Technology shapes society and identity, both in the past and present. Americans have embraced technology like steam engines, railroads, and the telegraph to solve problems and push boundaries. But technology can also have negative impacts on American society. By exploring the role of technology in history, we can better understand how it has shaped the country’s character and continues to do so today.
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About the inquiry
Compelling Question
How has technology shaped American identity?
Standards
D2.Geo.4.6-8. Explain how cultural patterns and economic decisions influence environments and the daily lives of people in both nearby and distant places.
D2.Geo.7.6-8. Explain how changes in transportation and communication technology influence the spatial connections among human settlements and affect the diffusion of ideas and cultural practices.
Instructional Snapshot
Class begins with the teacher dividing students into small groups and providing each group with the images from the Technology Source Set. As a group, students create a list of the technology depicted in the three featured sources and consider the impact these sources had on society, recording their answers on the graphic organizer. Then, students work together to brainstorm a list of modern technology that defines their own generation’s American identity. Using the list as a reference point, students consider the positive and negative impact of technology today. Keeping these observations in mind, the lesson ends with students sketching (alternate formats like collages or digital posters also work) a modern version of American Progress. The modern representation should reflect the technology students identified and the positive and negative impacts technology has on American identity today.
Formative Tasks
PRODUCE: Generate a list of technology depicted in the featured sources.
COLLABORATE: Brainstorm a list of modern technology that significantly impacts society today.
DELIBERATE: Collage or sketch a modern version of American Progress.
Sources
Source Set: Technology Source Set, Library of Congress
Summative Performance Task
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Taking Informed Action
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