Technology—what exactly is it? Find out with a project designed to inspire the inner inventor in us all. The activity begins with a captivating podcast and a search of multiple websites that display different inventions and technology,...

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" Through this assignment, emerging engineers examine how failed experiments are simply part of the process of an outstanding design. They begin with some reading about the microwave oven,...

Why did Henry Ford want to invent a car for the masses? Why did Henry Ford locate his factory in Detroit? Why did Henry Ford encourage the idea of a 5-day work week? Young innovators find the answers to these and other question in a unit...

Students identify and solve problems as they modify the design of an everyday household item. They gather and analyze information and work in collaborative teams to create a design plan for a new product.

Use this lesson plan to discuss inventions that have changed your class's world and have impacted society. Middle schoolers investigate important inventions of their time and design an invention in a simulated business atmosphere. Modify...

All of the people in your class would agree that life would be different without the invention of the telephone! Study Alexander Graham Bell's most famous and influential invention through the primary source document of his...

While a woman didn't invent the parasol, three women received patents for their improvements to the original design of umbrellas. In the first of a two-part series on inventive women, class members investigate the patent system to...

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Fifth graders prove this with help from three lessons that examine how ancient cultures used their needs to drive innovations. In lesson one, pupils identify main ideas and supporting...

What a great project. Graphic arts students consider the social, political, and economic impact made by a chosen invention. They build an argument to substantiate their reasons for choosing said invention. They create an oral...

Students analyze the role and impact of technological innovation in the late 19th and early 20th century. They evaluate manuscripts, sound recordings, and motion pictures to construct historical meaning. Students observe the connections...

Students examine the way various inventions have changed their lives. As a class, they create a timeline of the most important inventions during their lifetime and another timeline of how old they were when it was invented. ...

A two-part lesson asks young scientists to research the contributions of African American scientists at Bell Laboratories. After presenting their findings, class members watch two demonstrations that introduce them to total internal...

Studnets discover how the Industrial Revolution came to be in the United States. In this technological advancements lesson, students research creations by Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, and Thomas Edison. Students create PowerPoint...

Fifth graders learn the importance of a patent for a new invention. They use the internet to practice typing a classroom patent for a compound machine that their class invented. While on the website, 5th graders choose a month and...

Students explore early industrialization, technology, and invention. In this historical lesson plan, students participate in eleven different activities in order to understand the Industrialization of the United States. Activities...

Students consider toys as more than items for playing, compare and contrast inventors and toys they created, and discuss purpose of specific toys, including whether toy was created for education, financial success, or both.

High schoolers create a class presentation that explains the value of an innovation to society. In this design innovation lesson, students discuss relationships among math, science, technology, and engineering, read a story about design...

Students consider the qualities that inventors possess and explore the history and uncertain future of U.S. innovation by reading and discussing the article "Are U.S. Innovators Losing Their Competitive Edge?"

Young scholars create a power point presentation.  In this Chinese inventions and discoveries lesson plan, students view sample products that are the product of ancient Chinese civilizations and their innovations and...

Students brainstorm on the different innovation in their lives today. In this technology lesson, students research one innovation and prepare a speech to convince their classmate to name it the "Innovation of our Generation." They...

Learners formulate new applications for simple machines in an original invention that solves a common problem. They brainstorm ideas for a new product using simple machines and communicate a finished project through an oral,...

Humans love to communicate and they do it in so many different ways. The class investigates how people have used new inventions and technological innovations to communicate. They are divided into groups of three or four and given...

Students consider the meaning of innovation and analyze the design of objects. In this object design lesson, students examine revolutionary objects and their design. Students complete discussion activities for objects like Band-Aids,...

Learners examine inventions of the past and present and explore how inventions inspire and lead to the development of other inventions.