Interactive
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: Technology Timeline 1750 1990

For Students 3rd - 8th
Did you ever wonder who invented something, and when it was invented? Go to this interactive timeline that highlights inventors/inventions from 1750-1990. Click on the topic to read a brief paragraph about that invention.
Handout
Schools of California Online Resources for Education

Score H/ss: Booker T. Washington

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Biography of Booker T. Washington. Includes photographs and illustrations.
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.
Handout
Other

Black Inventors: Lloyd Hall

For Students 3rd - 8th
Lloyd Hall was a pioneer in the field of food chemistry, preservation, and sterilization.
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.
Handout
Other

Black Inventors Online Museum: Charles Drew

For Students 3rd - 8th
BlackInventors.com profiles Charles Drew, teacher, doctor, and the researcher who developed the blood plasma bank.
Handout
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Inventor of the Week: Granville T. Woods: The Multiplex Telegraph

For Students 9th - 10th
A description of Granville Woods' successful invention, the multiplex telegraph, which greatly improved railroad safety. From the Lemelson-MIT Project.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Edison After Forty

For Students 9th - 10th
This online exhibition traces Edison's life, both personal and professional after he reached forty. Historic, primary materials are included.
Website
PBS

Pbs: They Made America

For Students 9th - 10th
Companion site to the four-part series on looking at America through inventors. Focuses on inventors from the early days of the country to modern day. From Robert Fulton and Samuel Colt, to Ted Turner and Russell Simmons, this site...
Handout
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: Biographies

For Students 9th - 10th
A fantastic resource where you can find biographies of historical figures. You can search by the person's name or by topics, such as Presidents, United States Leaders, Scientists, Inventors, Humanitarians, Explorers and Pioneers,...
Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: Mathematician and Astronomer Benjamin Banneker

For Students 3rd - 8th
Learn about the life and accomplishments of Benjamin Banneker, an African American mathematician and scientist. Also contains portraits and a map of New York, which can be enlarged for a closer view.
Lesson Plan
National Geographic

National Geographic: American Genius: Perseverance

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students investigate the importance of failure to the process of innovation by investigating several items that were invented by accident. They share one "failure to success" story by creating a 3-panel comic strip poster, and then write...
Graphic
Curated OER

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...
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...
Handout
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Inventor of the Week: Jonas Salk

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Jonas Salk and the development of the polio vaccine. This article from the MIT Invention Dimension includes several links to further information on the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and the Salk Institute for...
Activity
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Things to Do at Home

For Students 9th - 10th
Families can come together through games designed to make history something fun and integral to family life. Build a sod house like prairie settlers did in the 1800s. Go back in time to visit five families that lived in the same house...
Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: The Telephone

For Students 9th - 10th
The home page to the PBS feature film on the invention of the telephone. The People and Events section has biographies and commentary on the invention of the telephone and its subsequent success. Be sure to click on Gallery for pictures...
Website
The Field Museum

Field Museum: George Washington Carver

For Students 9th - 10th
The online companion to past Field Museum exhibit on the life and scientific contributions of George Washington Carver, this resource includes a biography, photo gallery, an overview of Carter's goal-oriented research, an educator's...
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.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Wizard of Menlo Park

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides information about the famous American inventor, Thomas Edison. Find out about his childhood, some of his famous inventions, and even some of his mistakes.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Mc Cormick Reaper

For Students 9th - 10th
Read interesting facts about Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the mechanical horse-drawn reaper 1n 1831.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Benjamin Franklin: Writer, Inventor, and Founding Father

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Through two primary source activities and a short video, understand how Franklin embodied Enlightenment values and used his talent in writing and printing to have his opinions heard and help shape the world.
Handout
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Inventor of the Week: Robert Fulton

For Students 3rd - 8th
This website contains biographical information about Robert Fulton, including the events leading up to his design of the first successful steamboat.
Handout
Energy for Sustainable Development

Esd Bulgaria: Kids & Energy: Energy Pioneers: Lee De Forest

For Students 9th - 10th
A profile of Lee de Forest who lived from 1873 to 1961. He was one of the most important inventors of radio and electronic technology, whose inventions touch everyday life.

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