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) In your groups, you will assign the following jobs: Invention Designer, Researcher, Advertising Executive, and Presentation Designer 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 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 is not doing “ Thomas A Edison Process (part 2) 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 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 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 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 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/What-Makes-aGood-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 what you tell them to The bad news is that they 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_Inventors.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_Inventors.h tm 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_Inventor s.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-4-pioneersinventorspage4.html?ref resh=1176514655376 Famous Latino inventors and pioneers in the field of science http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/scitech/impacto/graphic/index.html 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.htm Famous Asian American inventors including An Wang and Tuan Vo-Dinh 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=Persuasive 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.htm 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/CGPSintro.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/FAQcps.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: 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 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 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 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 Does not perform duties of assigned role Performs few duties of assigned role Performs nearly all duties of assigned role Performs all duties of assigned role Self-Evaluation You may choose to complete this form for an additional 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! ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors Comprehensive list of inventors Women Inventors http:// inventors.about.com/od/womeninventors/Women_Inventors.htm Famous women inventors - women inventing in traditionally... 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_Inventors.h... 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/