Name______
Mr. Booth’s Industrial Revolution Web Quest
Must have each question completed for credit
The Industrial Revolution brought about many changes in everyday life. One of the first industries to feel the effects from the revolution was the textile industry. Textile is another word for clothing. Until this point, people mostly wore clothes made of wool. The invention of the Spinning Jenny allowed cotton to be spun at high speeds. This allowed for large amounts of cotton to be produced.
Go to Scroll down and click on the Spinning Jenny.
1.) Who invented the Spinning Jenny and what was the purpose of the invention? Describe in detail.
2.) By turning a single wheel, the operator could spin how many threads at once?
3.) By the time the James Hargreaves died, about how many Spinning Jenny’s were being used in Britain?
Click the back button to return to the main menu. Click on the link that says “Working Hours”.
When the Industrial Revolution first began so many people began to work in factories that the government was not ready for the cruelties that came with it. So there were no labor laws that outlined working hours or conditions for the workers. Managers and bosses were able to do anything that they wanted. Here are some true accounts of what life was like in those factories.
4.) During the Industrial Revolution how many hours a day did Michael Sadler discover young children were working?
5.) What did Frank Forrest say the managers did with the clocks in the factories?
6.) What were Elizabeth Bentley’s regular working hours as a child?
Click the back button to return to the main menu. Click on the link that is labeled “Punishments”
As you have seen life in the factories during the Industrial Revolution was especially hard . . . especially for the children. If a worker was to make the slightest mistake they would be severely punished. As you read, imagine yourself stuck working at one these factories. Is school such a bad option after all?
7.) What was usually done in the factories to make the children work faster?
8.) What did Edward Baines say sometimes happened to the children by the spinners or overlookers? What happened to them when they grew older?
9.) What did Samuel Davy say about the young women in the factories?
Perhaps no greater invention was more important during the Industrial Revolution than the steam engine. With the invention of the steam engine, mechanics were able to improve many aspects of everyday life. Transportation and factories would benefit most from the steam engine.
Go to:
10. Explain what Sarah Carpenter said meals were like where she worked:
11. What did Robert Blincoe say about the food at St. Pancras workhouse?
Now click on where it says Build It. Try and see if you can build your own steam engine.
From Great Britain the Industrial Revolution would spread throughout the world. Believe it or not it is still continuing to develop in some countries today. The Industrial Revolution would make some people very rich.
Go to and click on where it says Industrial Revolution Inventors.
12.) What did Eli Whitney invent?
Click the back button to return to the main menu. Click on the link titled Henry Ford.
13.) In terms of industrialization, what was the major difference between the Detroit Automobile Company in 1889 and Ford Motor Company in 1913?
14.) List 4 ways in which Henry Ford revolutionized the Auto Industry.
Go to
Titus Salt ran one of the most prosperous textile companies in Bradford, England.
15. Titus Salt had the factory’s sewage dumped in the Beck River. Why did this create such a problem for the workers in his factory?
16. What were the two diseases his workers obtained from this? Explain what the diseases do the human body.
Disease # 1 ______ Effect on human body ______
Disease # 2 ______ Effect on human body ______
17. List and describe the several steps that Titus Salt took to make his factories healthier for the workers and people that lived near his tetxtile mills.
Now print out a copy of your Web Quest, put your name on it and turn it in.