Curated OER
What Is Industrial Design?
Students explore the processes used by industrial designers to design useful, safe, and appealing mass-produced objects. They select an object from their home or classroom and redesign it to improve its function, feel, and/or appearance.
Curated OER
Thomas Jefferson
Fourth graders recall the names of the first two presidents of the United States and identify the man who became the third. They compose an epitaph for Thomas Jefferson.
Curated OER
Thank You, Mr. Edison
Students read a letter to Thomas Edison and search for advertisements of the period. They review primary sources and photographs of items made available in the 1920's. They interact on the American Memory Collection website.
Curated OER
Renewing Our Position
Students engage in a lesson in order to analyze the energy needs of the United States and cover the possible future needs depending on the growth of technology. They cover the alternative energy sources and make presentations of the...
Curated OER
Animal Alphabetizing
Second graders observe a stack of folders, papers, notebooks or other materials that need to be organized. They discuss what the word organize means and then practice alphabetizing books according to first names of students as a class....
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Benjamin Franklin: Writer, Inventor, and Founding Father
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.
Other
Lee De Forest, American Inventor: The Complete Lee De Forest
An extensive site covering all aspects of Lee de Forest, his inventions, writings, and personal life. Find drawings and pictures of his audion tube and find out about his legacy, especially in the world of electronics.
Other
African American Inventors Who've Changed Your Life (Pdf) [Pdf]
Integrated lesson plan focusing on the contributions that African American inventors have made to modern society. Includes rationale, day by day plan, links, and other information.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: History Comes Alive: Developing Fluency and Comprehension
Let the power of imagination and inference serve as a "time machine" to bring Benjamin Franklin into the classroom! History and science come to life in a dialogue with Franklin the inventor, developed through instructional activity...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: What Edison Teaches Us About Success
In this interactive instructional activity, students examine Thomas Edison's character traits and how they contributed to his becoming one of the greatest inventors in history. In this interactive instructional activity, students watch...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Android App Development
Students develop an app for an Android device that utilizes its built-in internal sensors, specifically the accelerometer. The goal of this activity is to teach programming design and skills using MIT's App Inventor software (free to...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Android Acceleration Application
This unit includes two sequential lessons. In the first, students create mobile apps that collect data from an Android device's accelerometer and then store that data to a database. This lesson provides practice with MIT's App Inventor...
Other
Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking: Virtual Tour
Take a virtual tour of the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, and learn about the history of writing in ancient civilizations, the invention of paper, the spread to Europe, the impact it had, how paper is made, the evolution of...
National Geographic
National Geographic: American Genius: Perseverance
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...
Science Museum of Minnesota
Science Museum of Minnesota: Students as Designers
This site provides eight projects to use in an elementary classroom to encourage students to become inventors/designers. Invention, prototyping, materials exploration, creative writing, problem-solving, and group presentations are...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Invention of the Week: Ernesto E. Blanco: Stair Climbing Wheelchair
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...
Library of Congress
Loc: Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words
This extensive exhibition offers observations on various facets of Franklin's life, as well as his writing and other accomplishments.
University of Illinois
University of Illinois Extension: Character Education "I Would Invent"
Excellent resource for empowering students to become better learners. This lesson includes encouraging students to develop an interest in science, to promote critical thinking skills, and to enhance reading and writing skills.
New York Times
New York Times: 32 Innovations That Will Change Your Tomorrow
If you don't know that the incandescent light was a failure before it was a success, it's easy to write off some modern energy innovations like solar panels because they haven't hit the big time fast enough. Worse, the fairy-tale view of...
BBC
Bbc: Bitesize History: The Industrial Revolution: Causes
An overview of historians' views of the causes of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and of the inventions, inventors, and industries that propelled it.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Mars Rover App Creation
Based on their experience exploring the Mars rover Curiosity and learning about what engineers must go through to develop a vehicle like Curiosity, students create Android apps that can control LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots, simulating the...
University of St. Andrews (UK)
University of St. Andrews: Sir David Brewster
This biography on inventor David Brewster discusses his accomplishments, including his writings, and his invention of the kaleidoscope and the stereoscope.
PBS
Pbs Kids Design Squad: Supporting Steady Hands
Have you heard of a disease called Parkinson's? When people have this disease they often show signs or symptoms, like shaking uncontrollably. This shaking can make doing simple things harder. Emma Lawton is a person with Parkinson's, and...
Curated OER
Sequoyah, a North Georgia Notable
A general biography of Sequoyah, inventor of the Cherokee writing system, with some quick insight on the creation of the alphabet.