Basic Productivity Tools (BPT)

Lesson Idea Name: Impact of Technological Advancements on Business Productivity

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level(s): 4th grade
Content Standard Addressed: SS4E1. Use the basic economic concepts of trade, opportunity cost,
specialization, voluntary exchange, productivity, and price incentives to illustrate historical events.
f. Give examples of technological advancements and their impact on business productivity during the
development of the United States (e.g., cotton gin, steamboat, steam locomotive, and telegraph.)

Technology Standard Addressed: 3. Knowledge Constructor. Students critically curate a variety of resources
using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning
experiences for themselves and others.
Selected Technology Tool: PowerPoint

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable):

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☐ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☒ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration
☐ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

The Universal Design for Learning principles address the what, how, and why of learning. The “what” of
learning is about providing multiple means of representation. Students will be conducting research and
synthesizing their research into a PowerPoint to present to the class. Students will be able to learn about the
topic in several different ways including pictures and reading to learn about the subjects. They will also have
their classmates presenting their findings to the class, and hearing the information presented may be the way
that they learn best. The “how” of learning deals with multiple means of action and expression. Students will
be physically conducting research and then communicating it to the class to show what they have learned.
The “why” of learning is shown by providing multiple means of engagement. Students will be able to work
with their groups to determine what methods of research conduction works best for the group members. This
will provide students with ways to work that make them most engaged and motivated.

Lesson idea implementation:

As the above content standard is addressed, the teacher will have previously taught students the economic
concepts of trade, opportunity cost, specialization, voluntary exchange, productivity, and price incentives;
and also related them to historical events. This lesson will be going over the “f” part of the standard, and
students will be researching technological advancements and their impact of business productivity. The
teacher will break the class in to four groups and assign each group one of the following technological
advancements: cotton gin, steamboat, steam locomotive, and telegraph. Each of the groups will conduct
research to create a PowerPoint to present to the class including a brief history of their technological
advancement and how it impacted business productivity in the United States. The students will have 2 days (1
hour each day) to complete this assignment, and then they will be presenting with their groups their findings
on the 3rd day. The teacher will observe the students as they are conducting their research and putting
together the PowerPoint to ensure that all students are participating in the task. All students will have to
participate and speak during the presentation, or points will be deducted from that individual student’s
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 Basic Productivity Tools (BPT)
grade. The final product will be used to inform of the students learning and provide the teacher with
knowledge of what the students understand and do not understand.
The teacher can extend the students learning to a higher level by having all of the class work together to
create a timeline that includes each of the technological advancements and also consists of major events in
American history. This will give students an idea of other things happening in history to know more about
when and why these technological advancements were created. The lesson will be concluded with a full class
discussion of the technological advancements gone over in class, why they are important, and the impact
they have on America today. The teacher will provide feedback to the students by providing notes from each
presentation to the individual groups. They teacher can leave comments about their PowerPoint, the actual
presentation, or certain aspects within the presentation.

Reflective Practice: This lesson could enhance students learning by having them practicing their research and
presentation skills, as well as learning about technological advancements in American history. To further
extend this lesson, students could take a quiz to test their knowledge on the concepts of technological
advancements. They could also write a short paper about the impact of these technological advancements on
businesses. Another technology tool that could be used to further enhance this project is for students to
watch videos/movies about the technological advancements they have studied.

Spring 2018_SJB