To make it easier for you to read our books Fostering Inventiveness in Children and Invention Friday Curriculum: Grades 2-5, we have put all hotlinks on the web pages Hotlinks 1 and Hotlinks 2, so you can click as you read. This web page is entitled Hotlinks 2 and contains all links for Invention Friday Curriculum: Grades 2-5.
[Please note that in the few cases that the links are no longer available, we recommend new ones.]
Invention Friday Curriculum: Grades 2-5
Authors’ note
SECTION I: The Nature of Invention
Section I.1: What is Invention?
Lesson I.1a: Windshield wipers and bubblegum
Connecticut Invention Convention
Lesson I.1b: Progression of inventions
How people with disabilities have embraced the Segway
Lesson I.1c: Creating a 3-dimensional invention
no links
Lesson I.1d: What inventions do we use most often?
no links
Lesson I.1e: Who are the inventors behind these inventions?
no links
SECTION I.2: Young inventors
Lesson I.2a: Children can invent
no links
Lesson I.2b: What have young people invented?
Various Internet websites feature stories of inventions by young people:
Items that the students are likely to find:
- Popsicle
- Braille
- Earmuffs
- Television
- Wheat husker
- Water skis
- Walkie talkie
- Alaska flag
- Other inventions by young people
- …and a few more
Section I.3: What makes an invention really good?
Lesson I.3a: Improving and ruining a good invention
no links
Lesson I.3b: Let’s take things apart
Lesson I.3c: Great inventions come from failure
inventions that have been made through mistakes:
Section I Celebration party
no links
Further reading and additional activities
The Smithsonian Institution offers a series of podcast interviews with inventors complete with a Podcast Activity Guide for working with students interested in invention. [Please note that Smithsonian Institution redesigned their website, so these particular links not longer exist. However, we recommend trying some comparable sites by the Smithsonian: Encouraging Innovative Thinking and by Lemelson: Multimedia]
For advanced students … the Lemelson Center’s short podcasts on inventors. [Also no longer available, but we recommend the Lemelson Center’s Invention Stories]
On Dean Kamen and the Segway … a short biography and video of Dean Kamen and his inventions. [Also see Dean Kamen on Ted Talks]
Books about inventions by young people
no links
On Internet websites helpful in clock reassembly
SECTION II: Thinking Outside the Box
Section II.1: Playing with the nature of invention
Supplies
- The way things go by Fischli & Weiss (1987)… 30-minute YouTube podcast [The 30-minute podcast was removed and replaced by a 3-minute podcast]
- Print a few copies of Steve Appel’s bolt people
- One package of self-sticking geometric foam shapes
Lesson II.1a: Invention combinations
Process
2. Encourage the students to brainstorm about combinations … Examples are:
Lesson II.Ib: Creating dinosaur figure combinations
no links
Lesson II.1c: Turning shapes into inventions
Preparation
Also put out piles of self-sticking geometric foam shapes
Lesson II.Id: Creating a nuts and bolts masterpiece
For example, Artist Steve Appel’s nuts and bolts sculptures
Lesson II.1e: Combination of processes
Preparation
Get … The way things go by Fischli & Weiss (1987)… or show … 30-minute YouTube podcast [The 30-minute podcast was removed and replaced by a 3-minute podcast]
Lesson II.1f: Combination of sounds
In Preparation and Process
YouTube podcast: Let’s all play our drum by Kalani Das
Lesson II.Ig: Alternative use contraptions
no links
Lesson II.Ih: Becoming a Rube Goldberg inventor
Please note that Rube Goldberg.com does sponsor an annual competition for young people from middle school on.
Lesson II.Ih.1: Studying Rube Goldberg inventions
Preparation
- Find the book, Rube Goldberg: Inventions. If unavailable through the library, you can print a series of Rube Goldberg cartoons off of the author’s website.
