Technology - LibrarySparks

INVENTION
CONVENTION
by | Diane Findlay
Grades
4–5
Webquest
Introduction
You, an inventor? Why not?
We use inventions every
day, from gadgets to games,
from organizing systems
to orchestra instruments.
And we’ve probably all
solved problems in inventive
ways. In this webquest,
you’ll learn about inventors
and inventions of the past.
You’ll choose a problem
that needs solving, tap your
inner inventor, and figure
out a solution.You might
improve on something that
already exists or create
something original and new.
You’ll combine small group
work with individual challenges. Finally, you’ll work with your whole class to appreciate and
evaluate each other’s work at an Invention Convention. Get your thinking cap out and your
creative juices flowing!
Task
As a class, you’ll explore the idea of solving practical problems by inventing gadgets or
systems based on scientific knowledge. Your Convention Coordinator (teacher) will
assign you to a creative team. Your team will research one of the following categories of
inventions by completing an online worksheet:
• Household Tools and Gadgets
• Musical Instruments
• Codes and Languages
• Toys and Games
March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • Webquest
Next, each of you will choose a problem that is related to
your team’s category, and develop an invention to solve it.
Your team will meet to help each other improve your
inventions. Finally, each team will display its work as part of
a classroom Invention Convention. As inventors, you will evaluate
your peers’ work and have a say in choosing the best individual inventions
and best team effort.
Process
1. Watch Be An Inventor video together as a class: http://libraries.risd.org/bowlib/special/
invention.htm.
2. Get your team assignment.
3. Gather your supplies—paper and pencil for taking notes and remembering things
you need to share with your team—and claim a computer workstation near your
teammates.
4. Get your mind in an inventive mode by taking the quiz at www.inventivekids.com.
Click on the “Are You Inventive?” box. Write your score on your own note paper, to
hand in with your other paperwork at the end of the webquest.
5. Click on your team’s invention category on page 3, and complete the research
worksheet. Take extra notes to help you remember important details. Not all websites
you’ll visit are written for kids, so you might need a dictionary. Read the text
around the web links so you know exactly what you’re looking for on each
site. Print your worksheet when you’re done.
6. Meet with your teammates. Compare worksheets and share your 4–6 step invention
processes with each other. Brainstorm as a group about problems you might solve in
your invention category. Each team member will choose 1–2 problems that interest
you. Try not to overlap; it’s better if each person works on a different problem.
7. As homework, zero in on a problem to solve. Work through your invention process
and come up with your invention. It might help to gather some props and
materials and let your hands and eyes explore them to suggest ideas.
Create a sketch and notes to present to your team.
8. Meet again with your team to share your invention ideas so far. Suggest improvements
for each other’s ideas. Collect a copy of the Cover Sheet form to display with your
model at the Invention Convention.
9. At home, make adjustments and create a model of your invention; complete the
Cover Sheet to explain your model.
10. Place your model and Cover Sheet in its assigned display area at your Invention
Convention with the other inventions in your category.
11. Explore the work of your fellow inventors. Evaluate each invention by placing a tally
mark below a number between 1 and 4 on the Voting form you’ll find near it. Your
Convention Coordinator will compile the scores and announce the top scores in each
category, as well as the team with the highest average scores.
• LibrarySparks • March 2011 Web Resources
Click on your assigned team below to access your research worksheet.
March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • You use dozens of inventions at home every day. A ringing alarm clock. Toast in the toaster, shoes with Velcro, the
weather forecast on the radio or television. The dryer full of soccer uniforms, games on the computer, snacks from the
refrigerator, late night reading thanks to your bedside lamp . . . You get the idea. Check out these websites to learn
more about the inventions that make life at home easier, and prepare to invent your own household gadget. Read
ALL of the text below so you know exactly what you’re looking for on each site.
