1. Students will be able to identify the major energy sources used in home, industry and transportation over the past 200 years in American history and especially in Iowa.
2. Students will be able to explain the rise and decline of wood and coal as major energy sources in Iowa history.
3. Students will be able to describe the impact of oil on life in Iowa.
4. Students will be able to identify the impacts of energy use and sources on lifestyles in Iowa since the 1800's.
Moving intelligently into the future requires taking a close look at the past. By examining energy conversion changes over time, students will gain a greater understanding of the important role energy has played and is playing in America. Student activities in this module revolve around three readings, each of which deal with a period of time dominated by either wood, coal, or oil as the major energy source. The readings are intended to provide readers with a flavor of life in terms of conveniences available for the home, transportation, and, to some extent, industry. The information contained in each reading is presented from an Iowa history perspective. Each of these readings is accompanied by an activity designed to give students a picture of the important role each major energy source played in the lives of those living in each of the periods covered.
Students will prepare a newspaper depicting life on an Iowa farm in the 1850's. They will apply the knowledge gained from readings to developing articles, editorials, advertisements and more, which accurately depict Iowa life in that era.
In another activity, students will use their knowledge of energy sources to try to match advertisements for products from the 1800's and 1900's with their corresponding time period, based on their knowledge of the available energy sources of the times. This will lead students into building a time line that includes major developments and changes in energy usage in Iowa over time.
As a final activity, students will attempt to extrapolate into the future by preparing a second newspaper, this one dealing with life on an Iowa farm in the year 2050. Again, the focus will be placed on energy use.
It is suggested that each of the readings be assigned and completed by the class, rather than with students working on their own. The potential for group discussions is great.
Student directions for the three activities can be given orally or in writing using an overhead. The nature of the assignments does not necessitate that students write directly on the worksheets. Thus, to run individual sheets for each student would be a waste of paper.
The three readings presented contain the bare minimum of information related to each of the time periods studied. It would be a good idea to secure additional reference materials from your school library on Iowa history. Students would likely enjoy hearing some of the biographical sketches describing life in Iowa that are contained in most Iowa history books. This would also help to give them a better flavor for life in Iowa in the 1800's, early 1900's and mid 1900's.
Authentic Assessment: Choose excerpts from various Iowa history books describing some aspect of life in Iowa at a particular time in Iowa history. Challenge students to name the time period in which the events described in the reading took place.
Cut out sentences describing life in Iowa at various times in Iowa's history. Ask students to place the sentences in the correct historical sequence. The results on these tasks will provide you with knowledge of each student's sense of the historical development in Iowa. Be careful to select readings and events that have a connection to energy.
Reading 1
The history of America is closely tied to our history of energy use. The availability of cheap and flexible sources of energy was an important factor in the transformation of America from a predominantly agricultural nation in the 1800's to an industrial giant a century later.
Until the 1800's America depended on wood, water, and wind for its energy needs. Wood was practically free due to its plentiful supply. Wood was the perfect energy source since it was readily available and as close as most backyards. Wood was used for cooking and heating homes. It was also used for making household necessities like candles and soap. Blacksmiths relied upon wood to heat their forges, where they made metal tools. When railroads and steamboats were first developed, it was wood that powered them. Wood was the fuel source for the first iron blast furnaces and for other industrial processes requiring heat.
Transportation: In the 1700's and 1800's there was essentially no transportation industry. People transported themselves and their goods by horse (horseback or wagon) or by water. Iowa land was opened for settlement in 1838, at which time the government established roads known as territorial or military highways. These roads led from one important town to another, by the shortest route. Stagecoach lines ran over all of the important roads. The "Concord" was the most popular stagecoach, seating nine passengers and a driver. A speed of three to five miles per hour was considered good speed. The last stagecoach went out of business in Iowa in 1870 when railroads took over as the major mode of transportation.
Farm Life: Horses were the most important animals on the farm up until 1900. They were used to pull farm equipment, wagons and buggies. The first settlers in Iowa were farmers who raised wheat and corn. These crops were ground into flour and corn meal. The first mills in Iowa were small and hand-powered. Mills run by horse power were soon started. These, in turn, were replaced by larger mills along creeks and rivers that were run by water power. One of the most grueling jobs for farmers during this period was picking corn. There were no machines to do this work. All corn was picked and shucked by hand.
