Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
New innovations can change our lives in many ways. Change can be very exciting and can sometimes be a little scary.
Inventions give us new tools to use to make our lives easier and more enjoyable. They can save us a lot of time and
energy and open up new doors and possibilities. They can also present challenges for us to overcome. Quest Atlantis
challenges members to engage change in ways that are beautiful, positive, and wise.
Introduction
In this unit,
Questers will
explore inventions
and inventors and
explore the
process of creating
new tools,
machines, games
and toys that make
our lives better and
more enjoyable.
Page 2
MCREL
Standards
Goals &
Benchmarks
The MCREL
Standards for this
unit come from the
sections on
Language Arts and
Technology
Standards and
Benchmarks
Standard 3, Level
II for grades 4-6.
The goal of this
unit is to have
Questers
demonstrate an
understanding of
the process of
inventing, the
impact of some
inventions and to
create new
inventions of their
own.
Page 3
Page 4
Activities
Teacher Tips
This Unit contains
seven activities
related to
inventions and
inventors. The
culminating activity
has the Questers
design, develop,
and share
inventions of their
own.
Teacher Tips for
this Unit contain
notes for teachers
to use in the
activities of this
Unit.
Pages 5 - 11
Page 12
Assessment – The appended questions and rubric may be used to assess the work of
the activities in this unit. You may choose to create a supplementary rubric for some of the
activities.
Page 13-15
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
1 Week Plan
3
3rd – 5
4th
6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Introduction
“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."
-- Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), American inventor who patented more than 1,000 inventions
Inventions are original tools, machines, games, toys or devices that help us in our lives as we work and play. They represent
the indelible curiosity and creativity of the human spirit. They can profoundly impact human history or might provide a moments
distraction and may come with unanticipated consequences.
Inventions present a wonderful opportunity for educators. They can be used to frame lessons about sciences, math, history,
social studies, art, diversity and multi-culturalism, and other content areas. Inventions can also be a wonderful vehicle for the
stimulation of creativity. This unit contains a number of activities about inventions and the people who create them.
Questers begin by examining what an invention is and is not. They then go on to explore famous inventors and their
contributions to the world. They then make some choices about which inventions have made the greatest impact while
exploring a timeline of important inventions in human history. Questers then choose an invention and explore its development in
depth. They then question the impact of inventions that are a part of our daily lives by considering what our lives would be like
without them. Then, in preparation for the final activity of this unit, Questers are asked to identify a problem of some sort in our
lives or in society and consider how a new invention of some sort could make our lives better by alleviating us of this problem.
Finally, the Questers are asked to create an invention of their very own.
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
1 Week Plan
3
3rd – 5
4th
6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
MCREL Standards (Standard 3, Level
II Grade: 4 –6; Standard 8 Level II Grade: 3-4)
Standard 3
Understands the relationship among science, technology, society and the individual
Level II Grade: 4-6
2. Knows areas in which technology has improved human lives (e.g., transportation, communication, nutrition, sanitation, health care,
entertainment)
3. Knows that new inventions often lead to other new inventions and ways of doing things
4. Knows that new inventions reflect people’s needs and wants, and when these change, technology changes to reflect the new needs
and wants
Standard 8
Understands major discoveries in science and technology, some of their social and economic effects, and the major scientists
and inventors responsible for them
Level II Grade : 3-4
4. Knows about technological inventions and developments that evolved during the 19th century and the influence of these changes on the
lives of workers
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language
/ Technology
BehavioralArts
Studies
/ Civics
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Goals
The goals of this Unit are to have Questers demonstrate understandings of:
ƒ
the process of developing a new idea or innovation and making it into a finished product
ƒ
some modern inventions and their impact on society throughout the world
ƒ
famous inventors and their contributions
Further, Questers will design and develop working inventions or models of new inventions.
QA Benchmarks
ƒ
The child should accomplish tasks that develop her or his creative abilities and aspirations.
ƒ
The child should demonstrate an appreciation for the complexity of events implications and consequences.
ƒ
The child should be able to articulate ways individuals and communities can impact local and global change.
ƒ
The child is committed to addressing global issues by way of solving local problems.
