The Carpet Industry in Northwest Georgia

Written by: Natasha Lewis and Kellie Wolfe - Kennesaw State University, History Education

Grade & Course:
11 Grade United States History (This lesson plan can easily be worked into economics as well.)

Length of Lesson:
One 60 minute class period

NCSS Themes:
VII. Production, Distribution, and Consumption

Georgia Performance Standard(s):

SSUSH11 The student will describe the economic, social, and geographic impact of the growth of big business and technological innovations after Reconstruction.

SSUSH12 The student will analyze important consequences of American industrial growth.

Objectives:

The student will:

  • read about the development of the carpet industry in Northwest Georgia.
  • identify the factors that led to industrial success in Northwest Georgia.

Essential Question:
How did the carpet industry develop and thrive in Northwest Georgia?

Assessments:
The students will be assessed on the lesson based upon their completion of the graphic organizer and advertisement.

Resources and Handouts:

Description of Methods:

1 - Lesson Introduction and Hook Activity: 10 minutes

The class will commence with the warm up questions written on the board. The students will be asked to record their responses. The class will then discuss these responses. This activity will determine the level of student knowledge on the day’s subject. The students will be asked to save their responses as they will be returning to them at the conclusion of class.

Warm Up Questions

  • What Georgia City is known as the “Carpet Capital of the World?”
  • True or False. The carpet industry did not begin in Georgia until the mid-1960s.
  • Why do you think Georgia was a good location for carpet production?

2 - Reading Activity 20 minutes

The teacher will distribute copies of the article “Carpet Industry.” Written by Randall L. Patton of Kennesaw State University, the article is an entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. The article can be retrieved online at The Georgia Encyclpedia by clicking here.

The teacher will instruct the students to spend the next twenty minutes reading the article and completing the graphic organizer.

3 - Interactive Activity 25 minutes

The teacher will distribute drawing paper, colored pencils, crayons, and markers to the students. They will be asked to create an advertisement for a town that is seeking to attract carpet factories. The advertisement should include incentives that would benefit a carpet factory (i.e. ample labor, access to transportation lines, managers with experience in the textile industry, etc).

4 - Close-Exit Ticket: 5 minutes

At the closing of the lesson, the students will be asked to return to the warm-up questions they answered at the beginning of the class. The teacher will ask them to redo their responses given what they have learned in class.