Wamego High School Library
Inventors and Inventions
Return to Subject Guide page.Web Sites
How Stuff Works - This site explains how hundreds of inventions and other complex organic and inorganic mechanisms work. Choose an object from any one of the sixteen categories, or choose from the top tem and the newest articles lists. A great site for research on mechanisms. http://www.howstuffworks.comNational Inventors Hall of Fame - This site honors inventors from around thworld and publicly recognizes their contributions to the welfare of the palnet's population. Includes lists of invention exhitits and museums, competitions and awards, and related sites. Included is a searchable databases of biographies on over 150 hall of fameinductees and their inventions. http://www.invent.org/inventure.html
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office - The US Patent Office web site has some great resources for teachers as well as students. The Calendar of Trivia link takes students to a monthly calendar that lists the inventions patented on that date. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/kids/kidbright.html
Invention Convention - This site is an international competition for budding inventors! Its's a great place to start the process of creating a classroom or school fair or entering the international competition. http://www.inventionconvention.com/
Spotlight: Inventors' Biographies - Spotlight Biography is the Smithsonian's virtual center-stage for famous and not-so-famous American artists and athletes, soldiers and scientists, inventors and social reformers, and other interesting people. On these pages you will find images and information from across the Smithsonian about men and women who have shaped our history and culture. http://educate.si.edu/spotlight/inventors1.html
History of Invention - Part of the Canadian Broadcasting Company's public education program, this site hosts a "timeline" of inventions with brief explanations of who and why. Want to know when the swimming pool was invented? Take a look!
http://www.cbc4kids.ca/general/the-lab/history-of-invention/default.htmlSmithsonian: Inventors and Innovation - Selected links to sites hosted by Smithsonian Institution museums and organizations. http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/invent.htm
Gander Academy's Inventions Theme Page - From the Gander Academy, Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, comes this interesting compilation of world inventors and inventions. http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/inventors.htm
*African-American Invention Express - http://www.invention-express.com/theList.html
For a quick list of inventions, issue dates, and patent numbers by African American inventors, visit this site. It is a simple table and isn’t searchable. But interested visitors won’t mind browsing by inventor’s last name. Unfortunately, more detailed information about each inventor is not found on the site, but this would be a good reference list to identify African American inventors to study further through other web and print resources. The homepage (www.invention-express.com) contains games, quizzes, and links to other sites but isn’t easily navigable.*American Experience: Technology in 1900 - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kids/tech1900
PBS Online presents a look back at the history of American technology as it was breaking new ground 100 years ago. Click on Features to learn about automobiles, music videos, and telephone operators. Click on Snapshot to read predictions made in 1900 about the future.*Greatest Inventions: The Evolution of Man Through History -
http://library.thinkquest.org/C002942/home.shtml
Click on the colored cogs to find help pages, a site map, interactive quizzes, Inventions, Inventors, and a time line. This site presents information in small paragraphs using pleasing graphics and navigation tools. The invention time line from the 14th to the 20th centuries highights everything from Gutenberg's creation of the printing press to Tim Berners-Lee creation of the World Wide Web in 1991. Search a database of inventors or use the index to find a biography of Benjamin Franklin or Henry Ford. Unfortunately, the site does not present women or minority inventors. Also, the site is heavily dependent on JavaScript and may only function on computer with newer versions of Netscape or Internet Explorer browsers.*Innovative Lives - http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/ilives/index.html
This site is from the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. It focuses on recent innovative inventions and the people who discovered them, adding a nice twist to a subject that is more often studied historically. Who is behind the artificial heart, Kevlar fiber, or Scotchguard? Find out here. Search by invention or inventor.*Invention Dimension - http://web.mit.edu/invent
This site created by MIT acknowledges the inventors who shape the world. Visit the Inventor of the Week Archives to learn about famous and obscure inventors and inventions. Select an inventor's surname initial, like E for Edison, then click on his name for a brief biography and list of accomplishments. Further links lead the reader to more detail about his life and inventions. But what if one wants to know who invented Post-It® Notes? That's easy. From the Archives page, click to search by invention and choose the letter P. This is an excellent site for searches.*Inventors Hall of Fame - http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/1_0_0_hall_of_fame.asp
This text-based site lists inventions and inventors in two alphabetical indexes. Find out what Walt Disney invented or how Alfred Nobel discovered dynamite. The site also provides a useful time line with cross reference links to the inventors behind the inventions. This site is likely to load quickly even for slower connections since graphics are limited.*Inventors Museum - http://www.inventorsmuseum.com
