MOSI Google hangout

    We did a very cool and fun activity in history class. We did a Google hangout with a couple of guys from the MOSI museum in Manchester England. This was really incredible because we were talking to people hundreds of miles away from us and we were learning at the same time. Before we Hung out with Jamie and his coworkers, we had to prepare. To do this we checked out MOSI's website to get an idea of what they had at the museum. Also, to prepare, we watched a video where our explainer Jamie showed us some of the machines and explained them. Along with that, we used keywords that we discovered from the site to find out more info on some of the machines and come up with educated questions for Jamie.

    The Hangout ended up being a great success, I learned a lot. in particular, I discovered that the textile making process is somewhat long, dangerous and complex. there are many different machines involved in this process such as the Draw frame , a shuttle loom and a speed frame. Most of the machines worked at high speeds and had many parts, thus making them dangerous to be around. The dangers of the machines included deafness, oil that caused cancer, hair getting caught in the machines and disease could spread quickly. Although these machines were so dangerous, they did increase the production speed of textile production magnificently. The workforce in the factories was almost completely girls raised on rural farms that were looking to support their families or change their lifestyle. Because all the girls moved into the big cities, the farms suffered and many died out, not being able to compete with the mills or the large, company owned farms. There were major pros and cons the mills had and it was very interesting to learn all about them and the infrastructure of the mills from Jamie.

This is Jamie showing us the Shuttle Loom

I thought this activity was fun and engaging while still being school related. It did not feel like I was learning, more like I was having a conversation with an expert. I find it incredible that we are able to talk to these people from across an entire ocean. I would really like to do this type of thing again for a different topic, it is a very good way to learn information. I had a great time with this Google hangout, and it would be great to do another.