ƒ
The child should make connections between academic content and the real world.
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Activity 1:
The “What is an Invention?” Activity
This activity will help you kick off the unit. The idea is to get your students thinking about what is an invention, where they come
from, and what is their purpose(s). The concept of invention is much more complicated than it may look on the surface. One
good activity is to first have students break up into groups with the goal of describing what an invention is. Specifically, they
should first list its critical attributes; that is, what are the things that must exist for something to be considered an invention.
Second, they might list two or three examples of inventions and one non-example. Third, they should produce a definition of
invention. You might want to give them a handout to complete with spaces for these three things. You might also want to assign
one student as a note-taker, another as a facilitator to keep everything on track, and finally a speaker to share what they
learned with the rest of the class.
After each group lists their critical attributes, their examples (and non-examples), and a definition you should bring them back
together as an entire class. Have the speaker of each group share what they wrote. Then you should provide a definition of an
invention, a listing of its critical attributes, and some examples (simple to hardest) in inventions. This activity creates a nice
introduction to the larger unit. At the end of the class you could mention to the students that in this unit they will be researching
cool inventions, famous inventors, and eventually even building their own inventions.
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Activity 2:
Famous Inventors
Inventions are called inventions because they involve making something new. It takes creativity, vision, and research to make an invention.
In Atlantis, we have many really cool inventors. These people have noticed a problem, carried out research on the problem, dreamed up a
solution, and then made their invention.
Alim and Kerbe actually invented the OTAK to communicate with you on Earth. They saw the problem when the Arch of Wisdom was
destroyed and knew that we needed help. One night, while listening to music and talking about the problem and sipping some wheatgrass
they had the idea of building the OTAK. From there, the rest of the Council helped to make it happen. There are lots of great inventors in
our world and in yours. We want to know more about these great inventors. Who are these people? Where are they from? What is their life
like? Why did they invent what they did? What did they invent?
Deliverables
Pick two great inventors. (Try not to pick just the famous ones. But pick two inventors from different backgrounds or maybe pick one male
and one female.)
Describe who they are as people and what their life was like?
Also, make sure you describe what they invented and why!
Then, make a Famous Inventors poster. Upload your work to the OTAK.
Resources
Inventors Index
Invent Now Hall of Fame
MIT Inventors Page
Ben Franklin
http://inventors.about.com/cs/famousinventors/
http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/1_1_search.asp
http://web.mit.edu/invent/I-archive.html
http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/inventor/inventor.html
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Activity 3:
Cool Inventions
In Atlantis, we have been a little obsessed with inventing new gadgets. It seems like every week there is some new music
player being introduced. Last week, Mara shared this new telecommunication machine with which you could not only talk to the
other person and send video of yourself instantly, but you could send over smells through the machine—no farting. They say
we will have time travel invented by the end of the year.
In this Quest, we want to know more about inventions in your world. Can you develop an inventions timeline of the20th century
and share it with us? We hear there has been a lot of cool inventions in your world and we are excited to learn about them.
Also, pick two of these inventions that you think are the most important and tell us why you think these are the two most
important inventions in your world.
Goals
Develop a timeline of the various inventions of the 20th century.
Choose two inventions that you think are the most important and describe why.
Upload your work to the OTAK.
Resources:
History of the Invention:
http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?once=true&site=http://www.cbc.4kids.ca/general/the-lab/history-of-invention/default.html
American Experience:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/timeline/index.html
Historical Inventions:
http://inventors.about.com/library/blindex.htm?once=true&
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Activity 4:
Invention Report
There are so many cool inventors and inventions out there. While we use many of these inventions, have you ever researched the history
of any one invention? If you watched the Legend video you learned a little bit about the history of the OTAK. In a nut shell, we the Council
designed it with whatever parts we could find and used some DNA gel packs that Kirbe and Alim created. To develop these gel packs they
first had to go out and do some research on existing computers. We had to do much of it in secret.
We want to know about inventors and inventions on Earth. In this Quest, you can use the resources below or other resources you know
about to pick one really cool invention. Then, fill out the Invention Report Outline handout below so that we can learn from you about this
invention. Lastly share your outline with us so we and other kids around the world can learn from you.
