in as a class to ensure students have proper answers
4. Primary Documents (5-7 minutes): Students will be provided with two primary
documents from the 1920’s. The documents are both visual. (See Appendix 2)
-The first shows three young boys listening to the radio while the second image is a
Chevrolet car Ad from 1927.
- The students will also be shown a chart which displays the average annual income of
Canadians during the 1920’s as well as the prices of a radio and car in the 1920’s. (see
.pdf file pg 17 of 21 “TE93210” Average Annual Wage by Sex)
-Through this activity and some discussion the students will see that these new
technologies impacted a large section of the population as both women and children are
depicted as focal points in these two documents.
-The use of the car advertisement may give students a model for the creation of their own
advertisement for their culminating newspaper; this will be made explicitly clear to them
by the teacher.
-The income chart and price of the technologies will help students realize that these
technologies were somewhat affordable to the average Canadian and thus could have a
large impact.
5. Technology Now and Then (5-7 minutes) Together, the class will list technologies they
have that their grandparents did not have.
-A list will be compiled on the board
- The teacher will then ask several students how a specific technology (i.e. the internet)
has evoked significant change in today’s society, going through the 3 criteria.
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6. Significance Chart: Checking for Understanding/Closure (15-20 minutes): Students will
be given a significance chart which they will need to complete and hand-in. (See Appendix
3)
-The chart will list different technologies and students will have to identify its
use/function, how the function was achieved before the technology was around, and use the
three criteria for significance to assess its significance.
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques:
-Informal teacher assessment using probe questions to collect evidence of students’ understanding of the
impact of the automobile.
-Use of list of new technologies and opinion questions on the significance of contemporary technologies
to see if students can make connections between significant technological change and present day.
-Significance Chart will help show if the students can use the criteria for judgment independently
Accommodations
-Students with writing difficulties may benefit from teacher assistance in organizing information and
structuring their notes.
-Some students may require a scribe to assist with note taking.
-Students may use computer for note-making.
-Provide assistance with completing significance chart
-Ensure front of the class seating to assist in note-making.
Resources
Ministry Approved Text:
Cruxton, J. Bradley, and W. Douglas Wilson, Spotlight Canada Fourth Edition, Oxford University Press
Canada.
Websites/Documents:
http://www.squidoo.com/1920cars
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/09/dayintech_0929
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History of General Motors
http://www.gmcanada.com/english/about/hist_time.html
Henry Ford
http://www.hfmgv.org/histories/hf/henry.html#top
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