Catherine Thomas
Introduction
Task
Process
Job Descriptions
Resources
Evaluation
Conclusion
Introduction
If you have ever thought to yourself,
“I wonder how that works,” then
now’s your chance. If you’ve said, “I
bet I could make that better,” then
stop wasting your time. If you have
sat and pondered the intricate
workings of a machine, then you have
been thinking like an inventor and WE
WANT YOU!
“There is a single light
of science, and to
brighten it anywhere is
to brighten it
everywhere.”
Isaac Asimov
Task
You will be working in groups of four.
You will work as a group to create an
invention and then persuade a
company to buy your invention and
mass produce it. In your groups you
will each be responsible for a job and
you will decide how the jobs are
assigned. Each person in the group
has a responsibility to the group to
complete their job to the best of their
ability. You will individually write a
Persuasive Letter to a company using
the resources from your group’s
efforts.
“Nothing will work unless
you do.”
Maya Angelou
Process
(part 1)
1. In your groups, you will assign the following jobs:
Invention Designer, Researcher, Advertising
Executive, and Presentation Designer.
2. As a group, you will create an invention that has
possibilities of being used in society. You will
provide a purpose for the use of the invention. The
invention must be beneficial to the good of mankind.
3. Within the group, you will need to research the
process that an inventor goes through to market their
invention. You will research how to get a patent,
what businesses are available to market your
invention, and how to mass produce your invention.
“Being busy does not
always mean real work.
The object of all work is
production or
accomplishment and to
either of these ends
there must be
forethought, system,
planning, intelligence, and
honest purpose, as well as
perspiration. Seeming to
do is not doing. “
Thomas A. Edison
Process
(part 2)
4. Your group will research to find an audience that would buy your
invention. You will research to find what methods of advertising
would be appealing to your audience. You will create an
advertisement to entice your audience to buy you invention.
5. Your group will use all the information gathered to create a 5-10
minute presentation for the class. You will use mediums like
Power Point or Microsoft Word to create the presentation.
6. Individually, each member of the group will write a Persuasive
Letter to one of the businesses from their research. The letter
will follow the PSSA Persuasive Writing Guidelines. In your letter
you should address the following points: Introduce yourself to the
business and talk about your background as an inventor, Describe
your invention in detail, State ways that the invention will benefit
both the business and mankind, and finally, Thank the business
for their time. (See Resources for websites pertaining to
Persuasive Writing.)
Job Descriptions
Invention Designer
Researcher
Advertising Executive
Presentation Designer
“To find out what one is
fitted to do, and to
secure an opportunity to
do it, is the key to
happiness.”
John Dewey
Invention Designer
As the Invention Designer, your job is to take the ideas of the
group’s invention and create a graphic representation of the
invention. You must include as many vivid details given by the
group as possible. You may label parts of the invention or add
text to explain, but 90% of the invention must be visually
appealing.
Helpful Websites:
http://www.imaginationcubed.com/index.php
For kids who love art, Imagination Cubed offers an interactive drawing pad that’s loads
of fun to play around with.
http://www.cln.org/themes/cartoons.html
This "Theme Page" has lots of links to information about drawing cartoons.
http://www.draw3d.com/mainframe.html
This site has step by step instructions of how to draw in 3-D taught by Mark Kistler (he
travels from school to school teaching Enrichment Programs).
http://www.olejarz.com/arted/perspective/
This site has step-by-step instructions for drawing objects in one-point perspective
with tons of drawings and illustrations.
Researcher
As the Researcher, your job is to search for ideas of the process from
invention to sold product. You need to research at least 2-3 inventors and
the process they each went through to sell their invention. You must
research the process of getting a Patent. You need to find at least 2-3
businesses that would have the ability to produce your product (ex. You
don’t want to try and sell a new brand of sneakers to Hershey Chocolate).
Helpful Websites:
http://inventors.about.com/library/bl/bl1_1.htm
For the student or professional - famous inventors and inventions - history timelines - patents
trademarks and copyrights.
http://www.invent.org/
Celebrates inventors, and has indexes of inventors with brief biographies, and an index of inventions
so you can find out who is credited with what.
http://www.harshawresearch.com/
Inventor assistance for patents, prototypes, marketing and licensing.
http://www.uspto.gov/index.html
This website is the official website of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
http://www.business.com/
The leading business search engine and business directory designed to help its users find the
companies, products, services, and information they need.
Advertising Executive
Your job requires you to designate a target audience to buy your
product. You need to do research to find out what advertising
strategies appeal to your target audience. You need to create a
t.v. commercial or a newspaper/magazine ad. You need to also
create the packaging for your invention for when it is mass
produced (you may want to look at some of the websites for
Invention Designer for this part).