Goals
•
•
•
•
•
Choose one invention to research.
Learn all about the invention and the inventor who developed it.
Download the Invention Report Outline and fill it out.
Upload your completed Invention Report Outline to the OTAK.
Complete the reflection telling us why you think you did a good job completing your outline and your information is accurate.
Resources
History of the Invention:
http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?once=true&site=http://www.cbc.4kids.ca/general/th-lab/history-of-invention/default.html
American Experience:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/timeline/index.html
Historical Inventions:
http://inventors.about.com/library/blindex.htm?once=true&
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Activity 5: What If It Never Happened?
Sometimes it is fun to imagine what life would have been like had an event not happened. There are so many things that have
been invented that have changed the world. Imagine if the telephone was never invented? What about the music player, or the
Lantian teleporter, or vaccines for diseases?
In this Quest, we want you to learn about a bunch of inventions and the impact of these inventions on your world. Then, we
want you to choose one invention and imagine what your world would be like without it. You can then develop a song, a mural,
or even a story that shows or describes what life would have been like if this invention never occurred.
Deliverables
Choose one Invention
Develop a song, mural, or story that shows or describes what life would have been like if this invention never occurred.
Upload your work to the OTAK.
Resources
American Experience
Historical Inventions
Forgotten Inventors
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/timeline/index.html
http://inventors.about.com/library/blindex.htm?once=true&
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/sfeature/index.html
History of the Invention: http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?once=true&site=http://www.cbc.4kids.ca/general/thlab/history-of-invention/default.html
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Activity 6: The Sky is the Limit
There are many social problems in the world. Some are easily addressed and some take lots and lots of studies. Some of the vaccines
developed in Atlantis have really helped the quality of our life. The ability to write ideas down and share them through our e-books has
really helped society as well. Also, the ability to recycle has helped save our environment. Finally, some ideas like freedom of speech has
also helped our society become more open. Another important idea is that people are innocent until proven guilty.
What are some problems on Earth that you think need to be fixed. For this Quest you are to develop an invention, which could even be an
idea like democracy, to help a problem that you care about. We look forward to reading what you come up with.
Deliverables:
•
•
•
•
Choose a social problem that you care about.
Develop an invention that could make this better (Remember be creative. It could be an idea, a song, a concept, or a gadget. THE
SKY IS THE LIMIT!)
Describe the problem and your invention.
Upload your work to the OTAK.
Resources:
Historical Inventions:
Forgotten Inventors:
Young Inventors:
Ben Franklin:
http://inventors.about.com/library/blindex.htm?once=true&
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/sfeature/index.html
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa060797.htm?once=true&
http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/inventor/inventor.html
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Activity 7: My Invention
In Atlantis, there are so many really cool inventions. For example, the water filter, the Cyber Music Player, the Laser-Based Retina phone,
and the gel-pack DNA computer—the DNA allows this computer to actually learn. These inventions have changed Atlantis in many ways,
sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The Council actually developed a gel-pack DNA computer called the OTAK, which
allows us to communicate with you on Earth. Inventions can be either small or large, but they all can make a big difference in our lives. We
want to know about an invention that you made. In this Quest, you get to be an inventor, developing an invention to address an important
problem in your world. You can use the html links below and the Your Invention Handout to help you plan, design, and build your invention.
Deliverables
•
•
•
•
Brainstorm a list of invention ideas and decide on the invention you will create.
Keep an Invention Log to share with the Council (download the Your Invention Handout below to learn what you should put in your
Invention Log).
Build your invention and take a picture to share with the Council.
Upload your picture and your filled out Invention Log to the OTAK so others can learn about your invention.
Resources
Your Individual Invention Handout
Use the “invention” link of the Inventors and Inventions Theme page—it goes to the Girl Tech site.
a) Becoming an Inventor
http://mustang.coled.umn.edu/inventing/inventing.html
b) Young Inventors
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa060797.htm?once=true&
c & d) Also, go to the Invention Dimension link or the Theme page and check out the “Sites for Kids” and “Resources for the Inventor.”
