Equipment & Supplies
- Supplies and Equipment:
- Copier
- Tape
Procedures
Steps:
Day One:
1. Preparation: Before class print out Student Handouts 1-5 and display one copy of each around the room. Listed below are the handouts to print:
Student Handout 1 - Iron Mill Showing Crews at Hammer and Furnace
Student Handout 2 - Cutting Steel Plate with Hydraulic Shears
Student Handout 3 - Blooming Mill as the Ingot Enters the Rolls
Student Handout 4 - Washing at the Bosh
Student Handout 5 - The Steel Pourer's Platform
Also print out Student Handouts 6-9 and Student Worksheet 1-Collecting Evidence and copy for each student in class.
2. Ask student to work with a partner and take five minutes to brainstorm a list of current protections for industrial workers and what options workers have if they are injured on the job. Suggest that students think about what workers wear on construction sites, road construction jobs, butcher sections of supermarkets, etc. [Answers could include goggles, hard hats, steel toed boots, gloves, safety vests, special clothing, and workman's compensation payments.] Ask students if these protections always existed for industrial workers. (Some students may believe that workers were always protected.) Explain to students that workers during the industrial age did not have any protection against workplace injuries and did not have any financial help with their medical payments if they were injured. Ask students how workers might get help to improve their situation? [Answer should be contacting the government to pass legislation.]
3. Explain to the class that, for the first part of the lesson, they will be work independently and take a gallery walk around the room to gather research about the working conditions that existed in Pennsylvania steel mills during the early years of the 20th century. They will visit five sites which have photographs and first-hand accounts of the problems experienced by workers in the mills. (These sites are Student Handouts 1-5 which you have printed and displayed in preparation before class.) The students will record their research findings from these sites on Student Worksheet 1-Collecting Evidence
4. After the gallery walk, students will continue their research. Each student will receive a copy of Student Handouts 6 -9 and record his or her research on Student Worksheet 2-Understanding the Evidence
5. When the students have completed their research, provide follow-up discussion on their responses and have the class draw some conclusions about the dangers that steel workers faced at work. Refer to the opening discussion responses about what possible recourse these workers had to address the dangers.
6. Explain to the students that tomorrow they will work in small groups to write their own laws addressing workplace safety. For homework, they should write down possible needs of the workers and bring their lists to class tomorrow.
Day Two:
1. Check homework to make certain each student has a list of possible worker needs. Remind students that today they will assume the roles of state legislators and work in small groups to write their own workers' compensation act. Assign small groups and distribute copies of Student Worksheet 3-Acting on the Evidence and Student Worksheet 4-Pennsylvania Workman's Compensation Act to each student. Allow students time to prepare the required sections of the act. Make certain that each student prepares a copy of Student Worksheet 4 . (The members of each group should have identical responses for this worksheet.)
2. Have each group present the key components of its act to the class. (There should be similarity among the different versions of the act. This should allow you to direct the discussion to the power of the Pittsburgh Survey and the Hine photographs to bring about changes in the law.)
3. Direct students to review the individual requirements section found on Student Worksheet 3 Explain that government officials often communicate with their constituents to explain why they voted for a particular piece of legislation. Distribute copies of Student Handout 10-Extract from the 1915 Pennsylvania Workman's Compensation Act and explain that the students will use this to help with the letter portion of the activity. Teachers should review the key components of the Pennsylvania legislation (Sec. 305 - requires employers to pay into State Workmen's Insurance Fund; Sec. 306 - compensation for lost wages. This extract is difficult for students to read due the legal verbiage. Teachers should draw the students' attention to the bottom of the page which clearly states a time frame and compensation schedule for injuries.) Assign due date for letter.
Day One:
1. Preparation: Before class print out Student Handouts 1-5 and display one copy of each around the room. Listed below are the handouts to print:
Student Handout 1 - Iron Mill Showing Crews at Hammer and Furnace
Student Handout 2 - Cutting Steel Plate with Hydraulic Shears
Student Handout 3 - Blooming Mill as the Ingot Enters the Rolls
Student Handout 4 - Washing at the Bosh
Student Handout 5 - The Steel Pourer's Platform
Also print out Student Handouts 6-9 and Student Worksheet 1-Collecting Evidence and copy for each student in class.
2. Ask student to work with a partner and take five minutes to brainstorm a list of current protections for industrial workers and what options workers have if they are injured on the job. Suggest that students think about what workers wear on construction sites, road construction jobs, butcher sections of supermarkets, etc. [Answers could include goggles, hard hats, steel toed boots, gloves, safety vests, special clothing, and workman's compensation payments.] Ask students if these protections always existed for industrial workers. (Some students may believe that workers were always protected.) Explain to students that workers during the industrial age did not have any protection against workplace injuries and did not have any financial help with their medical payments if they were injured. Ask students how workers might get help to improve their situation? [Answer should be contacting the government to pass legislation.]
3. Explain to the class that, for the first part of the lesson, they will be work independently and take a gallery walk around the room to gather research about the working conditions that existed in Pennsylvania steel mills during the early years of the 20th century. They will visit five sites which have photographs and first-hand accounts of the problems experienced by workers in the mills. (These sites are Student Handouts 1-5 which you have printed and displayed in preparation before class.) The students will record their research findings from these sites on Student Worksheet 1-Collecting Evidence
4. After the gallery walk, students will continue their research. Each student will receive a copy of Student Handouts 6 -9 and record his or her research on Student Worksheet 2-Understanding the Evidence
5. When the students have completed their research, provide follow-up discussion on their responses and have the class draw some conclusions about the dangers that steel workers faced at work. Refer to the opening discussion responses about what possible recourse these workers had to address the dangers.
6. Explain to the students that tomorrow they will work in small groups to write their own laws addressing workplace safety. For homework, they should write down possible needs of the workers and bring their lists to class tomorrow.
Day Two:
1. Check homework to make certain each student has a list of possible worker needs. Remind students that today they will assume the roles of state legislators and work in small groups to write their own workers' compensation act. Assign small groups and distribute copies of Student Worksheet 3-Acting on the Evidence and Student Worksheet 4-Pennsylvania Workman's Compensation Act to each student. Allow students time to prepare the required sections of the act. Make certain that each student prepares a copy of Student Worksheet 4 . (The members of each group should have identical responses for this worksheet.)
2. Have each group present the key components of its act to the class. (There should be similarity among the different versions of the act. This should allow you to direct the discussion to the power of the Pittsburgh Survey and the Hine photographs to bring about changes in the law.)
3. Direct students to review the individual requirements section found on Student Worksheet 3 Explain that government officials often communicate with their constituents to explain why they voted for a particular piece of legislation. Distribute copies of Student Handout 10-Extract from the 1915 Pennsylvania Workman's Compensation Act and explain that the students will use this to help with the letter portion of the activity. Teachers should review the key components of the Pennsylvania legislation (Sec. 305 - requires employers to pay into State Workmen's Insurance Fund; Sec. 306 - compensation for lost wages. This extract is difficult for students to read due the legal verbiage. Teachers should draw the students' attention to the bottom of the page which clearly states a time frame and compensation schedule for injuries.) Assign due date for letter.
