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Lesson Plan
Council for Economic Education

Econ Ed Link: Economic Spotter: Inventors and Entrepreneurs in the Industrial Age

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
The Industrial Age has also been called the Age of Edison. Edison patented more than 1000 inventions and gave rise to three industries: electric utilities, phonograph and record companies, and the film industry. This lesson will help...
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Article
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Inventor of the Week: Ruth Wakefield (Inventor of the Chocolate Chip Cookie)

For Students 3rd - 8th
Read a biography of Ruth Wakefield, the inventor of the chocolate chip cookie.
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Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Famous Inventors Alexander Graham Bell: You Rang?

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage shares brief biographical information about Alexander Graham Bell and his role in inventing the telephone. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading...
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Handout
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Inventor of the Week: Henry Ford

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site from MIT Invention Dimension is a brief profile of Henry Ford focusing on the Assembly Line.
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Handout
Great Idea Finder

The Great Idea Finder: Invention of the Microwave Oven

For Students 9th - 10th
Site includes fascinating facts about the invention of the microwave oven by Perry Spencer in 1945.
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Handout
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Inventor of the Week: Gilbert Lewis

For Students 9th - 10th
At this site from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, you can read about the inventor of "Heavy Water," Gilbert Newton Lewis, who is "one of the most influential and admired scientists of the twentieth century."
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Website
Great Idea Finder

The Great Idea Finder: Invention of the Telephone

For Students 9th - 10th
The Great Idea Finder provides information on the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell and its history throughout the years. Links to other sites with information are provided.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Libraries: Innovators Gallery

For Students 9th - 10th
Who invented the tennis racket, Crayola Crayons or Tupperware? Smithsonian site invites users to explore the achievements of a variety of American innovators and inventors.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Inventors and Inventions

For Students 5th - 8th
The industrial revolution in America spawned the inventions of many inventors, who improved technology in many different areas. See how transportation, agriculture, and communications were transformed because of these inventions.
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Unit Plan
Have Fun With History

Have Fun With History: Science and Invention

For Students 9th - 10th
Module with links to resources and videos on science, inventions and technology of the 19th and 20th Centuries that changed the course of American history.
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Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 326: Colonial Women Inventors

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides information on two Colonial women inventors. This is a transcript of an accompanying radio broadcast.
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eBook
PBS

Pbs Kids: Martha Speaks: Super Inventions

For Students K - 1st
In this interactive story, learn how animal abilities have inspired inventions over the years.
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Article
Text Project

Text Project: Fyi for Kids: Young Inventors: Chester Greenwood [Pdf]

For Students 1st - 3rd
This magazine article explains how Chester Greenwood invented ear warmers when he was 15 years old.
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Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Nara: Teaching With Documents: Telephone and Light Patent Drawings

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan about Alexander Graham Bell's patent for the telephone and Thomas Edison's patent for the electric lamp. Contains good background information and historically pertinent documents. It also discusses the role corporations...
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Handout
University of Virginia

University of Virginia: Jefferson as an Inventor

For Students 9th - 10th
This section of a larger site on Thomas Jefferson discusses his involvement in the development of the patent system. Here, read about Jefferson's committment to science and his role as an inventor.
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Handout
University of California

University of California: Otis Boykin: Inventor

For Students 9th - 10th
Otis Boykin (1920-1982 CE) is attributed with developing twenty-six electronic inventions, including devices for guided missiles, IBM computers and a control unit for an artificial heart stimulator.
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Website
Other

Leonardo Da Vinci the Man & the Inventor

For Students 9th - 10th
An award winning site containing fantastic information on Leonardo as a man, an artist, and an inventor. You will find detailed analysis of his paintings, a section containing his drawings, articles on his life, designs for many machines...
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Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Super Glue Was Invented: Moments of Vision 8

For Students 9th - 10th
Today, super glue is a nearly indispensable household item - but its incredibly sticky nature almost caused it to be abandoned in the development phase - twice. Jessica Oreck shares the wartime origins of this sticky substance. [1:53]
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Interactive
Other

Up to Ten: The History of Inventions

For Students 3rd - 5th
Place the inventions on the interactive timeline in chronological order to advance to the next level.
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Handout
Other

Black Inventor Online Museum: Andrew Beard

For Students 9th - 10th
A short biography of Andrew Beard, whose invention improved the safety of railroads in the 19th century.
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Handout
University of California

University of California: Lloyd Augustus Hall: Chemist and Inventor

For Students 9th - 10th
Brief summary of Hall's inventions and contributions to science.
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Lesson Plan
Council for Economic Education

Econ Ed Link: Inventors and Innovators Improve on the Original

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This lesson plan focuses on discussion of inventions, brainstorming new products or improvements, and identifying the protection, production, and marketing processes.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: Tesla, Master of Lighting

For Students 9th - 10th
Inventor Nikola Tesla is the subject of this extensive PBS site. In addition to information on Tesla's life and work, the site offers insight into the ways in which society and invention affect each other.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: Who Made America?: Innovators: Elisha Otis

For Students 9th - 10th
A biography of the man who invented the elevator.

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