Death on the Factory Floor is a CSI-style historical investigation set inside a 1905 textile mill. A teenage factory worker is dead. Officials have ruled it an accident caused by worker negligence. Case closed—or so they claim.
Working in small groups, students examine a set of conflicting, primary source–style documents to reconstruct what really happened on the factory floor. As they dig deeper, they uncover evidence about dangerous machinery, exhausting hours, low wages, child labor, anti-union pressure, and the way powerful factory owners shaped official investigations. What begins as a workplace accident quickly becomes a larger story about class attitudes, labor struggles, and government cover-ups that show a disturbing disregard for worker safety.
Students must collect evidence, compare accounts, identify contradictions, and decide whether this death was truly an accident—or the predictable outcome of industrial working conditions.
What Students Will Learn
Through the investigation, students learn how:
Factory conditions in the early 1900s created constant risk for workers
Poor and immigrant workers were treated as replaceable labor
Labor unions emerged in response to unsafe conditions and low wages
Factory owners resisted reform and used influence to avoid accountability
Government inspections and investigations often protected industry instead of workers
What’s Included
7 authentic primary source–style documents with conflicting perspectives
5-page Student Investigation Guide that scaffolds students through the mystery
Critical thinking questions woven into each stage of the case
Mini-CER (Claim–Evidence–Reasoning) responses to support historical argumentation
Simplified reading matrix for students who need additional support
Teacher Guide with pacing, facilitation notes, and complete answer keys
Grade Levels: 7–12
Duration: 2 class periods (2 days)
Skills Developed
Close reading of historical documents
Evidence collection and source comparison
Identifying bias, contradictions, and missing information
Cause-and-effect reasoning
Writing evidence-based claims (CER)
Understanding labor conditions and reform movements during the Industrial Revolution
Collaborative discussion and problem-solving
