8/12/2019 Big Business in the US
1/2
Olivia Foor
Bridget Shrode
CI 401: Lesson Plan 3
Name:The Captains of Industry: How Early Big Businesses
Influenced Businesses Today
Class/Subject: 8thGrade Social Studies
Date:12/12/2012
Student Objectives/Outcomes:
Content Standards:
Materials/Resources/Technology:
Video
Smartboard
Class Textbook
Teachers Goals:
Lesson Plan 1(45 minutes total)
Introduction (2 minutes)
In introducing this topic, we want to get the students thinking
about businesses today.
We will ask them to, Name 5 companies that make computers (HP,
Lenovo, Apple,
Samsung, Dell, etc), Name 5 companies that make cars (BMW,
Chrysler, Ford, Dodge,
GMC, etc), Name 5 companies that make TVs (Samsung, LG, Vizio,
Emerson, Sony).
The point of this exercise is to make them realize that
companies are not allowed to
have monopolies on products any longer because of the big
businesses and their
owners in the 1900s that we are about to learn about.
Basic Concepts (10 minutes)
We will use a video to introduce both John D. Rockefeller and
Andrew Carnegie to the
class. This video gives some background on these men as well as
the huge corporations
they started.
All of this information is supplemented in their textbook but we
wanted to give them a
different way to receive the information.
Digging Deeper (5 minutes)
After watching the video, we want to ask students to dig deeper
into the material by
asking them questions about the topic.
Why would it be bad for one company to control all production of
a product?
o That company can then charge as much as they want to the
consumers because
there is no competition for consumers to choose.
o The company can also pay the workers very poor wages because
there is no
competition and because they are such a large employer; the
workers get paid
low wages while the owner of the company becomes extremely
wealthy.
o Also encourages ruthless business practices that run other
small businesses out
of work.
Solutions (p. 283-284 in textbook) (10 minutes)