• Take a look at some of the hundreds of household gadgets we use and take for granted every day. First, look at
some older inventions that paved the way for more modern versions we use today: www.womansday.com/Articles/
Shelter/A-Look-Back-15-Vintage-Household-Ads.html, www.ideafinder.com/history/category/homeitems.htm. Now
for some newer gadgets: www.kitchendaily.com/2010/01/13/top-10-gadgets-for-kids. At this next site, quickly look
at the list and count about how many of the items you have in your home: http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/
Kids/Inventions/Inventors. Write the estimated number here. ___________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
• Think of a household invention in each of these categories:
- Kitchen gadget
- Simple tool for fixing things or communicating with family
- Bathroom gadget
- Clothing innovation
Go to www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/1_1_search.asp. Click on “By Invention,” and search for your kitchen gadget
alphabetically, or try www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia.html. At the FactMonster site, enter the kitchen gadget
you chose in the Search Terms box and click on the “encyclopedia” entry. If your item doesn’t appear on either site,
choose a different invention that does. Note dates (approximate or exact) and places important in the history of
its development. Do the same for each of the other categories. On your note paper, combine the information into
a timeline showing the development of the four household items you researched. After you print your worksheet,
attach your handwritten timeline to it.
• Read about a household gadget invented by a young person, Alexia Abernathy, at www.nmoe.org/gallery/i96.htm.
Click on both the “See photo and invention details” and the “See comic strip of inventor” links.
In what year did Alexia invent this gadget?__________________________________________________________
What company manufactured her invention? ________________________________________________________
What inspired her to create this product?___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • • To warm up your problem-solving muscles, spend some time playing the Tinker Ball game at http://invention.
smithsonian.org/centerpieces/iap/playhouse_tinker.html. Did you get the ball into the cup? Draw on your note
paper the arrangement of items that works best for you. Attach this to your printed worksheet along with your
timeline from the earlier step.
• For more information about interesting items invented by kids, watch these video clips: http://ellen.warnerbros.
com/2008/12/amazing_kid_inventors_part_one.php, http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2009/03/you_must_see_this_
incredible_k.php. Which invention do you like best? Name it and describe what it does.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
• Find a quotation about inventors or inventing that you like at this site: www.kidinventorsday.com/quotes.htm.
Copy it below, with the name of the person who said it. Then explain what it means, in your own words.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
• What process do inventors use to solve problems and create new products or systems? How do you get from
wanting to invent something to a finished invention? Visit these sites: http://scifiles.larc.nasa.gov/text/kids/Research_
Rack/tools/invention_process.html, www.just-think-inc.com/columbus/sz_started.html, http://sparklab.si.edu/
downloads/sparklab-inventors-ntbk.pdf (pp. 21–23 of notebook). Based on what you learn, develop your own 4–6
step process. Write it below. (NOTE: Don’t worry about the patenting or marketing parts of the process.)
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March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • Just about everyone likes music; making music has been part of every culture throughout history. Whether your
taste is for rock, country, rap, classical, folk, or ballads, musical instruments are part of the package. Check out these
websites to learn about different kinds of instruments, musical inventions of the past, and how you can add your own
creation to the musical mix. Read ALL of the text below so you know exactly what you’re looking for on
each site.
• Visit www.sfskids.org/templates/instorchframe.asp?pageid=3. Read through the four families of instruments and
listen to examples from each. Name each family here, give an example of an instrument in that family, and describe
how each family is played. _ _____________________________________________________________________
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• Go to www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia.html. In the Search Terms box, enter the name of an instrument from
the brass family and click on the “encyclopedia” entry at the top of the list of results. Note dates (approximate or
exact) and places important to the history of its development. Do the same for an instrument in each of the other
three families. On your note paper, combine the information into a timeline showing the development of the four
instruments you researched. After you print your worksheet, attach your handwritten timeline to it.
• Read about an instrument invented by an elementary school student, Thomas, and listen to the sound it makes, at
www.musicinventions.org/winn10/index.html.
