Inventions of the Industrial Revolution: Lesson Four Unit Eight Teacher’s Edition

Today’s Main Idea: The technological breakthroughs of the Industrial Age included advances in electric power, transportation, communication, science and medicine.

Its electric… Electricity had been studied for a long period of time, but it was not understood ▫People had trouble trying to harness the power of electricity ▫People had been experimenting with electricity for years The 1 st residential street with electricity was in NYC

A light in the dark… Thomas Edison invented the 1 st usable light bulb in 1879 This new tool made people less dependent on the sun light ▫This meant people could work into the night Homes were also lit with the light bulb

Planes, Trains & Automobiles Before the steam engine the only way to travel on land was by foot and by horse Improvements in the steel industry allow locomotives to be more successful ▫Bessemer Process - a process in the 1850’s that led to faster, cheaper steel production Steam ships could travel through any type of weather ▫This became a viable form of travel and trade

The Automobile ▫Benz and Chrysler made the first practical personal car ▫Ford mass produced the Model T, this made cars available to the masses The hot air balloon was the precursor to the Airplane ▫In the early 20 th century the Wright Brothers had their first successful flight

Before there was texting… The telegraph changed the way people communicate ▫Telegraph – implements the use of electrical current to send messages across long distances, messages travelled through wires ▫They used Morse Code to send messages ▫These wires often followed railroad lines ▫By 1866 telegraph wire was laid across the Atlantic  We now could quickly communicate with Europe

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone ▫He first called someone in the other room ▫Within a couple of years you could call across the country and eventually around the world 1895 the wireless radio is invented ▫This was the first form of mass media that did not require reading This eventually would lead to Edison’s invention of the phonograph