New Jersey Historical Commission and New Jersey Council for the Humanities
Thomas Edison: The Wizard of Menlo Park
What would change in your daily life due to a power outage? Here, learners explore the inventions brought to us by the one and only, Thomas Edison, and imagine a day without them. Scholars take part in a grand conversation and write a...
DocsTeach
Patent Analysis: Thomas Edison's Lightbulb
Watch lightbulbs go off in learners' heads as they look at a patent for Thomas Edison's most famous invention. After examining the light bulb patent, young historians speculate on how the invention changed life in the 1880s and its...
History Alive!
Thomas Edison: Inventor, Lecturer and Prankster
It's no small wonder that a lightbulb has come to represent a bright idea. The light bulb, the bright idea of Thomas Edison, was just one of his over 1,000 inventions. A teacher's guide introduces young audiences to works of the man who...
DiscoverE
Make a Light Bulb
Could you reinvent the light bulb? Scholars tap into their inner Thomas Edisons to build a light bulb prototype out of a jar and some wires. They see how long the filament wire glows in the jar (batteries not included) to measure their...
Smarter Balanced
How We Learn
What's the best way to learn the elements of the periodic table? The inventions of Thomas Edison? Patience? To prepare for the performance task assessment on how people learn, class members share ideas about ways to learn in a variety of...
Read Works
Read Works: Electricity & Energy the Light Bulb
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the invention and use of the light bulb. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.