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Website
Smithsonian Institution

Lemelson Center: Innovative Lives

For Students 9th - 10th
At this site from the Smithsonian Institute you can explore the world of invention by learning about inventors and their inventions. Searchable by name or subject, it is a great way for students to learn about science and technology.
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Website
Other

Canal Kids: Grandes Ingenerates (Big Inventions)

For Students Pre-K - 1st
An exploration of four defining scientific inventions/discoveries of recent history: plastic, laser technology, electricity, and bar codes. The history and development of these technologies, along with examples of their application and...
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Interactive
Other

Time Toast: Famous Inventions

For Students 9th - 10th
An interactive timeline featuring inventions discovered between the late nineteenth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century.
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PPT
Google Cultural Institute

Google Cultural Institute: Favorite Technologies of the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Photographic essay recalls some of the best technological advances of the 1950s in cooking, personal hygiene, radio, laundry, television, transportation, and more.
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Unit Plan
George Eastman Museum

Eastmanhouse: Inventors in Imaging Technologies

For Students 9th - 10th
See how George Eastman, Thomas Edison, and Wilhelm Roentgen impacted American film history and had inventions that were interrelated.
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: 7 Groundbreaking Inventions by Latino Innovators

For Students 9th - 10th
From entertainment devices to lifesaving medical technologies, Latino inventors have advanced humankind through their contributions. Latino inventors have created revolutionary devices that have transformed our everyday world - and often...
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Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Discovery Education: Inventors and Inventions 2: Air and Space

For Teachers K - 1st
After discussing important flying inventions, students explore technological design by making paper airplanes.
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Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Is There a Limit to Technological Progress?

For Students 9th - 10th
Many generations have felt they've reached the pinnacle of technological advancement. Yet, if you look back 100 years, the technologies we take for granted today would seem like impossible magic. So- will there be a point where we reach...
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Handout
Other

Children's British History Encyclopedia: Victorian Discoveries and Inventions

For Students 4th - 7th
An organized timeline featuring many important inventions and discoveries made in Britain during the Victorian period.
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: 6 Key Inventions by Thomas Edison

For Students 9th - 10th
Edison's genius was improving on others' technologies and making them more practical for the general public. Thomas Edison applied for his first patent in 1868, when he was just 21 years old. The famous inventor's first brainchild was...
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Unknown Type
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: Technological Innovation

For Students 9th - 10th
A quick comprehension check of technological innovation in the Gilded Age.
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Article
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Invention of the Week: Patricia Bath: Laserphaco Probe

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about Dr. Patricia Bath, an opthalmologic surgeon, credited with the invention of the Laserphaco Probe, a surgical device used in the removal of cataracts. Learn about Bath's early education, her studies of the blindness rates at...
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Article
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Invention of the Week: Ernesto E. Blanco: Stair Climbing Wheelchair

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about MIT teacher and practitioner Ernesto Blanco, inventor of the stair-climbing wheelchair. This article provides details on the inventor's life, his career outside of MIT, and his inventions that continue to help the handicapped...
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Article
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Invention of the Week: Bessie Blount: Self Feeding Device for Amputees

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Bessie Blount's contribution to medicine--her work as a physical therapist and her invention of a feeding device for amputees.
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Article
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Invention of the Week: William D. Coolidge: The X Ray Tube

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about William D. Coolidge, his education, work, and his invention--the X-Ray Tube--as well as other medical innovations he is credited with. Learn how x-rays work and how they have contributed to the medical world.
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Article
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Invention of the Week: Albert Macovski: Medical Imaging Systems

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the work done by Albert Macovski, which included the development of digital radiography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and learn how these inventions impact the medical world.
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Website
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Inventions

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Investigate past and present inventions, and use the tape player as an example to explore issues inventors must deal with, including patents, theft and technological obsolescence. Use the scientific method to choose, design and develop...
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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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Article
CNN

Cnn: Space Age Inventions You Probably Use (2007)

For Students 9th - 10th
Some common items that help save lives every day or make lives a little easier are compliments of NASA technologies. This article features ten of these developments
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Handout
Michigan Technological University

Michigan Technological University: Sir William Crookes

For Students 9th - 10th
A biography of English experimentalist, William Crookes, who invented the radiometer.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Forgotten Inventors

For Students 9th - 10th
This illustrated feature from the American Experience Web site highlights the frequently forgotten inventors of several useful, innovative technologies.
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Website
Canada Science and Technology Museum

Canada Science and Technology Museum: Domestic Technology

For Students 9th - 10th
Has technology helped to shape our society? This is not necessarily a connection that comes to mind when we think about inventions and scientific advances. Learn about the history of domestic technology and its effects on the evolution...
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Handout
Other

Hampshire Schools: Victorian Inventions

For Students 4th - 7th
Find out about some important inventions from the Industrialized Victorian Era.
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Handout
Project Britain

Primary Homework Help: The Victorians: Inventions

For Students 4th - 7th
Find out about several major developments that made travel, communications, and trade easier for many people during the Victorian period.