Transcript Invention and Innovations
Invention and Innovations 7 th Grade
Patent • A record explaining an invention. It protects an invention from being stolen.
First Patent • Issued to Joseph Jenks
U.S. Patents since 1646 • 5 Million +
History of Invention • Inventions of the: • Stone Age: axes, and tools made of stone People invented ways of creating pottery • Bronze Age: wheel, plow, irrigation and writing. These were the building blocks for later inventions.
• Iron Age: the screw pump,
History of Invention • Inventions of the: • The Industrial Revolution: (1750 1850) • Steam engine , telegraph, better ways to plant and grow crops • Information Age: vacuum tubes, transistors, used in television, computers
Discovery • A discovery is made when something that naturally occurs is first noticed.
•Electricity 1752 •Vacuums •Newton’s Laws of Motion 1666
Invention • An invention is a new idea, process, or device. Humans design and create inventions
Devices and Machines • Devices and machines . These are inventions with moving parts or electrical circuits used to do work.
Products • Products . These are manufactured artifacts. Examples of products include: • ink pens • sporting equipment • clothing • even artwork • pieces of music • food
Processes • Processes . These are new techniques and ways of doing things. • Processes can be changes in the way products are manufactured. • They can also be new techniques for performing surgeries, growing crops, or making medicines.
Processes
Problem Solving • Inventing follows a set of steps. It is a process. The process begins with a problem and ends with a solution.
Trouble Shooting • A technique used to find the cause of a problem in a technological system.
Experimentation • Problem solving step that is used to carry out tests on technological products and systems.
Review Identify the problem Collect Information Experiment Think Creatively
Problem • A problem is anything that can be made better through change. • Example: the time and effort it takes to mow the lawn is a problem.
Challenge • A challenge is also a problem.
• A challenge is an obstacle or goal that needs to be met.
• Example: to safely travel to the planet Mars.
Collect Information • Research Techniques used by Inventors: • Interview Experts .
• Read Books, Magazines, and Academic Journals .
Inventors keep up with and record their progress by keeping notebooks or personal journals.
Think Creatively • Requires the human brain.
• Inventors create: o sketches o o drawings charts o graphs To aid in the creative process.
Experiment • In this step the inventor builds inventions. They use drawings created in the last step.
• This step may take weeks or even years .
Review • After the invention works, inventors review their notebooks. They make sure that the invention solves the problem.
• If the invention does not solve the problem, the inventor starts over again with step one .
• If the problem is solved, the invention process is solved.
Why People Invent • #1 Social Inventions • #2 Financial Inventions • #3 Leisure Inventions
Social Inventions • Social inventions are created to help the inventor or other people. They make our lives better. These inventions impact society.
• Example: a jar opener for the elderly, vaccines for children
Financial Inventions • Most inventions are created to make money. These are called financial inventions. • Financial inventions often make things faster or easier to do.
• Example: Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin to process cotton faster.
Leisure Inventions • Leisure inventions are created for the pleasure of inventing. Inventors who like to tinker create things.
• Example: Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist who drew funny leisure inventions.
Innovation • Inventors do not always invent new devices. They often create innovations .
• Innovation is the process of altering an existing product or system to improve it.
Adaptations • Adaptations are developed when inventions are used for something other than the purposes for which they were intended.
• Medicines are adapted when used to treat ailments besides the one they were meant to cure.
Spin-offs • NASA has created over one thousand inventions that have been adapted to solve other problems. • These adaptations are known as spin-offs .
• Racecar drivers now use technology from space suits worn by Apollo astronauts. • Cordless power tools were first used in space.
• The suits firefighters wear are NASA spin-offs • Spin-offs are inventions that have been adapted to solve other problems.
Innovations and Adaptations • Innovations and adaptations make devices, products, and processes easier to use. They help to make inventions better and more useful. • Innovations are an important part of invention
Important Inventions • 20th Century Inventions
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