In 1837, John Deere invented the steel plow, making it possible to plow prairie dirt. This greatly increased the amount of land the farmer/settlers could cultivate. Farmers began to grow more than they could eat themselves. This made it possible for farmers to sell some of their crops.
Water: Water power, provided by huge water wheels, was plentiful throughout America. Water turbines became more plentiful and more efficient throughout the 1800s. People also transported themselves and their goods downstream on rivers.
Wind: Windmills dotted the eastern seaboard and accompanied the westward expansion. Windmills were used to grind flour, pump water, and saw wood. Wind was used to move sailboats. Windmills allowed people to pump water using wind power.
Industry: One of the first industries to develop in Iowa was the gristmill. A gristmill grinds wheat and corn into flour. Farmers sometimes traveled long distances to the nearest gristmill. Since they had little money, they would pay the miller by giving him part of the flour. Small saw mills were built soon after the first gristmills. Often, the two kinds of mills were combined. However, water power was not very dependable in Iowa. During the winter, the creeks and smaller rivers would frequently freeze over and in summer, they often ran dry. The first stream mill was built in Iowa in 1848.
Communication: In the 1800's, those living in Iowa were relatively isolated. In 1836 there were only two post offices in Iowa. Mail was delivered with the stage coach and left at a central location in one of the settlements. Before the Civil War there were less than one dozen newspapers published in Iowa.
Teacher Notes
Objectives:
Students will demonstrate their knowledge of life in Iowa in the 1850's, by creating a newspaper reflecting life in that period of time.
Materials:
Temporary reference collection for the classroom may include library books on Iowa history.
Computers for word processing would be helpful
Art supplies for drawing advertisements
Suggested Teaching Strategies:
Several ideas for introducing the activity are presented in the following paragraphs. You may wish to present some of this information to students as a
way of setting the stage for this activity.
Introducing the Activity: Today, everyone expects to have a morning or evening newspaper, and sometimes both. It is difficult to imagine a time when newspapers and magazines were not available. The earliest settlers in Iowa, however, had no newspapers at all. Because there was no telegraph or telephone lines, news traveled slowly. The first newspapers appeared in the eastern part of the Iowa Territory in the 1830's.
It was a great task to move heavy printing presses on wagons to and across Iowa. The papers typically devoted much of their space to national and state politics. There was some foreign news, but such news was received long after the events had occurred. Some space was given to advertisements, although not nearly as much as today. Some of the advertisements were complete with pictures. Wholesale merchants from St. Louis frequently advertised their wares in Iowa newspapers. Typically there was a list of "call for bids" on carrying mail over various routes. This was a type of "want ad" looking for people willing to deliver the mail. Early newspapers might also contain a lengthy list of uncalled for letters. This shows how slow the mail was delivered.
It may be helpful to prepare an overhead of the assignment, as outlined below, to present to the class.
Extra, Extra...Read All About It!
YOUR TASK:
Working as a class, you are to prepare a newspaper that just arrived at a typical 1850's settlement in Iowa. Keep in mind those ideas contained in your
reading. The newspaper should fit the time period of the 1850's in Iowa. Come up with an appropriate title for the newspaper. The newspaper might contain some of the following:
Working in small groups, each group should work on one of the above categories. You may also feel free to develop your own ideas for the paper...but don't
forget, the newspaper must present an accurate reflection of life in Iowa in the 1850's.
It may benefit students to hear some of the things that were actually written in and about Iowa in the 1850's. Appendix C contains a reading from a collection entitled A Glimpse of Iowa in 1846 by J. B. Newhall, 2nd ed. 1957, State Historical Society of Iowa. This will help convey the flavor of the times to students. Appendix C also contains a list of average prices for items in Iowa in 1846, as well as a list of prospects for mechanics and laborers. (Both of these are part of the collection cited above.)
It may also benefit students to be able to examine a copy of an actual Iowa newspaper for the 1800s. Sample pages are provided in Appendix C.
