Activity Descriptions/Instructions |
Answer Keys |
Words
to Know
•
Students use this interactive, multiple-choice activity
to become familiar with lesson vocabulary words.
•
In each exercise, students read a sentence containing
a vocabulary word, then use context clues from the
sentence to select the best definition for that word.
•
Students must select the correct definition for the
current exercise in order to move to the next exercise.
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1.
inventor: someone who creates something that
has never been created before, or has an idea that
no one has thought of before
2.
humidity: the amount of moisture in the air
3.
industries: specific types of business, trade,
or manufacture
4.
merchant: someone who sells things for a living
5.
rivets: pieces of round metal used like bolts
to join things together
6.
ancestors: people who came earlier in a family,
especially people who came before grandparents
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| Before
You Read: Solutions Large and Small
•
Students read about some common inventions and the
problems they were designed to solve.
•
Students are invited to work in pairs to think about
inventions they use regularly. Partners make a chart
listing some of these inventions as well as the problems
they solve.
•
Students learn about two inventors of familiar devices:
Conrad Hubert, who gave us flashlights, and Mary Engle
Pennington, who helped create better refrigerators.
•
Students are directed to print out or copy the
worksheet (if needed) before proceeding to the reading
selection.
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"Clothes
and Shoes for All"
•
Skill:
Cause and Effect
•
Students
read two historical sketches. The first sketch, "Stitches
with Staying Power," tells how Levi Strauss came to
California during the Gold Rush and invented the sturdy
work pants we now know as jeans. The second sketch,
"A Machine Built to Last," tells the story of Jan
Matzeliger, who invented a machine that revolutionized
the shoe industry.
•On
the worksheet, students complete a cause-and-effect
chart based on the information in the historical sketches.
Skill
Reminder: In a cause-and-effect relationship, something
happens that causes something else to happen. The first
event is the cause; the second event is the effect.
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Worksheet
Cause:
Miners dug and kneeled in dirt and gravel.
Effect: Miners' pants didn't last very long.
Cause:
Levi Strauss had sturdy work pants made out of canvas.
Effect:
These pants lasted longer than ordinary pants.
Cause:
Shoes were once made entirely by hand.
Effect:
Shoes cost a lot of money.
Cause:
Jan Matzeliger's invention allowed shoes to be made
entirely by machine.
Effect:
Shoes became cheaper to buy.
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| Rate
Yourself
Students
use this self-evaluation to assess their performance
in the reading lesson.
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Put
On Your Inventor's Cap: Making a Plan for an Invention
•
Students print a worksheet to take home. The worksheet
asks them to work with family members on the plans
for an invention that solves an everyday problem.
Students are invited to write about the invention
as well as draw and label it.
•
Students are encouraged to share their plans with
the class. You may want to help students display their
plans in the classroom on a bulletin board with the
title "Wall of Invention."
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Evaluation
Guidelines
As you review students' plans for inventions, check
to see that they have written the problem their invention
solves and how the invention solves the problem. Students'
drawings should include labels of all the main parts
of their inventions.
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