Watch lightbulbs go off in learners' heads as they look at a patent for Thomas Edison's most famous invention. After examining the light bulb patent, young historians speculate on how the invention changed life in the 1880s and its...

Ideas take flight in an exciting activity exploring the Wright Brothers. Scholars view the Wright Brothers' patent for their flying machine and makes educated guesses as to the purpose of the document. Scholars discuss the purpose of...

Commonplace today, the zipper and button construction of blue jeans was a major innovation. Using the patent for the J.W. Davis and Levi Strauss innovation, individuals comb an image of the fly for clues. Afterward, they discuss its...

3D printers, selfie sticks, smart watches. GPS, self-driving cars, YouTube. Imagine life without inventions. Believe it or not, these items were all invented in the last 10 years. Inventions, and the inventors responsible for them,...

While a woman didn't invent the parasol, three women received patents for their improvements to the original design of umbrellas. In the first of a two-part series on inventive women, class members investigate the patent system to...

Barbed wire may have made cattle farming easier, but it brought to an end the free-roaming days of the plains. No longer could Native American groups continue their nomadic lifestyle, and the days of cowboys herding large groups of...

Use this lesson plan to discuss inventions that have changed your class's world and have impacted society. Middle schoolers investigate important inventions of their time and design an invention in a simulated business atmosphere. Modify...

Many historical innovations were created for the common good. Get your students ready for life as a critical thinker with this lesson which defines the differences between innovation and invention. They will conduct Internet research,...

Students review the U.S. patent laws by researching Eli Whitney's petition for a renewal on his cotton gin patent. They examine documents to assess the impact of the cotton gin, role-play the patent hearing and discuss the effects of...

Students study invention steps and design their own invention. In this invention lesson, students discuss inventions and the process of inventing. Studnets write in an inventor's journal and study various types of inventions....

Fifth graders learn the importance of a patent for a new invention. They use the internet to practice typing a classroom patent for a compound machine that their class invented. While on the website, 5th graders choose a month and...

A two-part lesson introduces young historians to the work of famous African American inventors. Groups first research and develop a presentation of an inventor that includes biographical information and information about one of their...

Believe it or not, the plugs and wires on Alexander Graham Bell's patent application for telegraph improvements has a direct connection to devices today. Young historians examine the fine details of the patent application. After they...

This inventions PowerPoint includes age-appropriate text and information about what an invention is, the planning process for developing inventions, and common factors of successful inventions.  Several short biographies with text...

This site contains a variety of worksheets and activities to supplement the on-line problem-based learning activity about how imagination and how inventions are created. TheWright Brothers are used as a case study. The links and...

It's "Green light, go!" with this instructional activity! STEM classes are illuminated with the history of traffic signals and how the engineering design has improved over time. They also learn about patents for new inventions. Finally,...

In this science worksheet, students complete a cloze activity about inventions. They read an article about Isaac Merritt Singer, who invented the sewing machine. The article includes 9 blanks to fill in.

What would change in your daily life due to a power outage? Here, learners explore the inventions brought to us by the one and only, Thomas Edison, and imagine a day without them. Scholars take part in a grand conversation and write a...

Young scholars work in collaborative groups to research the inventive process and create a technological advancement for today.

Learners formulate new applications for simple machines in an original invention that solves a common problem. They brainstorm ideas for a new product using simple machines and communicate a finished project through an oral,...

It's no small wonder that a lightbulb has come to represent a bright idea. The light bulb, the bright idea of Thomas Edison, was just one of his over 1,000 inventions. A teacher's guide introduces young audiences to works of the man who...

Eighth graders study the radio and where it came from.  In this American History lesson plan, 8th graders explore the history of the radio.  Students create an invention that will be useful to them today.

For this reading comprehension worksheet, students read a passage about how Popsicles were invented and patented. Students answer 6 multiple choice questions.

Students research and discuss the history of the telephone, radio, and light bulb. In this invention history lesson, students access Internet sites to explore the inventors and the invention of the telephone, the radio, and the light...