Reading 2
After 1850, wood, water, and wind begun to be replaced with another energy source...coal. While coal was always plentiful in America, people did not use it because they did not need it. They had more than enough energy from wood. However, as wood supplies began to become depleted, around the 1850's, wood became more expensive. Industries were growing and therefore required more energy each year. Coal was found to be a cheaper, more convenient fuel both for railway locomotives and for urban buildings and homes. Coal was easily available in Iowa, inexpensive, and could be stored easily. It takes a smaller size pile of coal than wood to operate a train or to heat a home. By the mid 1880's coal had become the nation's chief energy source.
Industry: The development of the steel industry in the late 1860's played a big role in making coal the number one fuel in America. More importantly, the widespread use of the steam engine created a much greater demand for coal. Although wood continued to be widely used in the residential sector, coal almost completely took over industry and transportation. People discovered that coal was cheaper than wood to use in running steam engines than was wood. One-half ton of coal would do the same work as over two tons of wood at half the cost. Railroads were converting from wood to coal.
Grain and saw mills changed to steam for power. This allowed them to be powered on a more regular basis during all seasons of the year. The steam driven threshing machines allowed farmers to harvest larger amounts of grain. This, in turn, led to an increased need for mills.
One winter industry that employed large numbers of people in Iowa was the cutting and storing of ice for use in the hot summer months. When the ice was thick enough, it was sawed into large blocks, hauled into town, and packed in sawdust in icehouses to prevent the ice from thawing in warm weather. A supply of ice placed in the ice box allowed meats to stay fresher longer in the summer. Ice was also used for cold drinks and ice cream.
Farm Life: Corn was still picked by hand in the late 1800's. It was a grueling task both physically and in terms of the amount of time it took a family to harvest their corn crop. Steam driven threshing machines were used to harvest wheat, however. Threshing machines ran on coal and were shared by a number of farm families.
By 1865, a few newly invented mechanical devices were making the work of homemakers easier and more comfortable. The steam powered saw mills made lumber affordable, allowing people to build nicer houses. Kerosene lamps were replacing candles in rural homes. Washing clothes continued to be a heavy physical burden, as fuel powered washing machines were not yet available in Iowa. Where wood was scarce, coal was burned for cooking and heating homes.
By 1870, farmers began selling their produce, providing them with money to purchase goods. Farmers increasingly relied on town merchants, while merchants and townspeople relied on farmers for their food. Railroads made it possible for farmers to expand the market for their produce. It was now possible to order items for the home and farm through mail order and to have those items delivered to the nearest town by rail.
Transportation: Steamboats provided a main means of transportation for Iowans until around 1870, when rail travel became more widespread. The first railroad built in Iowa ran in November of 1885. All of the railroads in the 1800's burned coal as their fuel. At its peak, Iowa had 10,018 miles of railroad lines in 1914. Railroads greatly increased the availability of goods to Iowans. Lumber was more easily moved from locations in other states to Iowa, as were manufactured items, using the railroads.
Iowans were among the first Americans to build successful automobiles. In 1892, a man named J. C. Duncan gained fame when he drove his "steam wagon" from Davenport to Bettendorf (8 miles). The Davenport police chief ordered the steam wagon off the streets because he feared it would frighten the horses. However, it was not until the 1920's that many Iowans began to purchase automobiles.
Communication: As rail transportation increased in Iowa, mail delivery became more reliable. Between 1850 and 1900 mail service was available between many of the cities in Iowa on a once a week basis. Farmers would travel to the nearest town to pick up their mail. Newspapers were becoming more common, making it possible for the farmer to feel less isolated. Telegraphs were possible between some towns and cities in Iowa.
As the number of cities in Iowa grew, farmers were less isolated. They would venture to the nearest town to sell or trade some of their farm products and would pick up their mail or a newspaper while there. Churches and town meetings also played a role in increasing communication between rural and city people in Iowa.
Teacher Notes
Objective:
After completing this activity, students will gain a better understanding of life in Iowa between 1850 and 1900 and of how their lives differ from those of
people living in this era.
