the Business of Good Ideas

Inspire innovation in young learners through a study of important inventions throughout history. The four-lesson unit includes four separate lessons with activities ranging from researching and describing the history of noteworthy...

Learners, assessing a variety of sources, explore the growth of inventions that were brought about by the Industrial Revolution. They analyze labor practices and philosophies within the history of the United States. A timeline is set in...

Get an idea of what your pupils already know by using one or more of these ideas to stage informal pre-assessments in any class. The resource provides three different strategies and describes how to implement each one.

How did the stock market crash in 1929 when everything seemed to be going so well in the 1920s? Analyze the economic choices of the times that caused the crash and the Great Depressions occur. Hard hitting economics and the policies of...

The big idea in the fourth of a series of seven videos about intellectual property is that patents are for things while copyright for ideas. The narrator explains the five requirements that inventors address in order to be granted a patent.

Inventions are the focus of this interesting lesson. Pieces of paper are drawn from a hat; each one has the name of a common invention. Individuals research the origin and history of the invention, then present the invention to the class...

Students identify and solve problems as they modify the design of an everyday household item. They gather and analyze information and work in collaborative teams to create a design plan for a new product.

Upper graders explore the new industrial revolution and how the tech boom in recent years is similar and different to the Industrial Revolution of the past. They watch a video, explore web sites, and discuss what they see. They work...

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...

From play pumps that provide clean water to shoes made from trash, innovators change the world one invention at a time. After researching various inventions, young entrepreneurs develop their own. Extension opportunities include prompts...