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Lesson Activities About Inventors and Inventions
Here are 4 activities that will enhance science lessons involving both historical and newer inventions. Encourage children to use their imaginations and think about their futures and inventions that might make their lives easier or more productive.
1. Divide the
children into groups of three or four per group. Give each group a piece
of poster board cut into strips approximately 8 inches by 12 inches.
Assign each group a time period. Instruct the students to choose an inventor and invention significant to the time period assigned to them.
Tell them to either draw, print, or cut out pictures of the inventor and
the famous invention. They must also include a few paragraphs
describing the inventor and his or her invention. Tell them to include
information explaining why the invention was needed or why it was
important. How has it shaped the world we know today? Include the time
period on the poster strip.
After each group
has completed the assignment. Attach the poster strips in chronological
order to create a detailed, colorfully illustrated timeline of
inventions and their inventors.
2. Instruct
students to choose a famous inventor and create a poster display
describing the inventor and invention. If possible, have the student
include props and/or demonstrate how the invention works. Allow each
student to present his project to the class. Display the projects
somewhere in the school for others to enjoy such as the media center.
3. Develop a
lesson plan around Louis Braille. Louis Braille is responsible for the
“Raised Dot Alphabet” that we know as Braille. Provide students with
sentence strips and paper clips or another object sharp enough to create
holes or raised bumps in the paper, but safe enough for students to
use. After studying about Louis Braille, provide students with samples
of Braille material. Contact a local media center or The American Foundation for the Blind
for materials. Allow the students to explore the materials with their
fingers. Have them close their eyes and run their fingers across the
Braille pages. Then, ask them to create a sentence in Braille using the
materials provided. When their sentences are complete, have them switch
with other students and attempt to read the sentences with their eyes
closed as the run their fingers across the sentences.
4. If possible,
take a field trip to a museum featuring inventors and inventions. After
returning to the classroom and discussing the experiences at the museum,
instruct the children to imagine themselves as inventors and work on a
few inventions of their own! Allow them to share their inventions with
the class. You never know, you might be inspiring a future famous
inventor right there in your classroom!
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