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.	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
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.
"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.	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.
Rate Yourself Students use this self-evaluation to assess their performance in the reading lesson.
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."	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.