Lesson II.Ih.2: Planning a Rube Goldberg invention
no links
Lesson II.Ih.3: Sketching a Rube Goldberg invention
no links
Lesson II.Ih.4: Building Rube Goldberg inventions
no links
Section II Celebration party
no links
Further reading
On the patent dispute for the laser
Taylor, N. (2000). Book Review: Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War. Salon Magazine online
For more on how to use shapes to create
The Internet has a fair number of books, explanations, and short videos on drawing sketches using basic shapes. For example, see the 1:35 minute video entitled, Using shapes to draw a penguin. [This web page no longer exists, but there is an even better website using shapes to draw at: http://www.how-to-draw-funny-cartoons.com
SECTION III: Learning the Process of Invention
Supplies
- Access to YouTube 9-10 minute “how to cook” videos for two specific dishes—an Indian banana dosai dish for the South Asian Indian holiday Duvali, and a cranberry side dish for Thanksgiving dinner
- Inventor logs – one per young inventor
- We recommend the 100-page Mead composition notebooks with sewn pages, which can be found for less than $2 per item.
- If the composition notebooks are difficult to acquire, then one alternative for young inventors is probably the spiral bound notebook.
Section III.1: Best Practices in keeping an inventors log
BACKGROUND
For patenting inventions, the US Patent law operates according to the “first to invent” rule versus the “first to file” … [Please note that this changed effective March 2013, when the America Invents Act changed the patent law to “first to file.” Please see the NY times article, “Business owners adjusting to overhaul of Patent System.”]
Lesson III.1a Starting your inventor log
Here is a story that you might read to the young inventors about how Mattie Knight
Section III.2: Developing skills in problem-finding
The exercises in this set of lessons are based on techniques that design firms like IDEO …
At some point an inventor spotting the inefficiency in the process and invented a lettuce spinner…
Lesson III.2a: Problem-finding: Spotting big bugs
PREPARATION
- Have the follow two YouTube videos to play:
Lesson III.2b: Problem-finding: Things that bug me
no links
Lesson III.2c: Problem-finding: Interviewing each other for big bugs
no links
Lesson III.2d: Problem-finding: Things that bug adults
no links
Lesson III.2e: Selecting the big bugs
no links
Section III Celebration party
no links
Further reading and additional activities
no links
For more on inventor logs
http://www.tenonline.org/art/bsr/9711.html
http://inventors.about.com/library/howto/htlogbook.htm
US Patent and Trade Office i-CREATM intermediate curriculum
SECTION IV: Brainstorming and prototyping
See “Advance your solution through prototyping” for more information.
Section IV.1: Exploring the big bugs
no links
Lesson IV.1a: Transforming problem-finding into probortunity
One company, Infinite Innovations Ltd, offers a website on brainstorming techniques. In their list of terms, they offer the word “probortunity” to underscore how within a problem is often an excellent opportunity.
Lesson IV.1b: Solution-finding with S-C-A-M-P-E-R
no links
Lesson IV.1c: Imagining, visualizing and sketching solutions
no links
Lesson IV.1d: Preparing a materials list
no links
Section IV Celebration party
no links
Further reading
On brainstorming
US Patent and Trade Office i-CREATM intermediate curriculum
On probortunity
On S-C-A-M-P-E-R
According to the Creative Advantage website, Alex Osborn originally developed the list of S-C-A-M-P-E-R questions, which was later transformed by Bob Eberle into a mnemonic. S-C-A-M-P-E-R is a popular technique. Easily accessible examples are:
On prototyping
Boyle, B. (2007). Ideas aren’t cheap: Promoting the serious business of play: Better brainstorming is the key to innovation. ABC News on line, June 28th.
SECTION V: Building Your Invention
Putting On the Invention Fair
Two ideas that were inspired by the Connecticut Invention Convention to reward the young inventors…
Further reading
For more on putting on science fairs
Lautz, S. (2001). “What are the steps in setting up a successful science fair?”… [The Handbook is no longer available. However, Lautz has created a website: http://sciencefairhandbookriveredge.weebly.com. Also see Diane Weaver Dunne’s 2000 Website: How to Put On a Great Science Fair!]
Teachers might want to anticipate …
- US Patent and Trade Office i-CREATM intermediate curriculum
- US Patent and Trademark Office site
- InventNow.org
- Fun with patents and patent searching by Susan Casey:
Invention Friday Curriculum 