MOSI Hangout

The other day we had a Google Hangout with some of the museum workers and to prepare for this we did some activities in class.  First we watched a video that Jamie, the museum worker, put up explaining the cloth production and all of the machines.  In class we took notes on all of the important words in this video to learn what they meant so we would be prepared to ask questions.  We had to come up with these questions before the hangout and we had to use the words in the questions.

I learned a lot during this chat, especially about the machines.  For example, I learned what hand cards were, they were two brushes that would brush the wool into straight lines and this was later taken over by the carding engine.  I also learned a interesting fact about the word 'Heirloom'.  It's called an heirloom because back in the day, the loom was considered the most valuable item a family had so it would be passed down generation to generation from father to son and eventually the word heirloom was used for anything that was passed down.  Another machine I learned about is the Arkwright's water frame.  We learned that Arkwright most likely just stole the idea from a poor worker and patented it as his own.  This kind of thing happened a lot, rich people would come and listen to a worker's idea and take it as their own because the workers were not rich enough to patent it themselves.  During the chat Jamie explained all of the dangers of working on the machines and all of the terrible things that happened.  We learned that children would have to clean under the machines and this was dangerous because it took 9 seconds for the machine to go out and it would only stay out for 1 second and then took 3 seconds to come crashing back in.  So the children had very little time to get out and clean before the machine crushed them.  Many kids would get severely injured or killed and one time a young boy couldn't get in and panicked and got up and got chopped in half.  Since this was such a dangerous job the children would try to run away so the mill owners would tie some kids to the machine so they wouldn't flee.  I learned a lot of cool, interesting and some disturbing facts about the mills and machines during the 1700's - 1900's.

Overall I liked this chat and I learned a lot in a fun and interesting way.  I liked how we could ask questions and have conversations with the expert instead of just reading something they published or watching a video because we can have clarifying questions and learn more.  I found it annoying how the call dropped or froze but that happens and I hope we do this again with more experts, I think it is a very helpful and fun thing to do.

MOSI Google Hangout - The Luddites

Museum Curator

For our exhibit, it shows a map of all the coal fields and coal mines in Great Britain.  It also gives a chart of the annual income for citizens in Great Britain along with a picture of a dirty, polluted river and also gives a journal entry about the filth of the River Thames.  Our poster is about how people were making little to know money, and living in filthy conditions due to all of the pollution of the coal mining and factories.  This is how we came up with our title, we decided to call it "Living in Filth" because not only is it polluted, but also because most people have no money and they might not have a house so they are literally living in the filth.  I hope that visitors will learn about all of the poor living conditions during the Industrial Revolution and how much pollution was being created.

I learned that they forces children, even some that were only nine years old to work in factories in poor conditions.  Even though they did make a Factory Act limiting the amount of time children could work, it was still very bad for the children to work like they were forced to.

I learned about the two great innovations for cotton production, the Arkwright's Water Frame, and the Boott Cotton Mill.  I also learned that they had to force a bunch of slaves into laboring at these factories and mills and it also shows a chart of the amount of slaves increasing over time in America which is really sad.

In this poster I learned about all the new textile innovations such as the Spinning Jenny, the Almond Loom, and the Spinning Wheel.  I also learned that these machines were so big and efficient that they had to make factories for them and invent new things just to keep up with the other machines.

I learned that the new invention, the steam engine, and the improved technologies increased the efficiency of trade and travel in Great Britain.  The steam engine was more efficient especially with the water it used and it was used for almost everything.

Cooking with History

The other day in History Class we learned about all of the "ingredients" in the Industrial Revolution, and how each was revolutionary.  The essential question for the activity was, "What was 'revolutionary' about Industrialization?"  There were a lot of good reasons why, and I will go over a couple of the ones we learned.


