PBS Teachers™
Thematic Teaching
innovation & invention: activity ideas
Activity Ideas | Related Resources
- Inventions in Our Daily Lives
Grade Level: 3-5; 6-8
Subject: Social Studies; Science & Technology; Reading & Language Arts; Health & FitnessAsk students to look at different time periods in history and decide what invention has most impacted their lives and in what ways their lives were impacted. Have them Write a paragraph describing one thing they couldn't live without today. After the class discussion, have students pick a weekend day and give up technology and modern conveniences for even just a few hours. Students should then report to the class on how their lives were different for that short period of time.
Either individually or in groups, have the students come up with something they would invent if they could. What would make their life easier, or help them fulfill a goal they could not otherwise? Have them sketch a prototype, indicating that it doesn't need to be perfect; it just needs to function as they think it would. Then have the students share their ideas and drawings with the class.
Ask the class to really make a prototype of their invention. Have the class collect objects from the classroom and around the school that they could use to build their invention. When they have finished building, again have them present their invention to the class.
Online Resources
PBS.org: Science and Technology:
http://www.pbs.org/science/science_technology.htmlSmithsonian: American Inventors and Inventions:
http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/remember/amerinv.htmZoom Inventors and Inventions:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/indexa.shtmlThe Great Idea Finder:
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/National Inventors Hall of Fame:
http://www.invent.org/PBS Lesson Plans/Activities
Queen Victoria's Empire: Inventions that Changed the World:
http://www.pbs.org/empires/victoria/ed/index.htmlAmerican Experience: "Edison's Miracle of Light":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/edison/tguide/index.htmlBenjamin Franklin: Invention Convention:
http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/teachersguide.htmlBig Apple History: Click!:
http://pbskids.org/bigapplehistory/parentsteachers/arts_lesson5.htmlPrint Resources
Fantastic Feats and Failures by the editors of Yes Mag
More Recommended Resources
- Innovation Hall of Fame
Grade Levels: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies; Reading & Language Arts; Health & Fitness; Science & TechnologyDiscuss the words "pioneer" and "innovator" and have students brainstorm the meaning of each word. Have students name some pioneers in all fields -- science, sports, medicine, politics, etc. -- and ask them select five representatives in different fields that have impacted his/her life.
Instruct students to create a PowerPoint presentation on the innovators and their innovation. The first of the two slides should be a biography of the innovator, which should include a picture of the innovator. The second of the two slides should be a picture of the innovation and a description of the innovation. The second slide should include a paragraph describing how this innovation has impacted the student's life. Upon completing the report and presentation, students will consider what it means to be a pioneer today in the medical field.
Upon completion of this project, students will design an original stamp or coin honoring one of their favorite innovators. These should be put on a bulletin board creating a classroom "Innovation Hall of Fame."
Online Resources
They Made America:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/innovators_hi.htmlNOVA: "To the Moon":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tothemoon/hear.htmlThe Blues: The Songs & the Artists:
http://www.pbs.org/theblues/songsartists/songsbioalpha.htmlChasing the Sun: Air Travel Innovators:
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/Internet Pioneers:
http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/Smithsonian: American Inventors and Inventions:
http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/remember/amerinv.htmZoom Inventors and Inventions:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/indexa.shtmlPrint Resources
The Man behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley by Leslie Berlin
More Recommended Resources
Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies -- and What It Means to Be Human by Joel Garreau
- Innovation on Trial
Grade Level: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies; Science & Technology; Health & Fitness; The ArtsThe men and women who are inventors and innovators have changed American society for the better -- but not all innovations have a uniformly positive impact. Brainstorm with your class about the pros and cons of inventions and innovations. For example, what is the good and bad associated with the Internet? Television? Fast food? What do students believe innovators are motivated by? Is it the betterment of society? Money, Or both?
Divide your class into six groups and have each select an invention or innovation to "put on trial," Each group should further subdivide into equal numbers of students who will argue as two groups, the Pros and the Cons. After researching the impact of their innovation, each group of students should conduct a trial in front of the entire class. First, the Pros will give a presentation about the specific ways in which their innovation has benefitted society. How has it improved our lives as Americans? Then the Cons will explain how society has been hurt by the innovation. Both sides should try and imagine life without the particular innovation and the ways in which society might be better or worse. At the end of each debate, the class as a whole should vote as to whether the innovation in question was "worth it." In making that assessment, what standards should be used?
Online Resources
They Made America:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/innovators_hi.htmlAmerican Experience: Technology:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/archives_themes_technology.htmlOnline NewsHour: Stem Cell Debate:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/stemcells.htmlEvolution: Babies by Design:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/humans/babies/Human Genome Project Information: Ethical, Social and Legal:
More Recommended Resources
http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/elsi/elsi.html
Published: December 2005