Inventors and Inventions

Introduction

Have you ever looked around you and thought about all the inventions you use on a daily basis?  Who invented the fork?  How did the pencil come to be a pencil?  What about the microwave oven?

Through this webquest, you will explore inventors and their inventions.  Throughout the process, you get to learn about many inventors and their inventions that make our life easier.  

We live of life of convenience.  All of these conveniences would not have been possible without the creative inventors that came before us.

 

Let's explore the world of inventors and their inventions!!!!

 

                Use these websites for your research!

 

Task

In this webquest, you will search for information on inventors and their inventions!  

The object of the webquest can be summed up in three statements:

  • Who invented what?  When??  I want you to find out when things were invented, who invented them, and see how important inventions were often time developed long, long ago.  These inventions have quite possibly evolved over time.
  • Why do we need it? I want you to think about inventions that are important to you.  How do inventions affect your everyday life? What would life be like without these important inventions? How do these inventions improve your life?
  • What is it good for?  I want you to think about WHY things were invented and be able to tell what problem was solved by certain "major" inventions.

 

To wrap things up, you will take all of the information you discovered through your research and bring it together in a presentation!  Your presentation will need to have a central THEME.

Have fun and explore all the marvelous inventions!!!!

                                          

Image result for inventions clipart

 

Process

OK!  Let's get started!!  

You are going to use the links provided and locate information about inventions and their inventors. REMEMBER: you need to find the who, when, what, and why for each invention.  Don't forget, your presentation must have a theme!  You are going to have to be creative and think about how the inventions you have decided to present on are related to each other!!!

Here are the types of inventions you will need to research.  Remember as you are researching, that your final presentation should be centered around a theme.

Step One: Do the Research!

  • 2 things invented by women
  • 2 things invented in the 20th century
  • 2 games or toys
  • 2 food related inventions
  • 2 everyday items (Think about items you have around your house!

Now, think about your theme.  Select a category from below and find 3 inventions from that category that will go along with your theme.

  • communication
  • transportation
  • technology
  • construction
  • manufacturing
  • recreation

THAT'S A TOTAL OF 13 INVENTIONS!

You will record all 13 inventions into your journals, but your presentation will only need to showcase 7-10 of the inventions you researched.  The inventions you add to your presentation to  all follow a common theme. Which means all the inventions you present on should have something in common.

Step 2: Put it all together!

Now that you have done all the research, lets work on putting it all together in a final presentation!  You can use a powerpoint or google slides to bring your presentation to life. 

Your presentation is required to have:

  • A Title Slide- This should include your name and the theme of the inventions you researched.
  • One Slide per Invention- You should include the who, what, when, and why on each slide. Each slide should also include at least one picture of the inventor and invention. Be sure to include how this invention is important to you, why we need it, and how it ties into your central theme.
  • Timeline-  Your last slide should summarize the inventions you researched in a timeline.
Evaluation
Inventors and Inventions Rubric
  1 2 3
Research and Notes I have 0-9 completed notes in my journal I have 10-13 completed notes in my journal. I have all 14 inventions researched.  My notes are complete and filled out in my journal
Presentation My presentation is missing most of the required elements.  It could have included more items and been more detailed. I have included most of the required elements, but I have a few things missing.

I have included everything required in my presentation.  I have:

  • A title slide with the theme
  • 7 invention slides with pictures and great details. My details include how the inventions are related to my theme.
  • I have summarized my research by including a timeline
Use of Time I was off task a lot.  I had to be redirected several times and asked to focus back on my work because I was distracted or I distracted others. I mostly used my time wisely.  I finished my work, but I had to be redirected a few times and asked to focus back on my work. I used my time wisely and I was never asked to refocus my attention back to my work.

 

Conclusion

At the conclusion of this webquest you will have gained a deeper understanding of the impact inventors and their inventions have had on our lives.  You will hopefully see that a great number of important inventions have improved our lives in a variety of ways.

Now it will be time for you to work in a team and create your own invention!  You have done the research!  Now it is time to use your imagination and your engineering skills and create something that will make our lives easier!

Credits

Use these websites for your research!