The Science of Inventions: Inventors, The Invention Process, and Simple Machines

Jeanne Munoz
Curriculum Integration Specialist

This 7-week unit for grades 4-6 meets state standards for science, language arts, and technology. The unit requires one hour per day. Teacher-led activities, resources, student activities, sample files, and an evaluation rubric are included.

Each week includes a combination of hands-on and computer activities such as exploration of simple machines, research of specific inventions, illustration of gadgets, reading about "accidental inventions," investigating kinetic and potential energy and force, writing lab reports, and researching the patent process.

Students create timelines of ten inventions they think are most important, enter data into a class database, and sort and manipulate data. Students create their own simple machines using Rube Goldberg concepts, make class presentations, participate in a class Inventor's Hall of Fame, and more.

Note: If you are using Netscape on a Macintosh, you will not be able to open the student activities that use MS Excel. Please use Internet Explorer to open these files.

Lesson Plan (MS Word)

Student Activities
Inventor data collection (MS Excel)
Patent process graphic (MS Excel)
Earmuff invention presentation (MS PowerPoint)
Invention process plan (MS Word)

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