Grade 9 · Social Studies · Unit 2 of 8
The Industrial Revolution
Factories, cities and workers
What your child practises
How steam power and factories changed work and cities, child labour and early unions, railways, and the environmental and social effects of industrialization, including in Canada.
BC Curriculum learning standard: Industrialization: causes, technologies, urbanization, working conditions and environmental effects
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Why was working in early factories often hard?
- Machines did all the work.
- Long hours, low pay and unsafe conditions were common.
- Workdays were short.
- Wages were extremely high.
Show answer
Long hours, low pay and unsafe conditions were common.
Hint: Many factory workers, including children, worked 12 hours or more.
Question 2
How did railways change life in the 1800s?
- They replaced all roads.
- They moved people and goods faster and linked distant places.
- They slowed down trade.
- They stopped cities from growing.
Show answer
They moved people and goods faster and linked distant places.
Hint: Railways made it cheaper to ship goods and helped settlement.
Question 3
What does “urbanization” mean?
- The growth of cities as people move from the countryside
- The end of trade
- The building of farms
- The decline of towns
Show answer
The growth of cities as people move from the countryside
Hint: Many people moved to cities for factory work.
Question 4
Why were children employed in factories and mines?
- There were no adults.
- They were paid less and could fit in small spaces.
- Children were required to vote.
- They owned the factories.
Show answer
They were paid less and could fit in small spaces.
Hint: Child labour was cheap, which made it attractive to owners.
Question 5
What is a natural resource that powered the Industrial Revolution?
- paper money
- silk
- coal
- gold coins
Show answer
coal
Hint: Coal fuelled steam engines and iron production.
Question 6
Before or after the Industrial Revolution? Sort each way of working.
Sort into: 🧵 Before industrialization · 🏭 After industrialization
- 💧milling grain with a water wheel
- 🔥an iron foundry fuelled by coal
- 🐂ploughing with oxen
- 🧶weaving cloth by hand at home
- 🏙️a crowded city with factory workers
- ⚒️a village blacksmith's shop
- 🏭a cotton mill with steam-powered looms
- 🚂a steam locomotive pulling freight
Show answer
🧵 Before industrialization: milling grain with a water wheel, ploughing with oxen, weaving cloth by hand at home, a village blacksmith's shop · 🏭 After industrialization: an iron foundry fuelled by coal, a crowded city with factory workers, a cotton mill with steam-powered looms, a steam locomotive pulling freight
Hint: Before: hand tools, home workshops, farm work by animal power. After: steam power, factories, machines and railways.