The Model T Road Trip: Other Classroom Activities
This section offers teachers--in a variety of subject areas--ways to extend
the learning beyond the Web for the whole class, small groups and individuals.
Depending on the goals of your class and the learning styles of your students,
these activities are offered as springboards for discussion, as research
projects and as cooperative learning ideas. Use these ideas as written
or custom tailor them to the needs of your class. Each activity is an
extension of concepts and problems students will encounter during the
Model T Road Trip. Here are just a few examples:
Social Studies Activities
Language Arts Activities
Mathematics Activities
Technology
SOCIAL STUDIES ACTIVITIES
- Related Content Standards
- Comprehending the Past
- Analyzing and Interpreting the Past
- Human/Environment Interaction
- Location, Movement and Connections
- Regions, Patterns and Processes
- Individual and Household Choices
The Auto Industry, then and now.
By 1919, nearly 9 million cars were registered to American drivers; about
how many cars are registered today? What car companies were in business
in 1919? How many car companies are in business today? Which companies
were most successful then; how about now? Have the American car companies
gained or lost market share since 1919? Where does the US stand today?
(See: Car Owners, 1919)
Transportation, 1919:
Explore public transportation in 1919. Why was it less likely that you
would need a car if you lived in a big American city like New York, Chicago,
Denver, San Francisco or Boston? What kind of public transportation did
each city have? Why did certain cities choose to develop a subway system,
while others built trolley systems?
(See: Car Owners, 1919
and a Model T Touring Car)
Planning a trip:
If you were planning a car trip from your hometown to Philadelphia,
what would you include on your list of "must sees"? Plan a car
trip to Philadelphia, then create a daily itinerary of where you
will go and what you will see.
Decide how long you have to travel. Determine the best route to take.
Calculate how long the drive will take. Figure out where you will
stay;
where you will eat. How much money will you need? What kinds of souvenirs
will you bring back? Keep a log of your travels detailing the above
information
and highlighting points of interest.
Reading a photograph:
A photograph is a moment of time frozen forever. Yet photographs are
rarely truly "candid." Most photos are making some kind of statement
about the people in the photo or perhaps about the photographer.
What does this photo seem
to be saying about the people in it? Why do you think it was taken?
What were they trying
to show or "say" about themselves? Can you think of photographs of you
or your family that were taken to make a statement? Why was it important
to record this particular moment in your lives?
Moving for work:
In the late teens and early twenties, Americans were on the move. Many
southerners moved up north to the cities for job opportunities. Farmers
moved to the city; city dwellers moved to the suburbs. Trace migration
patterns during this period. What motivated people to move around? Where
were people settling? Why? What impact did all this mobility have on farms
and cities and the geography of the region?
Raw materials:
Henry Ford insisted that his cars "be built of the very highest quality
of materials known to the world of metals." What were his cars built
of? Where did these materials come from? Explore the Model T's headlamps,
tires, batteries, seats and windshield. What were these parts made of?
Where were they manufactured? Where did the raw materials come from?
For
example, where did Ford get the steel for the engine, body and chassis,
the rubber for the tires, the wood for decoration? Were the cars made
from the same elements as cars today? Where do the raw materials come
from today?
The evolution of the gas station.
In 1919, there were very few gas stations in the United States. Where
did motorists buy gasoline? What did they do if they ran out of gas? How
did they prepare so that they did not run out of gas? Where did the idea
of a gas station come from? How did this idea take off? What would life
be like without gas stations today?
Return to Model T Road Trip Material for Teachers
LANGUAGE ARTS ACTIVITIES
- Related Content Standards
- Meaning and Communication
- Depth of Understanding
- Inquiry and Research
Oral History:
Interview your grandparents or other significant senior citizens in your
life. Ask them about life in the early 20th century. If they weren't alive,
ask them to tell you stories about their parents and grandparents. You
might want to tape record some of these interviews. What are their early
memories of cars? Did their family own a car? Was it common for families
to own a car? What were some reasons people wanted to buy a car? How did
the car make their lives better? How did it make their lives worse? Ask
these friends and/or relatives to see photographs from this period. Were
cars in the photos? In what ways did the car change their lives?
(See: Camping with a Model T)
Reading a photograph:
We usually look at historical photographs as images that are foreign
or distant from ourselves. But what if you look at them as a way
for you
to travel through time and space? Imagine yourself actually "in" this picture. How would you feel at
that moment, in that place? Why would you be there? Where would you be
in the picture? What would you be doing? What might you have been doing
an hour before the picture was taken? What about an hour after?
What if .....
Write a story or a first-person journal entry about the day all cars disappeared.
What would your day be like? How would your life change? Include reasons
why cars are so important to your existence.
Want to buy a car??
Create a series of print advertisements for the 1919 Model T. Direct some
of the ads to the needs of different groups of people ... from farmers
to townspeople to city dwellers. Write other ads specifically for women
drivers.
(See: Advertisements
)
Return to Model T Road Trip Materials for Teachers
MATHEMATICS ACTIVITIES
- Related content standards
- Collection, Organization and Presentation of Data
- Description
and Interpretation of Data
Inflation at work:
In 1919, Model Ts ranged in price from $525 to $775, depending on features
and size. Which moderately priced car--today-- would be considered comparable
to the Model T of 1919? What are the sticker prices of some of these comparable
cars? Adjusted for inflation, try to figure out what Ford's 1919 models
would cost in today's dollars.
Assembly line math:
When Henry Ford first started building cars, it took 12.5 hours to produce
each car by stationary assembly. Once he incorporated the moving assembly
line, it only took his workers 1.5 hours to build each car. How much faster
could workers produce the cars using the new technology? What is the percentage
change? In 1919, Ford's company build 820,455 cars in all. How many hours
did it take to produce these cars, the old way and the new way? What was
the percentage change in terms of hours saved?
(See: The Highland
Park Plant)
Financing the car:
In 1919, most people paid cash for their cars. But Ford soon realized
that he could sell more cars by enabling them to buy cars on an "installment" plan.
Which would be the better deal for buying a 1919 Ford Runabout,
complete with electric starter and demountable tire rims? Installment
program A allows you to put $50 down, and finance the remaining
$550 at
3% for five months. Installment program B allows you to put $100 down,
and finance the remaining $500 at 2% for 4 months.
Return to Model T Road Trip Materials for Teachers
TECHNOLOGY
- Related Content Standards
- Societal and Environmental Impacts of Technology
- Using Technology to Communicate Information
The birth of the suburbs:
What are suburbs? When did they first start to emerge? What impact did
the car have on the development of suburbs? Why? Research your own region.
Locate maps and photographs of the area during the turn of the century,
in the twenties, thirties, forties and so on. Compare the growth expansion
and trace the urbanization of the region.
Lightness in weight:
Henry Ford took special pride in the fact that his Model T was "the lightest
weight car built considering its power." He maintained that light weight
was essential "both for economy to manufacture, in maintenance, and comfort
in riding." From an engineering standpoint, explain why this is so. How
did light weight improve safety, reduce the wear and tear on the tires,
and improve gas mileage?
Create your own web site.
What if the Browns were passing through your hometown on their way to
New York in 1919? What was your hometown like back then? Visit the local
library and/or historical society to find out. Interview senior citizens
who were alive back then. Collect photographs, memorabilia, maps, journals,
newspaper clippings. Find out about the region's geography and geology.
Then create a hometown Web site, promoting your town... then and now.
You might want to hot link to SmartFun Online's Model
T Road Trip.
Return to Model T Road Trip Materials for Teachers
The Henry Ford ~ http://www.TheHenryFord.org
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