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Quest Atlantis Unit Plan
Language Arts / Technology
Inventions
3 Week Plan
4th – 6th Grades
“Advances in Technology”
Teacher Tips
1. The topic of inventions lends itself to many wonderful ideas and activities. One of these is diversity. Inventors from
different genders and ethnic backgrounds could be highlighted such as Katherine Blodgett, the inventor of modern
eyeglasses and Garrett A. Morgan, the African American inventor who invented the traffic light and the gas mask.
2. The contrast between inventions and discoveries should be highlighted at the outset as Questers explore inventions in
the first activity.
3. The act of actually creating an invention could begin with a homework assignment in which Questers identify needs in
their own lives and in the lives of those around them. Once they can identify needs, it may be easier to imagine
something that will help people deal with this need.
4. Inventions, like ripples in a pond created by a pebble, can create far reaching effects and consequences. The potential
negative aspects of certain inventions (or possibly even the Questers’ inventions) could be discussed. For example, the
automobile makes our lives much easier in many ways but people have serious accidents using them and they
contribute to pollution and the creation of roads which also impact the environment. The lives of people who live near
roads are affected in many ways as well. The unintended impact of inventions is often as interesting as the inventions
themselves.
5. If a Quester has a good idea for an invention but it is too complicated, they could be encouraged to create a model of it
instead. However, the inventions should be feasible with current technology and fulfill some sort of practical need.
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INVENTIONS UNIT ASSESSMENT
Pre-Post Items (a)
Short Answer:
1. What is an invention? Explain why they are important.
2. Who are two inventors? Describe what they invented and how it impacted the world.
3. What do you think are the top two inventions ever created? Describe the inventions, why
they were invented, who invented them, and why you think they were important?
Performance-Based Task:
4. Create an invention timeline and list as many inventions as you can.
5. Think of an important problem in the world and an invention that would make it better.
Describe both the problem and the invention that you think would make it better. Also,
describe the process you would have to go through to actually make this invention.
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INVENTIONS UNIT ASSESSMENT
Pre-Post Items (b)
Short Answer:
1. What is an invention? Explain why they are important.
2. Who are two inventors who were women? Describe what they invented and how their
inventions impacted the world.
3. What do you think are the top two inventions ever created? Describe the inventions, why
they were invented, who invented them, and why you think they were important?
Performance-Based Task:
4. Often time, on invention leads to another. For example, the invention of the wheel led to
the invention of the cart. The invention of the cart led to the invention of the chariot, and
so on. Write down one invention and then make a list of other inventions that it led to
later on.
5. Sometimes bad things can happen because of an invention. Choose one invention that
was made to make the world a better place but had negative consequences that its
inventor(s) didn’t expect.
QA Rubric
Reviewer:
Quester:
__________________________________
__________________________________
Date:
Quest:
__________________________________
__________________________________
Purpose: This rubric is to assess both the quest response and reflection according to the rubric below.
Instructions: Respond to each of the following statements with regard to the extent to which the
description is present in the work. Then, tally your responses according to the chart at the page
bottom. Note that while a Quester is completing her first few Quests, consider using this rubric
leniently to foster motivation and buy-in.
1. Response
5 pts.
4 pts.
3 pts.
2 pts.
1 pt.
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
a. The response is Accurate.
(It addresses the targeted goals of the quest.)
b. The response is Credible.
(It uses sound disciplinary content.)
c. The response is Meaningful.
(It has value for the individual or world.)
d. The response is Original.
(It is unique, imaginative, and risky, and it
shows integrity.)
e. The response is Complete.
(It addresses all of the stated goals.)
If the tally for the response totals less than 19, indicate that the section should be revised; if the tally is 19
or above, then indicate that the work has been accepted.
2. Reflection
5 pts.
4 pts.
3 pts.
2 pts.
1 pt.
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
a. The reflection is Complete.
(It addresses the three components.1)
b. The reflection is Critical.
(It addresses specific strengths or
weaknesses of the response or the process.)
c. The reflection is Comprehensive.
(It accounts for all parts of the response rather
than isolated elements.)
If the tally for the reflection totals less than 10, indicate that the section should be revised; if the tally is 10
or above, then indicate that the work has been accepted.