Is It Really “Great”?

• Discuss the following with the people at your table:

• What criteria could be used to determine if an invention should be considered “great”

• List several of the “greatest inventions of all time” and as a table rank the top 5

EngagementDay 1 Drill

How did you do it?

• Which of the criteria did your group use to identify the top five inventions?

• Was there one criterion that held “more weight” in your decision?

Engagement

Top 10 Inventions

• Read the article “Top 10 Greatest Inventions Ever” – 5 minutes

• Identify 3 items that you feel were left off of the list or would come in at # 11, 12, and 13.

• On a fresh sheet of paper, list these items and write a short explanation for why you feel they should be there. Do this in the same “style” as the author.

Exploration

The Most Important Invention of All Time

• Your criteria was based on important aspects of our lives.

• These include:– Social– Economic– Educational– Political– Safety– Health

Copy these categories and make a note of how the internet has impacted each

ExplanationDay 1 Drill

The Most Important Invention of All Time

– Society – easier communication w/ friends family

– Economic – buy/sell easier, larger audience, jobs

– Education – online classes, easier research– Politic – ads, info, fundraising– Safety – information, privacy issues– Health - online records

Explanation

Communication systems allow information to be transferred from:

• Human to human (telephone)

• Machine to human (digital thermometer)

• Human to machine (TV remote)

• Machine to machine (atm computer to

bank computer)

Explanation

New Technologies

• Result from:– Demands– Values– Interests

•Of

•Individuals

•Industries

•And SocietyExplanation

New Technologies

• Result from:– Demands– Values– Interests

•Of

•Individuals

•Industries

•And SocietyExplanation

Societal Expectations

• Meeting societal expectations is the driving force behind the acceptance and use of products and systems.

• Acceptance is based on:– Whether it does its designed job.– How well it accords with various economic,

political, cultural, and environmental concerns.

Explanation

The process is often slow.

• Many inventions and innovations have evolved by using slow and methodical processes of tests and refinements.

• Experimentation is sometimes the only way

• Edison’s Light Bulb

Explanation

The First Practical Light Bulb

• Edison developed the first practical light bulb in 1879

• In 1880, he created a bulb that has all of the essential features of a modern bulb.– An incandescent filament in an evacuated

glass bulb with a screw base

1880

1893

The Filament Was Key

• Creating the filament was the most critical factor.

• It had to glow when an electrical current passed through it.

• It possessed a high electrical

resistance

• It had to last for a long time.

Explanation

Many, Many Tries

• Edison and his team experimented with thousands of different filaments just to find the right materials to glow well and last a long time.

Explanation

Discussion

• What were the demands, values, and interests of individuals, industries, and society that led to the development and acceptance of electric lighting?

Explanation

Potential and Kinetic Energy

• In the past, an invention or innovation was not usually developed with the knowledge of science.

Elasticity

Friction

AerodynamicsExplanation

Information is shared in many forms including:

• Numbers

• Words

• Symbols

• Sounds

• Images

Explanation

Symbols

• The use of symbols, measurements, and drawings promotes clear communication by providing a common language to express ideas.

Explanation

Extension Activity

• You will be using a website that describes over 100 inventions. Not all of them are “high impact”.

• You are to create a one-page fact sheet about a “high impact” invention.

• Which list on the next page consists of “high impact” inventions?

High or Low Impact

• Airplane

• Telephone

• Vacuum Packed Canning

• Solar Cell

• Elevator

• Highways

• Seat belts

• X-ray machine

• Etch-a-Sketch

• Astroturf

• Tennis

• Instant Mashed Potatoes

• Hacky Sack

• Sandwich

• Skateboard

• Zamboni

Extension

Answer in a sentence

• Where on the list of the “Top 100 Inventions” do you think your selected topic fits?

• Notebook checks begin today!

Day 3 Drill

Is It Really “Great”?

• Discuss the following with the people at your table:

• What criteria could be used to determine if an invention should be considered “great”. It should:– 1 _________________________________– 2 _________________________________– 3 _________________________________