As part of our study of the Midwest Region of the United States, Team Gibbas students have been learning about Henry Ford's method of production called the assembly line. Today students learned first hand some of the benefits of an assembly line by pretending to be workers at Ford Motor Company "building" a Model T Ford. Students were divided into three groups then asked to draw as many finished cars as they could in seven minutes. For the first trial each student was responsible for the entire car. For the second seven minute trial students participated in a mock assembly line whereby each student had only one part to draw and passed the cars down the line. Then the class compared the results of the two trials. Students learned first hand that job specialization and assembly lines are efficient production methods and that they decrease the time it takes to create a finished product.
During the second trial one student commented, "I'm getting faster at drawing my part."
Another student agreed, "Yes, I'm getting better the more I do it."
Another student said, "I don't even have to look at the directions anymore."
