| Inventions/Inventors
An invention is the creation of something that didn't exist before. It
can be a simple gadget, a novel process, a new material, or a complex
machine. It requires creativity and imagination to be an inventor. People
invent for a variety of reasons. Some invent in order to meet basic human
needs. Other invent to fulfill their own creative desires. Many inventions
are inspired by social or economic reasons--by the desire to make life
easier and more comfortable or by the need to make money.
Inventions play a part in our daily lives by providing us with the things
we need to live comfortably and healthily or by saving us precious time
and effort as we carry out our daily tasks.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about inventions
and inventors.
Places To Go | People
To See | Things To Do | Teacher
Resources | Bibliography
Places To Go
The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out
about inventions and inventors.
 Invention
Dimension
Travel to the Invention Dimension and check out their inventor of the
week.
Gallery of
Obscure Patents
Go to the Gallery of Obscure Patents and learn about the Gravity Powered
Shoe Air Conditioner and other creative inventions.
Inventors'
Museum
Visit the Inventors' Museum and meet Mary Kies, the first female American
patent holder.
People To See 
Exploring
Leonardo
Take the opportunity to get to know Leonardo da Vinci. He was a remarkable
man. From this website, you can see sketches and explanations of many
of his inventions.
Slinkies
Meet Richard James. He invented the Slinky in the 1943 by accident. He
was trying to develop a spring that could help keep sensitive ship-board
instruments steady at sea. He knocked some of these experimental springs
off a shelf, and was amused by the way they "walked" down, rather than
just falling.
 Richard
Drew
Meet Richard Drew. He invented scotch tape.
Velcro
Meet George de Mestral. He was the Swiss scientist who invented velcro.
One day he wetnt for a walk in the woods and we he came home, he noticed
that his dog's coat and his pants were covered with cockleburrs. His inventor's
curiosity led him to study the burrs under a microscope, where he discovered
its natural hook-like shape. This was to become the basis for a unique,
two-sided fastener - one side with stiff "hooks" like the burrs and the
other side with the soft "loops" like the fabric of his pants. The word
velcro comes from the Frenc words"velour" and "crochet."
Things To Do
Invention
Dimension
Use this comprehensive website to find information about individual inventors,
play invention trivia, and research the origins of our favorite invention.
 Who
Invented the.....?
You choose the invention and then find out who invented it and when. The
electric hair dryer was invented by Alexandre Godefoy in 1890. The watch
was invented by Peter Henlein in 1509.
Greatest
Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century
Explore this list of the top 20 achievements of the 20th century and learn
how engineering shaped a century and changed the world.
A History
of American Agriculture 1776-1990
Find out how the invention of barbed wire by Joseph Glidden changed the
history of the American west and midwest.
Dental
History
Find out who probably invented the first false teeth.
 Beyond
2000 - National Geographic
Discover some of the possible inventions and advancements of the new millennium.
The
Art and Science of Microencapsulation
Discover how scratch-and-sniff items were invented.
Ultimate
Roller Coaster
Find out about the invention of the earliest roller coasters and how their
design has changed over the years. Have students research the physics
behind roller coaster design.
 The Chinese were the first to invent many things--including ketchup. The
original ketchup was called ke-tsiap by the Chinese. It was a tangy sauce
of pickled fish, shellfish, and spices. In the early 1700s, English sailors
discovered this sauce in Malaya and brought it back to England. However,
ingredients were hard to find--so there were many variations, using flavors
like walnut, anchovy, lemon, and tomatoes! In 1792, a book called The
New Art of Cookery introduced a sauce called tomato catsup, but it was
hard to make. Then in 1876, Henry J. Heinz began mass-producing the catsup
and it gained the popular place that it holds in homes today. Speaking
of popular foods, find out about the invention of peanut butter. Did George
Washingnton Carver or John
Harvey Kellogg invent it? Have students research how other popular
foods were invented--jello? corn flakes? potato
chips? Have students find out about the first carbonated drink. It
was called Moxie and had the combined flavors of cola, root beer, and
licorice.
Robert C.
Williams American Museum of Papermaking
Learn about the invention of paper and its long history.
The
Tale of the Pencil
Find out why most pencils have 6 sides and how they get the graphite in
the center of the pencil.
The History
of Plumbing
Find out how the Minoans were great innovators and were ahead of their
time.
 Making
Nonstick Teflon Stick
If teflon is not supposed to "stick", how do they make it stick to the
pan when the manufacture cookware? Find out.
Telephone
History
Learn about the invention of the telephone.
QWERTY
Keyboard
Discover the origins of the keyboard commonly used today.
Leonardo's
Workshop
Leonardo DaVinci was one of the most famous inventor--ever. This site
is an online adventure where students travel back in time to talk to Leonardo
to solve mysteries.
Teacher Resources
Online activities are a listing of internet
sites with fun, interesting, and educational tasks attached to each one.
(You can learn how to use this WWW
Activities tool created by UEN for Utah educators).
Virtual Field Trips are teacher and student-created
tours of curricular topics. (You can learn how to use this UEN Virtual
Field Trip tool created by UEN for Utah educators).
Lesson Plans/Webquests
- UEN
- Industrial Revolution
- UEN
- The Renaissance
- Clever
Contraptions
In this lesson, students appraise the qualities of successful inventors
and inventions, as well as examine the ways in which the internet supports
inventors, as a springboard for designing and patenting inventions that
would be helpful to them in their daily lives.
Bibliography
- Casey, Susan. Women Invent : Two Centuries of Discoveries That Have
Shaped Our World. Chicago, Ill. : Chicago Review Press, c1997.
- Clements, Gillian. The Picture History of Great Inventors. New York
: A. Knopf, 1993.
- Haskins, James. Outward Dreams : Black Inventors and Their Inventions.
New York : Bantam Books, 1992.
- Hudson, Wade. Five Notable Inventors. New York : Scholastic, c1995.
- Jeffries, Michael. Inventors and Inventions. New York : Smithmark
Publishers, 1992.
- Kozar, Richard. Inventors and Their Discoveries. Philadelphia, Pa.
: Chelsea House Publishers, c1999.
- Lomask, Milton. Invention and Technology. New York : Scribner's ;
Toronto : Maxwell Macmillan Canada ; New York : Maxwell Macmillan International,
c1991.
- McKissack, Pat. African American Inventors. Brookfield, Conn. : Millbrook
Press, c1994.
- Noonan, Jon. Nineteenth-century Inventors. New York : Facts on File,
c1992.
- Sullivan, Otha Richard. African American Inventors. New York : Wiley,
c1998.
- Vare, Ethlie Ann. Women Inventors and Their Discoveries. Minneapolis
: Oliver Press, c1993.
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