Eli Whitney Museum

High school (ages 12+)
Making & Design

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/eli-whitney-museum

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the location?Hamden, Connecticut
2. What is the site designation?Partially occupies the historic Eli Whitney Gun Factory site
3. Why is the museum built on the old Eli Whitney Gun Factory?Because the factory shows how parts could be swapped, illustrating early manufacturing and connecting visitors to history.
4. How can I make something at the museum?Visitors can join hands‑on building projects, using tools and materials to create their own inventions and learn how ideas turn into real objects.

Interchangeable Parts: Standardized components designed to be compatible and replaceable across multiple units of a product.
Mass Production: The efficient manufacturing of large volumes of identical goods, often facilitated by assembly lines and standardization.
Design Thinking: A human-centered, iterative problem-solving process that emphasizes empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing.
STEM Education: An educational approach integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics to foster critical thinking and innovation.