Idaho Social Studies 6-12.HT2.2

Social StudiesGrades 6–12Historical Thinking Skills

The Standard

Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.

Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students compare two points in a historical era. They use dated sources to show what changed, what stayed the same, and who experienced those patterns.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can compare factory work in 1850 and 1900. They can name a change in machinery, identify wage labor as a continuity, and support both with source details.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume a new machine replaced older methods everywhere at once. They may call a period unchanged because one feature persisted, or assume everyone experienced change in the same way.
How to Assess It: Show a factory image from 1850 and one from 1900. Ask: What changed, what stayed the same, and which detail in each image supports your answer?

Lesson moves

Give pairs four dated source cards about factory life, and have them sort the details into changed and continued piles.
Ask students to write: Did new machines completely change factory workers' lives between 1850 and 1900? Use one change and one continuity.
Play Change or Continuity: read claims about factory work, then have students hold up C or S and justify their choice.
Compare a 1900 city street photo with a current one, naming one transport change and one use of streets that continued.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 6-12.HT2.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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