Materials:
None
Suggested Teaching Strategies:
Rather than moving directly on to Reading #3, Activity 2 will provide students with an opportunity to assimilate the information contained in Reading #2. Ask
students to carry out the following tasks:
Ask students to develop a preliminary list on their own. Once this has been completed, students working in cooperative groups can come up with a consensus list. Ask the groups to place their ideas on large sheets of paper and present it as part of a class discussion.
Ask students to answer the discussion questions in cooperative groups, developing group responses to the questions.
Summing Up Questions:
1. Name four things about life in the 1850-1900 period that you liked better than what we experience today.
2. Name four things about life in the 1990's that you like better than what was available in the 1850-1900 period.
3. What do you think the biggest change will be between your life and that of your children (25-30 years from now)?
Once students have formulated answers to these questions, discuss their responses as a group.
Extension:
Create a newspaper reflecting life in the 1850-1900 period.
Home/Community Connections:
Reading 3
After World War I ended in 1918, coal use began to decline as oil became more widely used. At first, oil was refined and used exclusively for kerosene lanterns and to some extent for lubrication. Even though oil was first discovered in America in 1859, it did not become a major energy source for almost 50 years.
Oil and natural gas are both 20th century fuels. Oil rose from barely measurable use around 1900 to a quarter share of total U.S. energy consumption in 1930 and almost half in 1970. Natural gas use quadrupled between 1930 and 1970.
After 1900, the use of electric power was on the rise. Coal was used to run the turbines that produced electricity. Electricity was first wired from power stations into homes, offices, and factories in the 1880's, in big cities such as New York, London, and Paris. Its first major use was for lighting. In 1882, Thomas Edison's factories made 100,000 light bulbs, but because it took years to lay cables and establish electricity locally, electric light was not widely available in Iowa until the 1930's.
Once the automobile was invented, the use of oil began to rise dramatically. Methods of using oil products to supply power for industry were also being perfected. Oil was superior to coal in a number of ways. When refined, oil polluted less than coal. Engines could run more efficiently on oil-based products. Oil was also very plentiful. It was not until the 1950's that America had to begin importing oil.
Transportation: Cars were the main reason for the rise in oil use. Cars were used for family transportation, while trucks played a larger role in transporting farm products. Other forms of transportation also switched from coal to oil as fuel. In the 1940's and 1950's, railroads converted from coal-burning engines to diesel engines. Diesel is another product refined from oil. Automobiles brought demands for better roads. Iowans began purchasing cars around 1910. The first completely paved road between two cities in Iowa was completed in 1918. By 1930, nearly 1,030 miles of road had been paved in Iowa.
By the 1930's, there were 49 registered airports in Iowa. Private planes could be hired at many airports. Regularly scheduled passenger service was also available at larger cities.
By the 1930's river traffic was primarily for commercial purposes, rather than for passengers.
Industry: By the 1920's and 1930's, Iowa played a substantial role in manufacturing, especially related to the food industry. Food products such as meat, butter, corn products, and poultry represented about one-fifth of Iowa's manufacturing output. Iowa also played an important role in manufacturing farm related products such as farm machinery, pumps, and harnesses. The electric motor played a large role in making these industries possible. Railroads and rivers continued to play an important role in transporting goods in Iowa. Trucks began to play a larger part in this process as well.
Farm Life: The introduction of the gasoline powered tractor was one of the most significant events in the history of agriculture. The tractor replaced horses and mules for field work and could do many other tasks. With a belt attached, a tractor would power a wood saw, a feed grinder, or a water pump. The tractor quickly gained acceptance in Iowa and made it possible for farmers to cultivate a much larger number of acres. Farm operations slowly came to be more mechanized as the 1930's drew to a close. Farmers invested in more powerful, gasoline-powered equipment.
As soon as electricity was available in houses, people began to think up new uses for it. The early 20th century saw the invention and design of "labor-saving" appliances to make domestic life easier. When electric motors came into wide use in the 1900s, electricity could be converted into movement. This made it possible for the range of appliances to grow to include small heaters, food blenders, and even hair dryers. However the large appliances, like vacuum cleaners, were still found only in the most affluent homes. By the 1920's a few farm women were using gasoline powered washing machines.