Helpful Websites:
http://kidsvid-dev.hprtec.org/index.html
This site has step by step instructions to teach students how to create a live video to use
for projects.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/advertising/howto.html
Advertising How-Tos that include creating commercials, newspaper/magazine ads and
many more ways to advertise.
http://www.msinet.com/MSIMAIN1_google.htm
Advertising, promotion, & marketing services that generate results.
http://advertising.about.com/od/creatingads/Creating_Advertisements.htm
Copy and graphics combine to create powerful, eye-catching ads. The key roles of ad
creation are defined for both the career-oriented individual as well as those wanting to
create their own advertisements.
http://www.naa.org/Advertising-and-Marketing/For-Advertisers-and-Agencies/WhatMakes-a-Good-Newspaper-Ad.aspx
Includes many ideas and tips towards creating a good newspaper ad.
Presentation Designer
Your role as Presentation Designer requires you to create a
presentation to introduce your group’s invention. Your presentation
should also include the work of the other members in your group.
For example, you should have the graphic of the invention from the
Invention Designer, etc. You will need to create either a Power
Point presentation or a Website using Microsoft Word. Your
presentation should include information about how the members in
your group completed their jobs. You should also have information
about your invention and how it works, why it’s beneficial to
mankind, etc. Your presentation should have both text and visually
appealing graphics.
Helpful Websites:
http://www.webmonkey.com/kids/
Learn everything you need to know about building your own homepage.
http://www.smplanet.com/webpage/webpage.html
Directions for creating a webpage.
http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/tips/elemskills/ppcreate.html
Step by step guide for creating a Power Point Presentation.
http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpoint101/a/begin_guide.htm
11 PowerPoint Tutorials for Beginners - How to Use PowerPoint.
Resources
General Inventors
Women Inventors
African-American Inventors
Hispanic Inventors
Asian Inventors
Persuasive Writing
Cooperative Groups- Problem
Solving
“The good news about
computers is that they do
what you tell them to do.
The bad news is that
they do what you tell
them to do.”
Ted Nelson
General Inventors
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/
Inventors and Inventions: If the inventor or invention you're
interested in isn't here, please e-mail us.
http://web.mit.edu/invent/i-archive.html
Browsable and searchable collection of short, yet scholarly
biographies geared toward students.
http://cybersleuth-kids.com/sleuth/Science/Inventors/
A comprehensive educational directory and homework helper
that provides a wide variety of resources on Inventors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors
Comprehensive list of inventors.
Women Inventors
http://inventors.about.com/od/womeninventors/Women_Inv
entors.htm
Famous women inventors - women inventing in traditionally
male fields - Why women are a minority of patent holders
and how that is rapidly changing.
http://inventors.about.com/library/blwomeninventors.htm
Women Inventors AZ the biographies - inventions and
photos of inventors from Randi Altschul to Mary Walton.
http://www.women-inventors.com/
Explore the contributions of modern female inventors like
Grace Hopper, Ruth Wakefield and Bette Nesmith Graham.
http://www.ideafinder.com/features/classact/women.htm
The history of women inventors and their inventions.
African-American Inventors
http://inventors.about.com/library/blblackinventors.htm
Black inventors the biographies - inventions and photos of inventors
from George Edward Alcorn to Granville Woods.
http://inventors.about.com/od/blackinventors/Famous_Black_Invent
ors.htm
Famous black inventors - African American patent holders - Black
History month information - African American women in technology.
http://www.swagga.com/inventors.htm
Afrocentric, provides information on African Queens and Kings, Black
Writers, Black Inventors, Inventions, African American inventors.
http://www.blackinventor.com/
A look at the great and often unrecognized pioneers in the field of
invention and innovation.
Hispanic Inventors
http://inventors.about.com/od/hispanicinventors/Famous_Hispanic_Inve
ntors.htm
Biographies of famous Hispanic inventors from the Latin world Countries of origin include Argentina - Cuba - Spain - United States Venezuela.
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=5716
As part of its Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, the U.S. Patent &
Trademark Office (USPTO) recognized inventions by U.S. Hispanics.
http://www.latinoheritage101.com/Frame-4pioneersinventorspage4.html?refresh=1176514655376
Famous Latino inventors and pioneers in the field of science.
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/scitech/impacto/graphic/index.ht
ml
Impacto, Influencia, Cambio highlights the lives and accomplishments of
inventors, aviators, astronauts, and the everyday people of Latin
America and the southwestern United States who have affected science
and technology.