First, the new technology that was developed was very revolutionary.  All of the inventions played a big role in helping, but one of the most important one was the Steam Engine.  The steam engine was run off of coal and it improved the quality of mines.  It used water and heat (steam) to pump all of the water out of the mines and it increased efficiency of mining materials.  Another couple of big inventions were the Spinning Jenny, and John Kay's Flying Shuttle.  These two machines revolutionized the British Textile industry because they both were able to spin a lot faster than the 'putting-out' system.  These machines basically snowballed into factories and machines that could go even faster and faster and more efficiently.


Another 'ingredient' to the Industrial Revolution was all of the new resources.  These resources, such as coal and iron, were very important to the Revolution.  For example, Abraham Darby came up with a way to improve iron and make it better quality and less expensive.  He would use coal to smelt the iron from its ore and by doing this, he would remove all of the impurities from the iron, therefore making it stronger and last longer.  The other resource, coal, was probably the most important because it was the main energy source for everything.  From powering steam engines, to smelting iron and iron ore, coal was used for everything.  And since steam engines created an even more efficient way of mining coal, there was a lot of it in Britain.  These resources were very revolutionary because they had so many helpful uses.  

A Google a Day and the Tree Octopus

In our History class the other day we did the "Google a Day" activity to help us understand how to search and use online resources responsibly.  We had to find the answer to a question without using the regular Google search engine.  Next, we took a look at the "Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus" website to see if it was a reliable source.


"A Google a Day" is an activity where you are given a question and have to search it without using the regular Google search, so we had to figure out how to search better.  It was really frustrating trying to search using a device or tablet because it would always exit you out of typing. Then if you finally did type something, you couldn't scroll down.  I learned more about searching and the importance of key words.  It was a fun activity because we were racing so there was a competitive feel to it and then we got candy after wards.


Accuracy is when a website gives relevant and correct information.  Authenticity is when a website does what it's supposed to, and isn't misleading.  Reliability is when the author of a website is a specialist in what he/she is writing about and not someone's hobby that they don't have a career in.  The website for the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus can not be used in school because it may be Authentic, but it is not accurate because other websites contradict what it says.  Also, it isn't reliable either because the author is not a specialist in endangered animals or the Tree Octopus.  Here is a link to the website:  http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

Honors History 10: First Blog

Hi, I'm Kelvin Hoyt and I am a sophomore at Reading Memorial High School.  This blog is for my Honors History 10 class and also my first time blogging.  In history this year our teacher is going paper-free and everything is electronic.  I like this better because I don't have to worry about keeping track of another binder and all the handouts because it's online.  I am looking forward to this year.  Here is my first blog.


I think that there are many different qualities of being a great teacher, however I think that there are a couple of qualities that are most important.  The most important qualities of being a great teacher is that they are fun, helpful, open to new ideas and willing to try new things.  A great teacher's class would be fun, not necessarily laid back or easy, but fun and enjoyable.  Also, teachers need to be helpful and listen to the student's needs and what works best for them.  The last quality relates to what we are doing in History now, by going paperless and doing everything electronically.  It's good to try new things and not do everything the same old way, it's good to have a change.  My fourth grade teacher was one of my favorite teachers.  She knew how to have fun in class while getting work done.  She was also very helpful to all of the students and she knew the best way for everyone to learn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x78PnPd-V-A&feature=youtu.be

I agree with what John Green said about students duties in his Returning to School letter.  It is our duty to use the education we get to do great things.  I think that it is every student's duty to invent and innovate new and better things to make every day life easier and also make the world a better place.  We all definitely have the potential to do great things but we need to put the time and effort in to make it happen.
My academic goals for this year is to get straight A's and B's.  Last year it was a big change from middle school to high school and I didn't feel like I was prepared, but hopefully this year I am more prepared and will do better than I did Freshman year.  My athletic goals are to get a varsity letter in track, both winter and spring.  Last year I got to run in varsity meets however I missed getting a varsity letter by 3 points, so this year I am going to try and get the varsity letter.  I am going to reach my academic goal by studying more than I did last year, also becoming more organized and I can't procrastinate.  For my athletic goal, I need to go to every practice I can during the season and in the off-season I need to work out and become stronger and get into better shape.  All of this probably won't be easy but I have the potential to do it, I just need to put the time and effort in.