What instrument family does the Zebra Flute belong to?_______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
• Spend some time in the virtual instrument lab at www.nyphilkids.org/lab/content.html. Move the mouse over
different items and click on instruments to read about them and hear their sounds. Some have instructions for
making them, which might give you ideas for your own instrument. Click on the boy sitting at the table and
experiment with creating an instrument from the objects available. Give your instrument a name and print your
work. Attach it to your printed worksheet, along with your timeline. Write here what instrument family it belongs
to and describe how you think it might sound. ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • • For more ideas of interesting instruments invented by kids, check out this site: www.musicinventions.org/winn10/
index.html. Name your favorite of the instruments you find here, along with the name of the student who invented
it and the instrument family it belongs to.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
• Find a quotation about inventors or inventing that you like at this site: www.kidinventorsday.com/quotes.htm.
Copy it below, with the name of the person who said it. Then explain what it means, in your own words.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
• What process do inventors use to solve problems and create new products or systems? How do you get from
wanting to invent something to a finished invention? Visit these sites: http://scifiles.larc.nasa.gov/text/kids/Research_
Rack/tools/invention_process.html, www.just-think-inc.com/columbus/sz_started.html, http://sparklab.si.edu/
downloads/sparklab-inventors-ntbk.pdf (pp. 21–23 of notebook). Based on what you learn, develop your own 4–6
step process. Write it below. (NOTE: Don’t worry about the patenting or marketing parts of the process.)
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • Are languages inventions? Most spoken languages developed so slowly and naturally that it’s hard to think of them
as inventions. But there are many codes and languages that were developed by inventors to meet specific needs.
Maybe you like to communicate with friends using American Sign Language or a secret code of some kind. If so,
you are using inventions. Think of Morse code, created to send messages over telegraph wires. Think of Semaphore,
which uses colored flags to send visual messages between ships at sea. How about Esperanto, a man-made language
invented to be a universal language so people could speak to anyone in the world? The Cherokee Indians didn’t have
their language in written form until Sequoyah invented it. Visit the websites below to learn more about invented
codes and languages, and get ready to make one of your own. Read ALL of the text below so you know
exactly what you’re looking for on each site.
• Read about codes and ciphers at www.cerias.purdue.edu/education/k-12/teaching_resources/lessons_presentations/
cryptology.html (the first two sections) and www.thunk.com/learn.html.
Why do people use codes and ciphers?
________________________________________________________________________________
What does a cryptologist do?
________________________________________________________________________________
Who might use a secret code?
________________________________________________________________________________
Go to www.thunk.com/index.cgi. Write a short message and have the scrambler encode it for you. Print the
scrambled message; then write the unscrambled message below it. Attach it to your completed worksheet before
you hand it in.
• Some languages use visual signals based on words or letters to send messages. Visit these sites and answer the
questions below: www.anbg.gov.au/flags/semaphore.html, http://inter.scoutnet.org/semaphore, www.battleshipnc.
com/kids/games/morse/index.php, http://pbskids.org/arthur/print/signdesign, www.lessontutor.com/eesASLsimple.
html
Which of these languages can be used with sound signals as well as visual signals?
________________________________________________________________________________
Which uses visual symbols for whole words, as well as spelling letter by letter?
________________________________________________________________________________
Use the translator on either the Semaphore site or the Morse code site to see your name in that language. Print the
page. After you print your completed worksheet, attach your translated name to it. March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • • What is Esperanto? Who invented it, and why? www.pitara.com/discover/5wh/online.asp?story=89
________________________________________________________________________________
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• Learn about a special language invented by a boy named Louis Braille at www.afb.org/braillebug/louis_braille_bio.
asp. Look at a portrait of Braille as an adult at www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/braille/lb-portrait.html.
What country did Louis live in? __________________________________________________________________
How did he become blind? ______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
What was the code Louis based his system on called? _________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
How old was Louis when he published the first book in Braille? _________________________________________
Are there Braille books in your library? If so, get one and touch the code with your fingers.
