Guide Entry 98.04.05

Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute

Who Gets to Invent and How Do Inventors Change Our Lives, by Jeanne Kimberley Chandler

Guide Entry to 98.04.05:

“Who Gets To Invent and How Do Inventors Change Our Lives” is a social studies thematic unit. This unit can be used by teachers in second through sixth grade. Teachers can integrate this unit into their curriculum, using the unit to teach reading, writing and critical thinking skills. The key to the success of this unit is how the teacher facilitates class discussion about inventors and their influence on our lives.

This unit is an opportunity for students to learn about the positive and negative effects of innovations. The unit presents materials about the advancements of civilizations made possible by inventions, as well as the harm caused to people and the environment by technology. This unit also presents the differences in the kinds of challenges presented to minority inventors versus white inventors, and how these inventors overcame the obstacles in their lives.

An important part of this unit is allowing students to have the opportunity to become inventors themselves. This unit encourages students to become problem-solvers and to come up with solutions for everyday dilemmas. Today's students are tomorrow's inventors. The ability to create in school gives children the chance to see the importance of new ideas and especially their ideas.

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