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Teach PA History
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Invention Convention: Becoming Pennsylvania's Next Great Inventor
Equipment & Supplies
  • Overhead projector/screen Transparencies Inventors' Kits: These should include craft materials such as pipe cleaners, construction paper, masking tape, twist ties, metal coat hangers, spools, yarn, popsicle sticks, aluminum foil, empty paper towel or toilet paper tubes, etc.
Procedures

Steps:

Day One

1. Ask students, "Has anyone has ever copied an idea that you've had? For instance, has anyone ever taken an idea you had for building with Legos, or the way you drew something? How did it feel to have someone take you idea?" After discussing students" responses to these questions, explain to students that when inventors come up with new ideas for how to make or do something, they might want to protect their ideas so that no one else can use them without permission. To get this protection, inventors need to get what is called a patent, which is a document from the government officially declaring that an inventor's idea belongs to her or him only. Tell the class that today's lesson is the first of two. Today the class will examine inventions by Pennsylvanians from throughout history, classify them, and then create their own invention. During the next class period, the students will take the next step as inventors by applying for a "patent" of their invention.

2. Distribute Student Worksheet 1- Thinking About Inventions to the class. Display a transparency of Drawbaugh Invention on the overhead projector. Tell students that they will be working in small groups analyzing photographs and illustrations like this one using the questions on their worksheets. Demonstrate how to analyze this photograph using the questions on Student Worksheet 1- Thinking About Inventions, either through soliciting students" thoughts or "thinking aloud" the answers. Switch the Drawbaugh Invention transparency with one of Student Worksheet 1- Thinking about Inventions on the overhead projector. Model how to write the answers. Do not reveal the invention's purpose yet; wait until debriefing to discuss the invention's identity. The Teacher Guide to Student Worksheet 1-Thinking About Inventions can be used for reference.

3. Divide students into groups, with four or five students in each group. Distribute the illustrations of inventions (Ferris Invention , Pitcairn Invention, and Sholes Invention to each group, and instruct them to examine each illustration, discuss the questions on Student Worksheet 1- Thinking about Inventions, and write any notes to aid in their participation on the class discussion following this group work period. Give students approximately 10 minutes to complete this activity.

4. When students finish their discussion, debrief on their observations. Refer to Teacher Guide to Student Worksheet 1-Thinking About Inventions for answers. Share more information about each inventor/invention available in the Teacher Guide. When discussing each invention, place a transparency of it on the overhead projector. Also, show the transparencies of portraits of each inventor and related photographs:


Daniel Drawbaugh
George Ferris
Harold Pitcairn
Amelia Earhart making a stop on her cross-country flight in the Beech-Nut autogiro at Reading, Pennsylvania Airport, 1931.
Christopher Sholes
Drawing for a Typewriter
Sholes Letter

5. Next, inform students that they will be given the opportunity to create an invention of their own. Tell students that they have about 20 minutes to come up with an idea for an invention and build it in class with the materials provided. The teacher can either (1) narrow the focus of the task and select one of the three invention categories discussed on Student Worksheet 1- Thinking about Inventions (for transportation, to make a daily job easier, or for fun) for the students" inventions, or (2) allow students to make the decision as to what type of invention each pair will make. Let students know that they will need to think of a name for their invention and be able to describe its parts and how it would work. The invention can either be a model or full-scale. The parts from the kit may represent other materials or parts.

6. Divide students into pairs and give each group one "Inventors' Kit." Allow them to work for 20 minutes in constructing and refining their inventions.

7. Clean up unused materials and put the inventions in a safe place until the next class period. Inform students that during the next class period they will show the class what they've invented and will "patent" their inventions.


Day Two

1. Review the learning students did during the previous period. Inform students that today they will be learning about patents by closely looking at primary sources of patents issued to Pennsylvania inventors. They will apply what they have learned by filling out a simulated patent application.

2. If students did not have adequate time to finish their inventions from the previous period, give them 5 to 10 minutes to make finishing touches. If they don't seem to need more time, skip this step.

3. Give students some background on patents. Say, "The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the government agency in the Department of Commerce in charge of issuing patents to inventors. Patents provide rights for up to 20 years for inventions in three broad categories."

Write the following definitions on the board:

- Utility patents protect useful processes, machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter.
- Design patents guard the unauthorized use of new, original, and ornamental designs for articles of manufacture.
- Plant patents are the way we protect invented or discovered, asexually reproduced plant varieties.

To check for student understanding, ask them to identify which patent would be appropriate for:
a. the look of an athletic shoe? (design patent)
b. computer hardware? (utility patent)
c. Silver Queen sweet corn? (plant patent)
d. a new kind of medicine? (utility patent)
e. Better Boy tomatoes? (plant patent)
f. the look of Star Wars characters? (design patent)

Tell students that in this lesson we will focus on utility patents.

Also, tell students that applying for a real patent is a lengthy and expensive process. It can take months or years and cost thousands of dollars in fees. An inventor must demonstrate that he or she had the original idea for an invention. Next, employees of the USPTO investigate in their records to ensure that the idea is unique and has not ever been patented before. If the invention is unique, a patent is finally issued.

4.Display a transparency of Drawbaugh Magnetic Clock . Explain that this is an invention by Daniel Drawbaugh, whom the students learned about yesterday as the inventor of the coin counter. This clock was an improvement on other magnetic clock designs. The clock is run by the energy created from magnets and electricity.

5. Distribute Student Handout 1-Drawbaugh Magnetic Clock Patent. Explain that patents consist of two basic parts: detailed drawings and a detailed written description of an invention. Ask students to examine both the image of the clock photograph on the overhead screen as well as the drawings of the clock on the patent paperwork. Ask students to compare and contrast the photo and the drawings. Can they make sense of the diagram? Are they able to see corresponding parts? Write students" comparisons and contrasts on the chalkboard.

6. Display a transparency of the written portion of the Drawbaugh Magnetic Clock Patent. Have students look at their copies of the patent. Say, "This document uses a lot of legal and technical vocabulary and may be challenging to understand, but let's break it down into different parts. What can we tell from looking at the patent? You might be surprised at how much you can learn." Distribute Student Worksheet 2- Understanding a Patent. Demonstrate how to analyze the patent using the questions from the worksheet, either through soliciting students' thoughts or "thinking aloud" the answers. Display a transparency of Student Worksheet 2- Understanding a Patent on the overhead projector. Model how to write the answers. Refer to Teacher Guide to Student Worksheet 2- Understanding a Patent for answers and further information.

7. Next, distribute copies of Student Handout 2-Allen Sled Patent. In pairs or small groups, have students study the patent materials. Instruct students to answer the questions on Student Worksheet 2- Understanding a Patent. After a few minutes, discuss the answers as a group. Refer to Teacher Guide to Student Worksheet 2- Understanding a Patent for answers and further information about Samuel Allen.

8.Next, distribute Student Worksheet 3- Patent Application . Students should work with their inventor partners to fill out the application, with both a detailed drawing and written description of their invention. Students should be able to articulate what is novel about their invention in the "Claims" section of the application. Since this is the "heart" of the patent, be ready to assist students with this step as needed.

9. After 20 minutes of work, instruct students to finish up their patent application. Students will then orally share the name of their invention, tell which of the three invention categories it fits into (for transportation, to make a daily job easier, or for fun), and briefly describe how it works. Review what students learned about Pennsylvania inventors, as well as the patent process.





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