In class, we had the opportunity to video chat with a museum in England called MOSI that specializes in the machines that were used during the industrial revolution. To prepare for the chat, we first took a look at the museums website. We read articles and viewed the pictures so we were more aware of what to expect. We discussed what we saw on the website and it helped us to start off with a basic knowledge of the museum. We then watched a video of the museum, with Jamie, the man who would be hosting our chat. We wrote down the vocabulary from the video, so that during the chat we could use it and be aware of what it meant if Jamie used it. The vocabulary was mainly machines and tasks that were done during the revolution, so learning what these were helped even more to get a visual of what the factories were like. After this, we had a good amount of background knowledge on the factories and machines, so we began to form questions that we could as Jamie during the chat.This way, we wouldn't forget anything we were curious about or didn't understand during the chat, because we would have all the questions down. The questions that I chose were "What were the potential injuries that could occur from factory workers?" and "How much has cotton process changed from the 1700s until now?"
Although I was absent the day of class that we did the chat, I still feel that it helped me. From the videos and notes I have seen from it, I have learned a great amount about what happened during it. I have watched videos of what happened during the chat and gotten notes of what was talked about, and I feel a lot more informed about the textile process than I previously was. I was aware that there was a large amount of injuries and sickness that came with working at the mills, but I didn't think that it was to the extent that Jamie explained it as. Many of the health problems were caused because people would breath in cotton fibers. I had never previously thought that this was an issue, but this caused people to have bad lungs, and after years, people would sometimes die because of their lungs. Children would clean the machines while they worked, and the young girls hair would sometimes get pulled into the machines and they would get scalped. Something else that had never occurred to me that might be a problem was peoples hearing. Some people even went deaf because of the noise of the machines. Because the factories were so overcrowded, it was easy for disease to spread. The main focus was never on the cleanliness or hygiene of the factories, so this created an even larger risk for disease. Besides disease, the machines were very unsafe and there was a large risk for injuries, especially in young children who didn't know better. One job of children was to clean the sped frame, and sometimes their hands would go in between the machines and mangle their hands and fingers. Children were sometimes crushed by the machines,and it was rare that they would survive. It surprised me to see learn that if you were injured and sick and could not work, you had to live on the street. I was shocked to learn about this cruel treatment.
Even though I wasn't there to have this experience first hand, I learned a lot from it. I think that it is incredible that with todays technology we have the opportunity to virtually tour a museum in a different country, and speak with an expert on the subject. Even 10 years ago this experience would have been impossible, and I am so thankful that I live when it is. It has helped me to get a better understanding of the textile industry and life during the industrial revolution. I think that I am more of a visual learner, so having this interactive experience rather than reading information from a textbook helped me to grasp the ideas a lot better. I would love to have similar experiences throughout the school year and I think that they would be very beneficial to my learning.
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