• Learn about different kinds of codes and languages at www.scouting.org.za/codes. Click on the codes listed at the
left side of the page to see how they work. Write the name of your school below, in one of the codes, and tell which
code type it is. If you want to use a code based on symbols you can’t type, hand write your school name on your
note paper and hand it in with your printed worksheet. _______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
• Find a quotation about inventors or inventing that you like at this site: www.kidinventorsday.com/quotes.htm.
Copy it below, with the name of the person who said it. Then explain what it means, in your own words.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • • What process do inventors use to solve problems and create new products or systems? How do you get from
wanting to invent something to a finished invention? Visit these sites: http://scifiles.larc.nasa.gov/text/kids/Research_
Rack/tools/invention_process.html, www.just-think-inc.com/columbus/sz_started.html, http://sparklab.si.edu/
downloads/sparklab-inventors-ntbk.pdf (pp. 21–23 of notebook). Based on what you learn, develop your own 4–6
step process. Write it below. (NOTE: Don’t worry about the patenting or marketing parts of the process.)
___________________________________________________________________________________
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March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • 10
What’s your favorite toy or game? Did you ever stop to wonder how it came to be? Someone invented it! Whether
it’s a doll or action figure, a board game or video game, building blocks or an outside sport, someone saw a need and
figured out just the right combination of materials, design, rules, or whatever else was needed to make you love it.
Visit these websites to learn about inventing different kinds of toys and games, and start thinking about what you’ll
invent to add to the fun. Read ALL of the text below so you know exactly what you’re looking for on
each site.
• What kinds of games are there? Get an idea of the possibilities by visit this site: www.chitag.com/dl/YIC_10_Packet.
pdf. Scroll down to page 6 and look at the categories of games in the right-hand column. List four kinds of games
you enjoy, from that column. Then visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Toys_by_type and do the same for
categories of toys.______________________________________________________________________________
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• Visit www.ehow.co.uk/list_6302420_ideas-kids_-inventions-patents.html and read the section on Games. Then
check out this site: http://blog.scholastic.com/ink_splot_26/2009/11/how-problems-can-lead-to-awesomeinventions.html. From the suggestions there, write down four ideas for games or toys you could invent.
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• Read about a toy invented by a young person, Austin Meggitt, at http://nmoe.org/gallery/i99.htm. Click on both the
“See photo and invention details” and the “See comic strip of inventor” links.
How old was Austin when he invented the Battie Caddy? ______________________________________________
What TV channels featured his invention? __________________________________________________________
What inspired him to create this product? __________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • 11
• For more ideas of interesting toys and games and how they were invented, visit www.ideafinder.com/history/
category/toys.htm and click on three or four inventions. Choose one, and in the space provide below, briefly write
what it is, who invented it, when, and one interesting fact about its history.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
• Find a quotation about inventors or inventing that you like at this site: www.kidinventorsday.com/quotes.htm.
Copy it below, with the name of the person who said it. Then explain what it means, in your own words.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
• What process do inventors use to solve problems and create new products or systems? How do you get from
wanting to invent something to a finished invention? Visit these sites: http://scifiles.larc.nasa.gov/text/kids/Research_
Rack/tools/invention_process.html, www.just-think-inc.com/columbus/sz_started.html, http://sparklab.si.edu/
downloads/sparklab-inventors-ntbk.pdf (pp. 21–23 of notebook). Based on what you learn, develop your own 4–6
step process. Write it below. (NOTE: Don’t worry about the patenting or marketing parts of the process.)
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • 12
Inventor’s Name: _ ______________________________________________________________________________
Invention Category: _____________________________________________________________________________
Invention’s Name: _ _____________________________________________________________________________
What problem or challenge does your invention solve?
___________________________________________________________________________________
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What does it do?
___________________________________________________________________________________
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How does it work? How do you use it?
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What other inventions inspired you or helped you develop your invention? Name them and, if possible, name the inventors who created them and tell when they were invented.
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March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • 13
Webquest
Conclusion
Congratulations! You’re officially an inventor. Now that you’ve experienced the creative process, the sky’s the limit! Who knows what you’ll think up to make life easier for yourself and
others? Go for it!
