Teachers

Mr. Babcock's Invention

This lesson plan was developed by the Office of School Services as part of the Wisconsin History on Stage: Scripts for Grades 4-8. Please adapt it to fit your students' needs.

Background Information

Wisconsin History on Stage: Scripts for Grades 4-8 contains eleven engaging scripts that span more than 300 years of state history, from explorer Jean Nicolet to World War II. Students who took part in the 1998 Wisconsin Stories project, sponsored by the Wisconsin Humanities Council, researched and wrote several of the scripts. Other scripts are revised versions of those that originally appeared in the popular Badger History series. In this particular lesson, students will have the opportunity to learn how Professor Stephen M. Babcock's butterfat testing machine had a major impact on Wisconsin and the dairy industry and improved the quality of food across the United States. 

Document

Play "Mr. Babcock's Invention". Feel free to use it with your students

*Note* In order to read this chapter you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not already have this tool, you can download it free of charge from the Adobe web site.

Suggested Activities

In compiling Wisconsin History on State: Scripts for Grades 4 through 8, the editors have purposely selected scripts that educators can adapt to a variety of classroom activities and production levels. At the most basic level, these scripts offer young readers the opportunity to practice reading aloud. Dramatic literature is a lively, engaging format for classroom reading. Simply make photocopies of the student introduction and script and you're ready to begin. There are no costumes to sew, no sets to design, and no opening-night jitters to calm. 

We anticipate that many educators will opt for informal in-class dramas where students serve as both the performers and the audience. With minimal rehearsal time and no memorization required, these productions can often be completed in only one or two class sessions. Such a brief period will, however, introduce students to basic theater concepts and new vocabulary, while directly involving them in a dramatic performance. Most props are easy to obtain or approximate, and a complete list appears at the beginning of each script. Costumes, along with makeup, scenery, and lighting are optional enhancements, which can stimulate the imaginations for your students. They also provide for connections across the curriculum, especially to classes in art, music, and dance.

Finally, each of the plays in Wisconsin History on Stage has been successfully performed as organized theater. These more formal productions, of course, involve several rehearsal sessions and memorization of the script. Two of the scripts, Caroline Quarles: Passenger on Wisconsin's Underground Railroad and Everyone's Doing Their Part: A Wisconsin Family During World War II are designed so that total memorization of the script is not required. At this level, teachers should plan on spending several weeks in preparation. As part of the sesquicentennial project that led to this book, several groups visited photographic archives and made slides of historic images. These authentic images--portraits, buildings, maps--often formed the basis for the set. Other students may be assigned to research period fashions prior to devising their costumes. Some may conduct research that influences the design of a set. The variety of tasks and the level of research that accompanies each play guarantees that every play offers parts and activities for all ability levels.