How to teach inventions to children

Inventions can make our lives simpler, faster and better often. Finding new ways of doing things is to innovate, the process by which things are currently done and generate new ideas. There are many ways to teach a class about inventions, and once you help students see how inventions and inventors are important, it will help you see that the world of ideas is all around you.

one

Explain what an invention is Describe that an invention means something new, something that does something, and something that has never been heard before (like the Internet), or something that helps people to do an action that they have always done in a different way (like color television instead of black and white).

two

Talk about the different facets of an invention. Discuss the process of coming up with an invention from the beginning to the end. Describe how a person or group thinks about an idea, brainstorm ways to achieve it, refine the idea and method and then take it through design and production. Talk about how an invention sometimes works and sometimes does not, and how in order to be successful, people must use the invention and make it a part of their regular life. Describe how an invention increases popularity, but how it can also become obsolete, when a new invention takes its place and does the same or better, replacing the need for it completely.

3

Of concrete examples of several inventions through time. Talk about those who do not have a true inventor, such as the wheel, and those who have a specific inventor, such as Alexander Graham Bell's telephone. Discuss the ways in which some of the most popular inventions have completely changed the way you live your lives.

4

Talk about how inventions are trademarks today. Describe how a government office keeps track of who comes up with an idea, and records so that everyone knows. Also mention how inventions can be stolen if they are not registered. Talk about different inventions in the market that are very similar, and speculate with the class about why some work and some others do not.