The Invention and History of the Telephone by Courtney Lamade

Unit Title: Changes in Technology

Currently, I teach third grade. As part of the curriculum, I have developed a unit on technology. Throughout the unit, students will learn how technology is used at home, school, and in the community. Furthermore, students will learn how this technology has changed over time and improved the community and quality of life. This particular activity is meant as an introductory activity in which the students will use the Internet to research famous inventors and their inventions that have become a large part of our everyday life.
Students should be paired up with a peer and each child or group should have access to a computer. This activity should take approximately three to four class periods to complete, including a time for sharing.
First, students will pull up the PowerPoint template. This template will consist of four slides. Each slide will have the name of a famous inventor on it (Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and the Wright Brothers). The students will use the Internet website http://www.factmonster.com/people.html to find out when the inventor lived, what he invented, and why it is an important invention. Once the students have found this information, they will include it on their PowerPoint slides. The students must also insert a picture representing the invention.
As students finish, they may go to http://pbskids.org/wayback/tech1900/index.html to find fun facts about early cars and telephones. Within this website the students will find information on how fast the first cars went and the requirements and working conditions of telephone operators. The students will include any information found on an additional “fun facts” slide in their PowerPoint. When the students have completed the PowerPoint, they will print it out in a handout form. As the teacher, I can collect and check over the PowerPoint handouts to ensure that the students found the correct information. Then, the students can use the handout as notes for future lessons and assessments. Once all projects are completed, allow students to share their slides, specifically the “fun facts’ slide.