The Topic:  Inventors and Inventions

Easier - Inventors are persons who think of, create, or make something that is new.

 

Harder - To invent something means to create a new device, come up with a new process, or to make a new product. Invention is closely related to, but different than discovery. A discovery is the first recognition of something that already existed in nature. Invention is the creation of something that has never existed before.

 

Invention is also closely related to innovation. An innovation is a change in the way something is done. An innovation may make an invention accessible to more people, thereby increasing its use. But again, the original invention already existed. The innovation is a change that is made to the invention.

 

 

Invention Dimension 

http://web.mit.edu/invent/index.html

Here you can read profiles of famous inventors, including winners of the Lemelson-MIT Prize. Each week a new inventor is featured, with archives of past articles.

Another easy-to-read site:

2) Zoom Inventors and Inventions http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/indexa.shtml

 

InventorEd Kid's Inventor Resources 

http://www.inventored.org/k-12/

An invention is a new way of solving a problem. Most inventions are made possible by those inventors who have proceeded us. If you want to invent, look at what is wrong with things you use now.

 

Inventors at About.com 

http://inventors.about.com/

A terrific netlinks site to all kinds of information about inventors and inventions.

 

Inventure Place 

http://www.invent.org/index.asp

Inventure Place is dedicated to the creative process. It is a museum that contains the National Inventors Hall of Fame, a laboratory where you can explore your curiosity, where you can discover the inventor  .

 

History of Toys and Games (The History Channel) 

http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/toys/

Explore a timeline of when toys were invented, stories of the inventors behind such classic toys as Barbie and Slinky, and more.

 

Inventions (National Geographic World) 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/96/inventions/

Site contains shockwave-based invention games, a bibliography, and web links on invention.

 

Kid's Inventor Resources by Ronald J. Riley 

http://www.InventorEd.org/k-12/kidsinvlinks.html/

This links-site connects to websites about inventors and inventions.

 

Kids Pages (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) 

http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/

Here you can find information about patents, trademarks, and copyright as well as plenty of games, puzzles, and links to other sites.

 

Learn What It Takes To Be An Inventor 

http://mustang.coled.umn.edu/inventing/inventing.html

Here you find tips on how to think like an inventor.

 

Patent Cafe 

http://kids.patentcafe.com/index.asp

This site is loaded with science and invention resources just for kids in elementary, junior high and high school. It also contains chatrooms and bulletin boards, forums - places to meet other kids and discuss science.

 

Rube Goldberg 

http://www.rubegoldberg.com/index.html

Here you learn about the man, the cartoons, and the contest that he inspired

 

Inventors

History of Inventions Timeline

http://www.cbc4kids.cbc.ca/general/the-lab/history-of-invention/timeline.html  

See an interesting timeline on a variety of inventions.

 

Greatest Inventors and Inventions 

http://tqjunior.advanced.org/5847/homepage.htm

This ThinkQuest site profiles twelve great inventors and their inventions.

 

Black Inventors & Engineers

http://www.uwm.edu/StudentOrg/NSBE/bie.html

African Americans who have made contributions to society.

 

Great Idea Finder 

http://www.ideafinder.com/home.htm

This website spotlights ideas, inventions, and inventors.

 

National Inventors Hall of Fame 

http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/1_0_0_hall_of_fame.asp

Here you can read short biographies of the honored inventors.

 

Smithsonian: Inventors and Innovation 

http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/invent.htm

Site includes brief histories of famous inventors and inventions including Albert Einstein, the telegraph, the light bulb, and the computer.

 

Spotlight Biography: Inventors (Smithsonian Institution) 

HTTP://educate.si.edu/spotlight/inventors1.html

Site contains brief biographies and links for famous inventors including Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Wilbur Wright, and others.

 

Wacky Patent of the Month by Michael J. Colitz, Jr. 

http://colitz.com/site/wacky.htm

This website is devoted to recognizing selected inventors and their remarkable and unconventional patented inventions.

 

A Few More Famous Inventors

Alexander Graham Bell - The Inventor 

http://www.fitzgeraldstudio.com/html/bell/inventor.html

Here you can read about a number of the great inventions that Alexander Graham Bell made in his lifetime.

Other Sites About Bell:

Pathway to the Telephone http://www.iath.virginia.edu/albell/homepage.html

Alexander Graham Bell http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/inventor/bell.html

Bell-Inventor Profile http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/11.html

 

 

Leonardo Home Page 

http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/LeoHomePage.html

This is a comprehensive web site on Leonardo da Vinci which includes five lesson plans for hands-on classroom activities.

 

Edison National Historic Site 

http://www.nps.gov/edis/home.htm

Learn about the American inventor of motion pictures, electric light, and the phonograph.

Other Edison Sites:

Edison Birthplace Museum http://www.tomedison.org/

Test Edison Knowledge http://www.minot.k12.nd.us/mps/edison/edison/edison.html

Scientist and Inventor http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/inventor/edison.html

 

Benjamin Franklin (Spectrum magazine) 

http://www.incwell.com/Biographies/Franklin.html

Here is a brief biography of this inventor and patriot.

Other Franklin Sites:

World of Franklin http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html

A Documentary History http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/

An Autobiography http://earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/

 

Elijah McCoy: Inventor and Engineer (African Americans in the Sciences) 

http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/display/mccoy.html

This site is a biography site of the inventor who inspired the term "the real McCoy."

Another McCoy Site:

Elijah McCoy http://www.ncalifblackengineers.org/Elijah%20McCoy.htm

Brief Biography http://www.bccns.com/elijah.htm

Easy Biography http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/page/m/mccoy.shtml

 

Samuel Morse Historic Site 

http://www.morsehistoricsite.org/morse/morse.html

Information on Samuel Morse life and inventions.

More Sites:

Invention Dimension http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/inventorsI-Q/morse.html

Telegraph http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/remember/r819.htm

Samuel Morse http://www.rod.beavon.clara.net/samuel.htm

Hall of Fame http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/106.html

 

Levi Strauss 

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/strauss.htm

Site of a biography of the inventor of blue jeans.

Also:

http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/inventorsR-Z/strauss.html

 

George Westinghouse 

http://www.georgewestinghouse.com/george.html

This is the original George Westinghouse website.

http://www.georgewestinghouse.com/museum.html

Here you will find the George Westinghouse Internet Museum.

 

 

Teacher Sites

Enchanted Learning Inventors

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/indexf.shtml

Search by alphabet for inventors.

 

Inventors and Inventions Unit

http://www.northcanton.sparcc.org/~greentown/invent.htm

Inventors and Inventions Internet Resources.

 

Enrichment Activities on Ben Franklin

http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/activity.html

This site contains a number of activities.

 

3M Collaborative Invention Unit

http://mustang.coled.umn.edu/inventing/Inventing.html

What makes an inventor special?

 

Inventing a New Kind of Pencil 

http://www.noogenesis.com/inventing/pencil/pencil_page.html

Here are ideas for teaching a lesson on inventing a new kind of pencil. The site has a link to a similar page on inventing a new kind of eraser also.

 

Invention Convention 

http://www.cecm.winnipeg.mb.ca/resources/tours/Carolyn/invent.htm

This tour is designed for teachers to use as a resource and guide when planning a unit on inventions cumulating with an 'Invention Convention', where students display and explain their invention to their peers, teachers and parents.