Here are some books about inventions and inventors that you might enjoy.
Fiction
• Back in Time with Thomas Edison: Qwerty Stevens Adventures by Dan Gutman.
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2007.
• Centerburg Tales by Robert McCloskey. Puffin, 1977.
• The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman. Simon & Schuster, 2006.
• Night of the New Magicians by Mary Pope Osborne. Random House Books
for Young Readers, 2007.
• The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis.
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books, 2009.
• The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill. Sandpiper, 2006.
Nonfiction
• 10 Inventors Who Changed the World by Clive Gifford. Kingfisher, 2009.
• Build a Better Mousetrap: Make Classic Inventions, Discover Your Problem-Solving
Genius, and Take the Inventor’s Challenge by Ruth Kassinger. Wiley, 2002.
• Incredible Inventions: Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Greenwillow
Books, 2009.
• The Kids’ Invention Book by Arlene Erlbach. Lerner Publications, 1999.
• Mistakes that Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones. Doubleday, 1994.
• So You Want to Be an Inventor? by Judith S. George, illustrated by David
Small. Puffin Books, 2005.
Nonprint
• Bill Nye the Science Guy: Inventions directed by Michael Gross and Darrell
Suto. Disney Educational Productions, 2004 (Interactive DVD).
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs directed by Phil Lord and
Christopher Miller. Sony Pictures, 2010 (Feature Film DVD).
14 • LibrarySparks • March 2011 Web Resources
JUDGE THIS INVENTION ON THE CRITERIA BELOW.
PLACE A TALLY MARK NEXT TO
THE APPROPRIATE NUMBER.
(#1 means the least of that quality and #4 the most)
Useful
LEAST USEFUL <----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->MOST USEFUL
1
2
3
4
Easy to Use
HARD TO USE <--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->EASY TO USE
1
2
3
4
Creative
LEAST CREATIVE <---------------------------------------------------------------------------------->MOST CREATIVE
1
2
3
4
Marketable (I would buy this)
LEAST marketable <---------------------------------------------------------------------->MOST marketable
1
2
3
4
March 2011 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • 15
Your grade will be based on your written work (online research worksheet, attachments, and Invention
Cover Sheet), teamwork, and your invention.
Excellent
4
Good
3
Online
research—
Worksheet
and
attachments
Worksheet complete
and very accurate, all
attachments present,
shows excellent effort
and interest
Worksheet complete
and accurate, all
attachments present,
shows good effort and
interest
Worksheet complete
and mostly accurate,
most attachments
present, shows some
effort and interest
Worksheet
incomplete
or inaccurate,
attachments missing,
shows little effort or
interest
Teamwork
Frequently shares
useful ideas in a very
encouraging manner,
listens courteously
Sometimes shares
useful ideas in an
encouraging manner,
listens courteously
Occasionally shares
ideas in a fairly
positive manner,
listens fairly
courteously
Rarely shares useful
ideas, shows little
positive attitude or
courtesy
Invention
Invention fulfills
purpose very
effectively and
creatively
Invention fulfills
purpose effectively
and creatively
Invention fulfills
purpose somewhat
effectively, shows
some original
thinking
Invention does not
fulfill purpose, shows
little original thinking
Invention
Covert Sheet
Cover Sheet
complete, very clearly
explains invention,
shows excellent effort
and interest
Cover Sheet
complete, clearly
explains invention,
shows good effort and
interest
Cover Sheet mostly
complete, explains
invention farily
clearly, shows some
effort and interest
Cover Sheet
incomplete, does not
explain invention
clearly, shows little
effort or interest
Invention—
Classmate
evaluation
Average classmate
scores 3.5 or above
Average classmate
scores 2.5–3.5
Average classmate
scores 1.5–2.5
Average classmate
scores below 1.5
16 • LibrarySparks • March 2011 Web Resources
Acceptable
2
Incomplete
1