American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > Time Saving Inventions

Time Saving Inventions

Details

Author
Sue Boyea
Topic/Subject Area
Home Life, Household Items, Furniture; Science, Technology
Historical Era
Colonial settlement, 1620–1762, Revolutionary America, 1763–1783, The New Nation, 1784–1815, National Expansion and Reform, 1816–1860, Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877, Rise of Industrial America, 1878–1899, Progressive Era, World War I, 1900–1928, Great Depression and World War II, 1929–1945, Counterculture, Civil Rights, and Cold War, 1946–1989, New Millennium, 1990–Present
Grade Level
Elementary (K–5)
Creation Date
2010
Last Revision Date
2024

Related items

About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

By examining objects from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, students will understand that people solved problems through inventions that made tasks easier. Students will then create their own inventions from problems they may have in their lives today.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items
Books

Teaching Plan

  1. Show laminated copies of the items from the online collection or display the images on a monitor.
  2. As the children are viewing the pictures have them answer the following questions about each picture. What was needed to create this invention? Do you think it helped many people? What problem did it solve? How did it solve the problem?
  3. Have the students select one of the inventions and write a paragraph about how they think the invention affected the life of a person at that time.
  4. Using inventions in the story A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, choose one of the inventions and create an advertisement for a newspaper or catalog to entice people to buy this invention.
  5. Have each student think about a problem in their life they would like to make easier and create a variety of ways the problem could be solved. For example: chores they have to do around the house or at school.
  6. After thinking about the problem and how it could be solved have each student create a model of the invention. They can use any medium they want.
  7. Lastly, as an extension, have each student give an oral presentation about their invention. Be sure it answers the questions from step 2.