Week: Week 5 (9-11) Topic: little inventors/invention and innovation
Sub topics:
- Most important inventions
- Famous inventors
- The future of inventions
- How current inventions work
Overall Objectives (complete last using blooms taxonomy)
1. Find inventions used in daily life
2. Predict inventions for the future
3. Illustrate how familiar inventions work
4. Compare and contrast life before and after important inventions were created
5. Invent and design an invention that would make your life easier
Where is the trip? Museum of Ideas and Inventions
Activity ideas for trip (e.g. a survey, drawing pictures etc):
Periscope – List 3 things you see when you look through the periscope at the museum
Limitless Society – which of these new inventions do you think will be the most popular? Why?
Reflectionarium – think about which of the inventions applies most to your life. Be creative and think of a way to take a current invention and change it to suit you personally.
Corner of the Absurd – what is the most absurd invention and why? Can you think of your own absurd invention? Watch the following video before trip to understand lazy/absurd inventions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZLiCA_1j-w
Experiment/Investigation ideas (teacher or student based):
Marshmallow Structures: Students create structures from marshmallows and toothpicks to see what types of inventions they can create when limited to only 2 or 3 materials. Competition for most creative, most resourceful, etc. https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/0876286910_28.pdf
Cup and string phones: Use plastic cups and string to demonstrate how a telephone works. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Play-Telephone
Parachute Craft: Kids will make parachutes to test their creativity and resourcefulness. http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/parachute.html. Eggs could be used as determining factor for best parachute or simply whose floats the furthest. Experiments could be tested outside in the garden.
Sneaker Launcher: Kids build a sneaker launcher with a few different materials and test to see whose sneaker can hit the bulls eye. http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/sneakerlauncher.html Discuss results and inventions that use a similar structure.
Project ideas for parent presentations:
Invent a Sport: Students learn about the basic ideas needed to invent a sport. They invent a new sport in groups and demonstrate the rules and structure of the sport to their parents. https://www.teachervision.com/sports/lesson-plan/4803.html
Creative Inventors: Divide class into groups. Each group is given a different every day object (plastic bag, pencil, rubber band, etc. ) OR each group is given the same object. Students must create an invention using the materials given and present the inventions and their functions to the parents. Presentation points should include uses, potential issues, projected life span of the invention.
Activity ideas
Activity
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Resources and Materials
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When was it invented? Students are given a list of inventions and must put them in the correct order according to when they were invented. Once the initial list is corrected, they must guess the year they were invented.
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the internet 1969
light bulb 1906
telephone 1876
refrigerator 1850
braille 1829
thermometer 1593
microscope 1590
printing 1440
paper 100
wheel 3,500 BC
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What Would You Invent? Students are given hypothetical situations and must create an invention to help the person/people who need help. Students can make a diagram of the invention and present a description to the class. Awards could be given for most creative, most realistic, etc.
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Example situations:
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Someone who has a food allergy and needs to find a restaurant.
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Someone who hates studying English but has an English exam.
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Someone who prefers to live on an island but lives in Antarctica.
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Someone who hates cats but their roommate has a cat.
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Someone stuck on an island.
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Inventions that Changed our World: Students can read information to understand what an invention is, open their eyes to inventions all around us, see the top 10 inventions in the world, and look at inventions in the 21st century.
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http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/theme/inventions.htm; this site has mini lessons centered around inventions with LOTS and HOTS questions to test knowledge and really get them speaking!
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If my calculator could talk: discuss the importance of the calculator. Complete this worksheet and find the mystery words to complete the reading by entering numbers into a calculator. Great for teaching words like plus, minus, divided by and times as well!
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https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/1557342326_54_key.pdf
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Edison Timeline: Students complete a timeline specific to Edison’s inventions in this worksheet and then compare answers.
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Computers needed for research! https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/botr/botr_168_16-16.pdf
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Shopping Cart Activity: students read about the history of shopping carts and must invent their own futuristic, high-tech shopping cart as well as complete activities
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https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/060406.pdf
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The Jetsons: Students watch youtube video of the Jetsons and pay special attention to the devices used. Which are new inventions? Which exist now but didn’t exist when the show was created? Are there any they still haven’t been invented? What inventions do you expect to see in the next 5/10/50 years?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8SC6bny1SA
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Reading about Walt Disney: reading about Walt Disney’s inventions and the creation of Disney Land.
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https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/TCR_DWReading_GR4_25_key.pdf
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Video to activate interest! http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/videos/engineering/lightbulbs.html
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Links and other resources:
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General invention activities: https://www.teachervision.com/inventions/teacher-resources/6636.html
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Stories of Famous inventors: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blkidprimerk_6story.htm
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Experiments!: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/
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