Click on Museum Exhibits to select the type of inventor or invention you would like to explore. For example, click on African American inventors to discover Sambo Jackson, the inventor of ice cream, or Elijah McCoy, who invented self-lubricating devices for trains. Perhaps one wants information on women inventors. That can be found here as well. This is a great introduction to diverse and interesting inventors.* Ippy Online - http://www.ippyonline.gov.au/home.asp
The Australian government has created a wonderfully interactive site to explain patents and trademarks to children. But it doesn’t matter where this site is from, the general information presented helps all children better understand the concept of intellectual property. At Strictly Innovation, modeled after the movie Strictly Ballroom, children learn ten basic steps to make an idea become reality while protecting their intellectual property. At Bounce, students play an interactive game where the goal is to steal someone’s intellectual property. While they play, they learn! With Trademark-o-matic they can submit an idea with a simulated patent application. In another game, Ideaopia, children collect ideas on their way to the intellectual property office. This is an excellent site to introduce students to the complicated topic of patents and trademarks. It requires the Flash 4.0 plug-in.*Toys Were Us: How Our Favorite Toys Came to Be - http://www.discovery.com/stories/history/toys/toys.html
What a great combination! Who doesn't want to know how her favorite toy was created? This site from Discovery Online presents how the Frisbee, Slinky, Barbie, and skateboard were invented. Let's click on the skateboard. It is 40 years old. The page explains who Mike Weed and Tony Hawk are, using light, informal language that middle school youth will appreciate.*United States Patent and Trademark Office Kids Pages - http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids
This searchable site introduces K–12 students to the world of intellectual property using three site guides, for grades K–6, 6–12, and for parents and educators. Bright Lights for 6–12 youth presents the patent time machine, for instance, where kids learn that the Tater Tots trademark was registered in 1958. Other sections include connect-the-dots games and patent word searches with clue worksheets and answer sheets. A comprehensive links page directs any interested person to more in-depth information about patents and trademarks.*What in the World? - http://www.thetech.org/nmot/pano_home.cfm?
This site highlights the National Medal for Technology laureates—honored by The Tech Museum of Innovation—by illustrating how their innovations pervade our everyday living, at home, at work, and in the hospital. The user can click on ordinary objects, like a tomato, by sliding one's mouse over each cartoon image. In a single sentence, the user then learns who created new genes for plants cells to make them resist insects and diseases. He or she can find several more detailed paragraphs about this innovation by clicking on the inventor's name. This is a good introduction to invention in today's world. The site does require a Shockwave plug-in.*Who Invented the… - http://www.cbc4kids.ca/general/the-lab/history-of-invention/default.html
This site from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation presents an invention time line from the creation of the calendar in '??? B.C.' to the DVD in 1995. Click on Snowmobile, for example, and read a short paragraph about Joseph-Armand Bombardier who invented it and how.*American Experience: Technology - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/technology
PBS Online and The American Experience present an indepth look back at three important American inventions: the telephone, the television, and New York's subway system. The technology time line is of particular interest and requires Flash plugin (a text-only version is also available). Scroll through the time line and click on inventions of interest to learn more about the invention and the inventor. Each section includes detailed information about the innovation and a link to a teacher's guide.*Museum of Ancient Inventions - http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/home.htm
This 'virtual museum' about ancient inventions was developed from a Smith College history of science course. Clear images of museum pieces along with detailed descriptions of their history entice any online visitor to want to explore the site. Some of the items highlighted by the museum include the folding chair, invented in 2000 BCE and the compass, dating from 220 BCE. Not all the items in the museum and on the site were used for utilitarian purposes. One can discover when and how stained glass was invented or when eyeliner was first used. Navigating the site is a cinch. Browse the individual items on the Exhibits page or take a virtual tour of all the items.*United States Patent and Trademark Office -
http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm
This comprehensive site is a great place to begin learning about patents and trademarks. The site’s well-designed layout directs users to useful information succinctly. One can search the database for any item patented from 1790 to the present by invention title, inventor name, patent number and more. Search by 'inventor city' to find out if any inventions originated from your town. To discover how to attain a patent or trademark on an item or idea, read one of patenting guides, like Types of Patents or Laws and Regulations, on the site. Click on 'How to apply for a patent' to apply for one online!
Other Resources in WHSL
Bud, Robert. Inventing the modern world : technology since 1750 - 609 BUDWilliams, Trevor I and Schaaf, William E., Jr. A History of invention : from stone axes to silicon chips - 609 WIL
*Indicates sites reviewed by Kate Houston Mitchoff, School Corps Librarian, Multnomah County Lib., Portland, OR., in the Fall 2001 issue of netConnect (http://slj.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=netconnectTOC&pubdate=11/1/01), pp 27-28.
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