Asian Inventors
http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventors/a/Asian_Inventors.ht
m
Famous Asian American inventors including An Wang and Tuan VoDinh.
http://www.inventions.org/culture/asian/index.html
This section features articles on Asian inventions, ancient and
modern, biographical sketches of inventors which include how they
conceived the idea.
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/s4495/conten1a.htm
The most rapid growth in U.S. patenting among Asian inventors was
recorded by those ... Patenting in the United States by inventors from
the emerging Asian ...
http://www.emergic.org/archives/2005/01/28/index.html
WSJ writes about the Asian Wall Street Journal's Young Inventors
Awards, which "aim to recognize and reward the ingenious thinking.
Persuasive Writing
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/writing/minilessons.asp?topic=Persua
sive
You encounter persuasive writing everyday. Whether it's the radio announcer
telling you why you should keep listening to his station, a magazine article on
your favorite rock star, or even the President of the United States giving the
State of the Union address, persuasive writing plays an important part in your
everyday life.
http://geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/1437/pers.html
Persuasive writing attempts to convince the reader that the point of view or
course of action recommended by the writer is valid.
http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/persuasive.html
Writing a persuasive paper helps us to look at evidence, state ideas more
clearly, to consider the claims of the opposition fairly, and to justify our own.
http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/curriculum/writing/elem_writing/Bib/Persuasive.h
tm
Persuasive WebQuest! This quest challenges you to investigate persuasive
writing and develop critical reading skills. What are propaganda techniques?
Cooperative Groups- Problem
Solving
http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed/Research/CGPS/CG
PSintro.htm
To solve this dilemma, we (1) designed complex problems
that discourage the use of plug-and-chug strategies, and (2)
introduced cooperative group problem...
http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed/Research/CGPS/FA
Qcps.html
Formal cooperative groups need to stay together long
enough to be successful. On the other hand, they should be
changed often enough so students realize...
http://www.co-operation.org/pages/cl.html
Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups
so that students work .... The purpose of cooperative
learning groups is to make each member a...
Evaluation
You will be evaluated for this project in two ways:
1. You will complete a Participation Rubric on the
performance of the members of your group (this is
not a popularity contest, you need to be honest about
their performance in the group). Your first grade will
come from the ratings by the members in your group.
2. For your second grade, you will write a Persuasive
Letter following the PSSA Writing guidelines. In your
letter you should address the following points:
Introduce yourself to the business and talk about
your background as an inventor, Describe your
invention in detail, State ways that the invention will
benefit both the business and mankind, and finally,
Thank the business for their time. (See Resources
for websites pertaining to Persuasive Writing.)
“I have not failed.
I've just found
10,000 ways that
won't work.”
Thomas A. Edison
Participation Rubric
Participation Rubric
Contribute
1
2
3
4
Gather and share
information
Fails to collect or
share information
related to topic
Collects or shares
very little
information, some
related to topic
Collects and shares
basic information,
most related to
topic.
Collects and shares
much information,
all related to topic
Contributes to
workload
Always relies on
others to complete
work
Rarely completes
assigned work.
Needs frequent
reminders.
Usually does
assigned work.
Seldom needs
reminders
Always does
assigned work
without reminders.
Communicate
1
2
3
4
Listens to other
group members
Always talking.
Never allows others
to speak.
Does most of the
talking. Seldom
allows others to
speak.
Listens.
Occasionally talks
too much.
Listens and speaks
an equal amount.
Cooperates with
group members
Usually argues with
group members.
Wants to have
things their way
Sometimes argues.
Sides with friends
and does not
consider all views.
Rarely argues with
group members.
Considers all views.
Never argues with
group members.
Helps group reach
mutual decision.
Collaborate
Fulfills group role
duties
1
Does not perform
duties of assigned
role.
2
3
Performs few duties
of assigned role.
Performs nearly all
duties of assigned
role.
4
Performs all duties
of assigned role.
Self-Evaluation
You may choose
to complete this
form for an
additional 5
points extra
credit. You will
rate your own
performance on
the project.
Conclusion
Science is all about exploring your world and
questioning things around you. A true scientist
questions everything from “Why things exist?”
to “How does something work?” An Inventor
goes beyond just simple science and improves
upon pre-existing items or develops a whole
new item. When an inventor creates an
invention, they are usually trying to make things
better for mankind. Throughout history,
inventors were the people that improved and
pushed our society forward. Without inventors,
we would still be those cavemen trying to figure
out how to cook our dinner. The next time you
go to use a computer, watch TV, or even turn
on a light, don’t forget to thank an inventor.
Remember, “Necessity is the motherhood of all
invention.”
“All men who have
achieved great things
have been great
dreamers.”
Orison Swett Marden
Time’s Up!