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Create a Timeline
Middle schoolers make a timeline from the late 1800's to 2000 to mark significant inventions.
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Into the Future
Fourth graders investigate how new inventions and technology change how we live.
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Thank You, Mr. Edison
Students read a letter to Thomas Edison and search for advertisements of the period. They review primary sources and photographs of items made available in the 1920's. They interact on the American Memory Collection website.
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Inventions, Puppets, and Commercials
Fourth graders, in groups, invent a product to sell, create a commercial for it using a stick puppet they make.
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Marketing A New Product
Students design and draw a new product in a graphics program. Students research and create a report on how they plan to market their product. Students create a flyer, brochure or business card to be passed out at the New Product Fair.
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Problem Solving
Students listen to a story about a cat and dog fighting all the time. They must develop and explain a machine that stops the cat and dog from fighting. Then they have a discussion about machines and inventions.
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Lesson Plan on Benjamin Franklin
Fifth graders utilize Internet research methods to gather information about the inventions of Benjamin Franklin. They prepare oral reports and present them to the class incorporating at least one visual aid.
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Household ProductsPast to Future
Third graders research and explore the development of household inventions. Groups create timelines which must display the date of each contribution, the inventor or inventors of each contribution, and the cultural background of each...
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In Line with Time
Third graders create a timeline of inventions and inventors made out of light colored bulletin board paper.
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Back Up
Third graders participate in a review game about significant people who have made inventions.
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Inventions
Students develop an intervention and write a short paper on its uses and applications. They use a graphic organizer to prewrite and take their work through all steps of the writing process.
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Inventions 2: The Impact
Students see what inventors have to think about when making an invention, particularly the kinds of effects they can have on people.
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Invention Convention
Fifth graders recognize the work of Leonardo da Vinci. They invent a new machine for the 21st century and make a model of the invention.
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Who Invented It? When? Chinese Inventions: An Introductory Activity
Students use Robert Temple's "The Genius of Chins: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention", to understand how much the Chinese have contributed with their scientific and technological ability.
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Alexander Graham Bell: Voice of Invention
Students watch a Biography episode about Alexander Graham Bell -- his remarkable inventions, family life, and the individuals who influenced his work.
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National Park Service: Dison National Historical Site: The Invention Factory
This terrific interactive site from the National Park Service describes the different buildings on Thomas Edison's West Orange, New Jersey's laboratory facility. After exploring the buildings, follow Edison's invention and application of...
Library of Congress
Loc: Learning Page: Thomas Edison
This resource provides lesson plans and information about Thomas Edison and his inventions.
Museum of Science
Museum of Science (Boston): Leonardo's Mysterious Machines
A game that showcases the inventive genius of Leonardo da Vinci, who made drawings of helicopters, planes, and tanks long before these machines ever became modern-era realities. Have fun learning about Leonardo's many ideas while you...
Great Idea Finder
The Great Idea Finder: Qwerty Keyboard Invention
Where did the idea of the QWERTY keyboard come from? Read about typewriter inventor, Christopher Sholes, and how he came up with his idea of a new keyboard design way back in 1875. Additional links to related sites, fascinating facts,...
Rutgers University
Blueprint for Change: The Life and Times of Lewis H. Latimer
An extensive look at the inventor, Lewis Latimer, from the Thomas Edison Papers at Rutgers University. Read essays about his life and inventions, the culture in Boston which encouraged his work, and his life outside his inventions. A...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Carbons to Computers: The Typewriter
Created a little less than 150 years ago, the typewriter was the forerunner for the computer. This page offers a detailed history of the birth of the typewriter along with several visual examples.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: More About Bell
Part of the larger site about Alexander Graham Bell from the series, American Experience, this biography focuses mainly on his education and experimentation which resulted in his development of the telephone. Included is information...
PBS
Pbs: A Science Odyssey
Website for the PBS series "A Science Odyssey." Numerous opportunities to explore the people and discoveries of science.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: George Eastman: The Wizard of Photography
American Experience offers a comprehensive look at George Eastman and his development of photography. Included are a timeline, biographies of important people in Eastman's personal and professional life, discussions in the history of...