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INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS
*January 17th marks Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday. Celebrate with your students by learning about the man and his inventions. Explore these sites to find out about many other famous inventors and inventions.

Ben Franklin Lesson Plans and Activities http://www.webenglishteacher.com/franklin.html 
This collection includes interdisciplinary activities, reading skill lessons, instructional units, discussion guides, and other valuable classroom activities. (Grades 6-12)

The Electric Benjamin Franklin http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/ 
Features biographical information, images, a timeline, articles, activities, interactive features, quotes, and related links. (Grades 2-12)

Enrichment Activities on Ben Franklin http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/activity.html
This site from the Franklin Institute contains a number of student activities. (Grades 1-8)

Invention Dimension http://web.mit.edu/invent/index.html 
Read profiles of famous inventors, including winners of the Lemelson-MIT Prize. Each week a new inventor is featured.

Invention Convention http://www.cecm.winnipeg.mb.ca/resources/tours/Carolyn/invent.htm 
This tour is designed for teachers to use as a resource and guide when planning a unit on inventions cumulating with an 'Invention Convention', where students display and explain their invention to their peers, teachers and parents.

Smith College: Museum of Ancient Inventions http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsclist.htm 
Virtual museum includes photographs and brief descriptions of the tools of a bygone era.

Forgotten Inventors http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/technology/forgotteninv.html 
A few inventors become famous but many are forgotten, though their inventions remain important. Here's a site that chronicles some of the forgotten creative minds that gave us inventions still in common use today.

InventorEd: Kid's Inventor Resources http://www.inventored.org/k-12/ 
This site suggests that if you want to be an inventor, look at what is wrong with things you use now.

Totally Absurd Inventions & Patents http://www.totallyabsurd.com/ 
From the tricycle lawn mower to the diaper alarm, read about some of the strangest patents ever applied for.

Invention Webquests:
Investigating Inventions http://www.campbell.k12.ky.us/links/webquest/inventions/invent.htm 
What is the Invention of the Millennium? http://www.dowslane.org/inventions.html 
Necessity is the Mother of Invention http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/edis771/98webquests/student/scynthiarigsby/home.html 

MSD Perry Township Indianapolis, Indiana