Communication: Radio was one of the developments in this period that made life on Iowa farms more pleasant. The first radio broadcasts were made in Iowa in the 1920's. At this time, many rural families had battery powered radios.
It was 1939 before electrical transmission lines reached most farms in Iowa...but gas powered generators were available in the 1920's. By 1930's these were run by electricity.
By 1900, many farm families had telephones and daily RFD (Rural Free Delivery) of magazines, newspapers and letters. By 1920, phones were common in most Iowa homes.
Air transportation was also becoming a reality. In 1919, Cedar Rapids was asked to provide a landing field for mail planes. Unable to come up with the money, the landing strip was moved to Iowa City. This made it necessary for the mail to be trucked from Iowa City to Cedar Rapids. Recall that in 1836, there were only two post offices in Iowa. By 1937, there were nearly 1,150 post offices throughout Iowa.
References for Readings #1, #2, and #3:
Teacher Notes
Objective:
By completing this activity, students will gain a sense of how dramatically energy conversion devices changed over a relatively short period of time.
Materials:
Sheets of advertisements (see Appendix C)
Suggested Teaching Strategies:
Most people do not realize the tremendous impact that energy plays in our lives. There are very few aspects of our lifestyles that do not have a direct
connection to energy. This activity is designed to give a flavor for how energy sources and the ability to convert one form of energy into other forms, has impacted our growth as a nation.
Divide students into cooperative groups. Each group will need a set of the advertisements. The challenge for each group is to arrange the advertisements according to which period they believe the devices advertised were first used in Iowa. Remind students that the periods are: Period 1) wind, water and wood; Period 2) the coal age; and Period 3) the age of oil. Encourage students to read the ads carefully to look for clues. Students should come to a group decision about the placement of the advertisements. They may need to refer back to their readings to help decide where to place each of the advertisements.
Appendix C contains a "best guess" as to which period each of the ads can be placed. Keep in mind that many of the devices advertised may have been available on the East coast much earlier than they become available in Iowa. You may wish to add additional advertisements to the collection. For example, ads for televisions, radios and computers would be an excellent addition.
Encourage students to approach the problem systematically, following a plan their group developed on their own. Students' first instinct will likely be to arrange the advertisements in terms of those requiring electricity and those needing no electricity. This is a good way to start, although students will soon realize that more information is needed to place each ad into the three periods covered in the readings. A logical approach would be for students to go back to their readings and make a "mini time line" of dates and events to use as a guide. For example, they should include when electricity was commonly available to homes in Iowa, when cars were fairly common in Iowa, when rail travel was the rule, etc. It would be best if students could come up with a strategy such as this on their own.
Summing Up Questions:
1. List the types of devices placed in each of the three categories:
Period 1: Wood, Water & Wind
Period 2: Coal Age
Period 3: Age of Oil
2. What were some of the reasons ads were placed in each period?
3. Which ads were most difficult to place? Why? Students are likely to list items such as the coal burning stove as difficult to place. Most of the ads do not specifically state whether coal or wood is burned in the stoves, making it difficult to decide where the ad should be placed. Students may list a variety of other items. Make certain they are able to logically defend their choices.
4. Based on the advertisements, during which of the three time periods would you rather have lived in Iowa? Why?
Home/Community Connection:
Ask students to interview their parents (or someone that is close to their parents age) and to interview a grandparent (or someone in that age group). Ask each of them to name five "modern conveniences" or new inventions that they
remember getting when they were younger. Ask them to indicate which were the most exciting to them and why. Encourage students to share the results of their interviews either through writing or drawing. Students should also be
encouraged to share their findings through class discussion.
Extensions:
Iowa - 2050
Your Task:
Prepare a newspaper that might be read by a typical Iowa farmer in the year 2050. (Yes, farms will still be around then!) Think about the current trends in automation, computers and other technologies in devising items for your
newspaper. How might those trends have developed by the year 2050? Of course, you will need to come up with an appropriate title for the newspaper. The newspaper might contain some of the following:
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