Lesson Plan: Telephone Timeline

Lesson Plan

Before Exploring

Ask students what life without a telephone would be like. After a short open discussion, ask students to postulate on when the phone was invented, when most of the phones in their region were installed, and when long distance calling became a common service.

Outline the Opportunity

Tell students that they will be creating a timeline to highlight the main historical events surrounding the invention of the telephone.

Break students into groups of seven. Direct students to the topic Canada Says Hello: The First Century of the Telephone on the CBC Digital Archives website.

In each group, half the students will review "A wondrous invention", "Bell's daughter, a century after...", "Telephones become a necessity", "Micro-wave of the future", "Telephones go transatlantic", "Winnipeggers call 999 for help", while the rest of the students in the group will review the clips titled "No operator necessary", "Push buttons in...", "Future phones mean more leisure", "Telephone innovations of 1957" and "Canada's first nationwide radio broadcast."

As they review the clips and support material, students record notes under the following headings: Date, Event and Description of Event.

When their notes are complete, all members of each group meet again and combine their information into a single visual timeline. Student displays should be creative and make note of visible changes in the telephone over time.

Revisit and Reflect

Post the timelines in the classroom and invite all students to walk through the classroom to review one another's work. Gather students and ask them to brainstorm what events they would add if they were to extend the timeline to today.

Extension

Students can write a short essay on the effect of the invention of the telephone on global society over a relatively short period of time.
OR
Students can do further research and extend the timeline 10 years at a time or to the current date.