Do you need proof that driving is a dangerous activity? More Americans have died in car crashes over the past 100 years than in all the wars the U.S. has ever fought combined. More than 40,000 Americans die each year on the nation's highways, most as the result of high-speed collisions. In this video segment adapted from NOVA, learn how engineers developed the air bag, an important automobile-safety device now found in most cars.
Recommended for: Grades 3-12

Students learn how nanoparticles can be creatively used for medical diagnostic purposes. They learn about buckminsterfullerenes, more commonly known as buckyballs, and about the potential for these complex carbon molecules to deliver drugs and other treatments into the human body. They brainstorm methods to track buckyballs in the body, then build a buckyball from pipe cleaners with a fluorescent tag to model how nanoparticles might be labeled and detected for use in a living organism. As an extension, students research and select appropriate radioisotopes for different medical applications.

Explore some of the wonders of modern engineering in this video from the Sciencenter in Ithaca, New York. Hear a diverse selection of engineers explain how things work.

In this video segment from Cyberchase, the CyberSquad designs an invention that will help them cross a swamp and also reach the top of a tall cliff.

This site has an alphabetized list of inventions and inventors throughout history. You can also explore by era, topic or nationality.

Students analyze an assortment of popular inventions to determine whom they are intended to benefit, who has access to them, who might be harmed by them, and who is profiting by them. Then they re-imagine the devices in a way that they believe would do more good for humanity. During the first 90-minute class period, they evaluate and discuss designs in small groups and as a class, examining their decision-making criteria. Collectively, they decide upon a definition of "ethical" that they use going forward. During the second period, students apply their new point-of-view to redesign popular inventions (on paper) and persuasively present them to the class, explaining how they meet the class standards for ethical designs. Two PowerPoint® presentations, a worksheet and grading rubric are provided.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the steam engine and transportation in the nineteenth century. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This lesson is an exciting conclusion to the airplanes unit that encourages students to think creatively. After a review of the concepts learned, students will design their own flying machine based on their knowledge of the forces involved in flight, the properties of available materials, and the ways in which their flying machine could benefit society. Students will also learn how the brainstorming process helps in creative thinking and inventing and that scientists and engineers use this technique to come up with new products or modify and improve exiting products.

Inventions from the telephone to the Model T and the computer have defined human history, and inventors like Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Eli Whitney and Alexander Graham Bell have transformed our society.

Review an article highlighting five inventions developed by NASA that evolved into sought after mainstreamed creations such as baby formula and Speedo swim suits.

The Makey Makey Invention Literacy Workshop for Educators is a fun hands-on learning experience where you'll learn how to teach Invention Literacy, Making, and Design Thinking using the award winning Makey Makey invention kit. We'll explore how to teach circuits and conductivity using Makey Makeys and then put our skills to use designing your own inventions! Participants learn best practices and gain access to a multimedia training website that can be used later when working with your students or training others.

In this mind challenging and creative site, you will learn how play and inventiveness are related. Hear inventors' stories, set your own inventive thinking in motion, and see video commentaries about the nature of play and whether or not play is changing in today's world. Links are provided to exhibit information, resources, the Lemelson Center, and more.

What is Thanksgiving? Find out in an interview with National Museum of the American Indian curator Paul Chaat Smith. [4:38]

This collection uses primary sources to explore the invention of the telephone. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides this informative page on William Henry Fox Talbot(1800-1877)and the invention of photography. With information and pictures this in a nice resource for study.

This site has a multi-part lesson that explores several aspects of productivity. The site incorporates online resources and activities.

SciGirls videos feature real girls putting science and engineering to work to answer real-life questions and make discoveries in the world around them. Find videos covering a wide variety of innovative technical inventions.

Inventor Nikola Tesla is the subject of this extensive PBS site. In addition to information on Tesla's life and work, the site offers insight into the ways in which society and invention affect each other.

Using paper, paper clips and tape, student teams design flying/falling devices to stay in the air as long as possible and land as close as possible to a given target. Student teams use the steps of the engineering design process to guide them through the initial conception, evaluation, testing and re-design stages. The activity culminates with a classroom competition and scoring to evaluate how each team's design performed.

Read about the moment Percy Spencer discovered how microwaves heated objects. This discovery led to the invention of the microwave oven.