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Handout
Other

American Artifacts: The Imaginative Inventor

For Students 9th - 10th
Just for fun. A website with a list of strange inventions by would-be entrepreneurs. Click on any to see a picture and description of the device.
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Teenage Inventor Alexis Lewis Thinks That Kids Have the Solutions

For Students 7th - 8th
A learning module that begins with "Teenage Inventor Alexis Lewis Thinks That Kids Have the Solutions" by Megan Gambino, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as...
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Article
Other

Positive.news: Children's Inventions to Make the World a Better Place

For Students K - 1st
Children's imaginations are infinite - so could they help draw up the ambitious projects that we need to fight the world's challenges? A group was asked to design inventions to make society a better place. Here's how they responded.
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Website
Vassar College

1896: Inventions

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief recounting of the influx of inventions in the late 19th century that flooded the market. Of particular interest is the description of the use of hot air balloons.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

Lemelson Center: Invention Process

For Students 9th - 10th
Through a number of articles, stories and research we learn about the invention process, including communicating your ideas, staying resilient when things go wrong.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Everyday Mysteries: Who "Invented" the Tv Dinner?

For Students 9th - 10th
Ever wonder who "invented" the TV dinner? This article provides a discussion of the people and companies involved in the creation of complete frozen meals starting in the 1940s and ending in 1954 when Swanson's frozen meals appeared and...
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Handout
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Invention of the Week: Alexander Graham Bell

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site provides a biographical sketch of Alexander Graham Bell and his inventions. Find out about Bell's patents in addition to the telephone.
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Interactive
PBS

Pbs Kids: How to Be an Inventor

For Students K - 1st
Part of the Real Stories series from "Martha Speaks," this read-along story teaches young children how easy it is to be an inventor.
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Website
Great Idea Finder

The Great Idea Finder: Qwerty Keyboard Invention

For Students 9th - 10th
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,...
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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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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: You, Too, Can Be an Inventor!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
How have inventions changed the world? This unit focuses on the importance, the process and the creativity involved in inventing. Through the study of inventions and inventors, young scholars learn how inventions are created and the...
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: Forgotten Inventors

For Students 9th - 10th
Here is an accounting of a few inventions, most of which were invented in the 1800s, that often are overlooked. Find out about how the can opener was invented as well as that clothing staple, the denim jeans.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: Special Feature: Forgotten Inventors

For Students 9th - 10th
This fascinating site from PBS features seven inventions from the 19th and 20th centuries, along with information about the men and women who created them. Click on one of the small photos to learn more, or scroll down through the...
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Handout
Other

History of Telephone Sets: Graham Bell Invents the Telephone

For Students 9th - 10th
A short summary of how Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) came to invent the telephone.
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Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: Inventors Time Line

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A time line of famous inventors.
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Handout
Other

Black Inventor Online Museum: Lewis Latimer

For Students 9th - 10th
The biography of the fascinating African-American inventor, Lewis Latimer. In addition to finding out about his development of the carbon filament for the incandescent lamp, you can read about his expertise in patent law, his association...
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Handout
Other

Black Inventor Online Museum: Jan Matzeliger

For Students 9th - 10th
A very complete biography of African-American inventor, Jan Matzeliger, who developed the shoe-lasting machine. Read about the development of his invention, and see pictures of the machine and the patent drawing.
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Website
Other

Smith College: Museum of Ancient Inventions

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Look at these ancient inventions. Compare these inventions with ones we use today to see if you can find any similarities. Take a tour of the museum or click each invention to find out more info.
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Handout
Other

Ncr: James Ritty, Inventor of the Cash Register, 1879

For Students 9th - 10th
An interesting biography of James Ritty and an account of how he invented the cash register. Included are pictures of his designs and the prototypes.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: American Inventors

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students will learn about 8 American inventors from the 1800's. They will use the internet of encyclopedia disc to research and print pictures and information about these people.
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Handout
Then Again

Then Again: Web Chron: Alexander Graham Bell Invents the Telephone

For Students 9th - 10th
This site describes how Bell started out by seeking to help the deaf and ended up with a telephone. It gives brief information about his family and how he came to invent the telephone.
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Article
CNN

Cnn: Toys to Tackle Climate Change: A Young Inventor Wants to Inspire Kids

For Students Pre-K - 1st
This article profiles a young woman named Ann Makosinski who has been hailed as a 'child prodigy' for her toy inventions that use renewable energy. She earlier invented, for example, a flashlight that is powered by heat from the hand and...
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Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography Inventors

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides information on American inventors Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, Thomas Jefferson, Isaac Singer, Wilbur Wright, Thomas Alva Edison, Elias Howe, and Alexander Graham Bell. It offers pictures from and...
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Article
Arizona State University

Arizona State University: Why Was the Valve Invented?

For Students 9th - 10th
Dr. Ericson holds firm to his beliefs that the valve was not invented as "a mere crook changing device." Dr. Ericson embraces the idea that the "co-inventors of the valve clearly intended to perfect the brass instruments by making them...

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