Have you ever built something with blocks or LEGOs? Imagine building a giant toy car all by yourself—it would take forever! But what if your friends each helped with one part? One person adds the wheels, another puts on the doors, someone else paints it. That’s kind of what Henry Ford did—but with real cars!
In the early 1900s, cars were expensive because each one was made by hand. Only rich people could afford them. Henry Ford wanted to change that. He had a big idea: what if workers built cars in a line, with each person doing just one job, over and over?
This idea was called the assembly line.
Instead of one person building the whole car, one worker added the engine, the next added the wheels, and so on. The car moved down the line and finished way faster! Ford’s assembly line made it possible to build a car in just a few hours instead of days.
Because cars were made faster and cheaper, more people could buy them. Ford’s idea didn’t just change how cars were made—it changed how everything was made. Today, we still use assembly lines to build toys, phones, and even pizzas!
Henry Ford didn’t invent the car or the assembly line, but he made them work together in a smart way that changed the world.
Try it at home!
At home, you can explore S.T.E.M to craft delicious sandwiches using the assembly line! Line up your ingredients and give each “robot” (AKA your family members) a task – one will get the bread ready, the second add the cheese, the other place the ham, and so forth – sliding the plate through the assembly line until your sandwich is complete!
Not only will you and your family have something good to eat, but you will appreciate the marvelous invention that is the assembly line!
