Using Tools Lesson Plan

Objective:

Interpret different ways tools were developed and describe the purpose of each tool.

Activity: In this activity, students learn about the uses of tools and their purpose through brainstorming and using prior knowledge.

Ask the students the following questions:
1. What is a tool?
2. How do tools help people?
3. What are tools made from?
4. How do tools make work easier?

Have the students write down their responses and share them with a partner. Next, have the students write down five tools their parents use and five tools they use. What materials are used to make these tools? On the back of the sheet of paper, have students name five tools that they imagine the early settlers of Virginia may have used and how they might differ.

Questions to have the students think about:
1. What materials do you think people used to make their tools?
2. Where did the idea of these tools come from?
3. What is/was the tool's purpose?

Assessment: When finished, have the students create a compare and contrast narrative using the brainstorm writing. When completed, select students to present their paper orally.

MUSEUM VISIT
During the Museum visit, have students find at least five tools displayed throughout the farms. Ask them to define what the purpose of the tool, it's place of origin, and to identify a tool that does the same job today.

After their visit to the Museum students may want to compare their pre-visit list with the new information they have obtained. Have the students discuss how the tools used today are different and how they are similar to tools of the past.

Virginia Standards of Learning
2.12		The student will understand that the United States is a land of people who have diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, who make contributions to their communities, and who are united as Americans by common principles.
3.7.1		The student will explain how producers use natural resources (water, soil, wood, and coal), human resources (people at work), and capital resources (machines, tools, and buildings) to produce goods and services for consumers.