Rationale – The automobile has changed the way people live and work all over the world. In America, very few people had cars prior to Henry Ford’s assembly line. This one industrial marvel was instrumental in changing America from a rural, agricultural way of life to an urban, more industrial way of life. Our society changed to a more mobile way of life, where the common man no longer needed to live in the same town where he worked. Also, it brought leisure activities closer to home, because travel was easier. Today, just about anyone who wants a car can have a car and, for the most part, they are essential to our way of life. Supporting industries flourished at the onset of the automobile and still flourish today. Businesses that produce rubber, steel, glass, petroleum, and many automotive parts and supplies employ many people in support of the automobile.

The automobile brought about many safety and health concerns. Agencies have been developed on the federal and state levels to address environmental problems and automobile safety designs. Safety in factories had to be addressed as well, to help protect the factory workers from hazards. There is much concern today about the pollutants that cars put into our atmosphere from the greenhouse effects on our planet to the very air we breath. We take the automobile for granted today, just another tool in our every day lives. It is important for the students to understand the importance of the automobile and the impact it has had on our economy, health, and the great impact it had on our lives in this country and the world.

Goal 1 – The student will study an historical perspective and the various different

stages that the automobile went through since its inception.
 

Objectives: (The student should be able to:)

1. Discuss with the teacher, in a group setting, what life was like in America prior to the common use of automobiles.
2. List, in chronological order, each era the automobile has gone through and discuss the events of each era.

1. 1769 – 1885, The horseless carriage
2. 1885 – 1918, The years of development
3. 1918 – 1945, The years of expansion
4. 1945 – present, The automobile age

• As many computers an needed
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Subject: The Automobile Name: Beasley

Grade: 6^th Date:

Lesson: 1

TOPIC: The horseless carriage, 1769 – 1885

OBJECTIVE: (Student should be able to)

1. Discuss the first steam carriage and how it was improved upon.
2. List the problems facing mechanized road transportation
3. Describe the vehicle that was first called the automobile.

Chalkboard, overhead projector, textbook

PRESENTATION: (Teaching Points)

1. The steam carriage
2. Problems facing mechanized road transportation

1. Tollbooths
2. The Red Flag Act

1. The birth of the automobile

1. The bicycle
2. The internal combustion engine
3. The pneumatic tire
4. Gasoline

Lecture, Group Discussion, Questions and Answers

ASSIGNMENT: (for next class)

Questions and Answers during lecture. Summarize lecture.

EVALUATION INSTRUMENT:

Test upon completion of Unit
 
 

Subject: The Automobile Name: Beasley

Grade: 6th Date:

Lesson: 2

TOPIC: The years of development, 1885 – 1918

OBJECTIVE: (Student should be able to:)

1. Describe and draw what the first motorcycle and automobile looked like.
2. List the reasons why the automobile was a warm welcome to the United States.
3. Name at least two American pioneers that successfully built working automobiles.
4. Explain the role that the automobile played in World War 1.

Lecture, discussion, chalkboard, overhead projector, handouts, textbook

PRESENTATION: (Teaching points)

1. Society and the adventures of early driving.
2. American pioneers in the automobile industry
3. The Model T and mass production
4. World War I and the automobile

Lecture, Group Discussion, Questions and Answers

ASSIGNMENTS: (for next class)

Read pages 10 – 27, answer chapter review questions and be prepared for class discussion.

EVALUATION: (How will teacher measure attainment of lesson objectives)

Lecture summary, Questions and Answers

EVALUATION INSTRUMENT:

Unit Test
 
 

Subject: The Automobile Name: Beasley

Grade: 6th Date:

Lesson: 3

TOPIC: The years of expansion, 1918 - 1945

OBJECTIVE: (Student should be able to:)

1. List the wartime effects World War I had on the automobile.
2. Describe the method of building cars invented by Edward Budd during World War I that changed the way a car chassis and body were built.
3. State at least three changes road transportation took in the 1920’s and 1930’s.
4. Describe the progress of the automobile during the Great Depression.

1. Wartime effects on the automobile

1. Technology
2. Design

1. Popular cars of the era
2. A new way of making automobiles
3. Car and society in the twenties and thirties

1. Roads and road safety
2. Road signs
3. Road transportation
4. Employment
5. Industry
6. Farming
7. Leisure
8. Crime

1. The Great Depression

Group Discussion, Questions and Answers

ASSIGNMENTS: (for next class)

Read pages 28 – 38, answer chapter review questions and be prepared for class discussion

EVALUATION: (How will teacher measure attainment of lesson objectives)

Summarize lecture, Question and Answer period, review handouts

EVALUATION INSTRUMENT:

Test upon completion of Unit
 
 

Subject: The Automobile Name: Beasley

Grade: 6th Date:

Lesson: 4

TOPIC: The automobile age, 1945 - 1980

OBJECTIVE: (Student should be able to:)

1. Name the technical changes Continental Europe, Britain, and the United States underwent after World War II.
2. Discuss, in a group setting, the rise of the Japanese car industry.
3. List the changes that took place in leisure, work, transportation, pollution, and in the towns and cities during this period.

Chalkboard, Overhead Projector, Handouts, Textbook

PRESENTATION: (Teaching points)

1. Continental Europe
2. Britain
3. United States
4. The rise of the Japanese car industry
5. A mixed blessing: car and society since World War II

1. Work
2. Advertising
3. Towns and cities
4. Transport and roads
5. Pollution

1. Toward the ideal car

1. World land speed records

APPLICATION & FEEDBACK: (How student will practice content presented)

Group Discussion, Questions and Answers

ASSIGNMENTS: (for next class)

Read pages 39 – 48, answer chapter review questions and be prepared for class discussion.

Lesson Plan # 4 Continued
 
 

EVALUATION: (How will teacher measure attainment of lesson objectives)

Lecture summary, Question and Answer period

EVALUATION INSTRUMENT:

Unit Test
 
 
 
 

Various Activities

Activity Sheet 1: How long would it take to cover one mile using various modes of transportation. Walk, horseback, bicycle, car, other.

Activity Sheet 3. Jeopardy Game – Five categories and five questions in each concerning the history of the automobile will be made by the teacher. The categories will be written on the chalkboard and the class will be broken up into groups of four. The winning group will be rewarded by an additional 10% on their unit test.

Speaker: Mr. Martin Sullivan from Sullivan Chevrolet will come in to speak to the class about the automobile.

Field Trip: A field trip is planned to Antique Auto in Andover, CT. They display early model cars, as well as, horse drawn buggies.

Project: The class will break up into four groups. Each group will research "How assembly lines work." Each group will design and build a working assembly line. The product does not have to be an automobile; it can be any product the group chooses. Upon completion of each group’s demonstration of their assembly line, the class will discuss the some of the innovative ways each line worked.
 
 

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