Inventions That Changed Communities

3rd Grade Social StudiesCommunities Past and Present4 pages

About this worksheet

Five inventions anchor this 3rd grade history sheet: the telephone, the light bulb, the Model T, the electric refrigerator and home internet. Students first join each name to its picture, from a wooden wall telephone to a 1990s desktop computer. Next they match six inventions, the assembly line included, to milestones such as the 1876 telephone patent and Edison's 1879 bulb. A second match pairs each invention, plus the old icebox and oil lamps, with its effect on daily life. Last, students argue which invention changed communities most. The 4 pages follow C3 D2.His.14.3-5, with a full answer key.

Page 1 of 4

When this preview is focused, use the left and right arrow keys to move between pages.

Curriculum objectives covered

D2.His.14.3-5

โ€œExplain probable causes and effects of events and developments.โ€

Questions 7 to 12 link each invention to its effect, such as the Model T letting families live farther from work.

D2.His.2.3-5

โ€œCompare life in specific historical time periods to life today.โ€

Item 12, Icebox & Oil Lamps, shows daily life before the refrigerator and the light bulb, set against today's home internet.

What's inside this worksheet

Picture match

Students draw lines from five invention names to pictures such as a Model T on a cobbled street and a rounded 1930s refrigerator.

Match Dates and Milestones

Six inventions to match to lettered milestones from 1876 to the 1990s. The telephone is done as an example.

Effects on daily life

Six more boxes to letter, including Icebox & Oil Lamps, which goes with daily ice deliveries and sooty lamp chimneys.

Question 13

A two or three sentence opinion on which invention changed community life most, with one reason from the worksheet.

Answers

Every picture, date and effect match, plus a model opinion about the light bulb.

How teachers use it

Start with the icebox

Ask who has heard of an icebox before question 12. Daily ice deliveries usually get the class talking about what the refrigerator changed.

Human timeline

After Page 2, have six students stand in date order holding the inventions, from the 1876 telephone to 1990s home internet.

Debate the winner

Group students by the invention they picked for question 13 and let each group give its best reason before anyone writes.

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