Primary Source Activities: Ritty Dial Cash Register Patent Drawings
Author: Karen Baker
Allow students, in groups or individually, to examine the primary source linked under Resources to the right, while answering the questions below in order. The questions are designed to guide students into a deeper analysis of the source and sharpen associated cognitive skills.
Level I: Description
1. What do you see in the image?
2. What is a patent and why is a patent important?
Level II: Interpretation
1. Why might a store or restaurant owner want a cash register?
2. What impact might the cash register have had on the economy?
Level III: Analysis
1. In what ways have transactions at stores changed since James Ritty invented this cash register?
2. What do you think some future inventions might be for store transactions?
- History 9-10, Benchmark B: Explain the social, political and economic effects of industrialization.
- Indicator: Grade 10, GLI 1. Explain the effects of industrialization in the United States in the 19th century including: a. Changes in work and the workplace.