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Famous for more than Five Minutes
Inventors

Meet the Wright Brothers and Leonardo da Vinci; discuss and order their inventions on a timeline. Start to ask ‘inventor questions’ that lead to inventions. Create technical drawings, design and build models and write tenders in role as inventors. Children present their inventions to the class.

Block Overview

Session 1 What do inventors do?

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Learn about the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

Design and Technology

  • Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking and drawing.

Teaching and Activities

‘Meet’ some famous inventors from the past. Order some significant inventors on a timeline. Match ‘inventor questions’ to actual inventions. Try and answer an ‘inventor question’ that has yet to be solved.

Teaching Outcomes
 To ‘meet’ some famous inventors from the past; To order some significant inventors on a timeline; To match ‘inventor questions’ to actual inventions.
To try and answer an ‘inventor question’ that is yet to be solved.

Children will:

  • Travel in a ‘time machine’ to meet a range of inventors and their inventions.
  • Create an inventors/inventions timeline.
  • Match inventor questions to actual inventions.
  • Try and answer an inventor question that is yet to be solved.

Provided Resources

  • Timeline era cards
  • Timeline inventor cards
  • Inventor question and answer cards
  • New inventor questions
  • Invention process chart

You Will Need

  • Notebooks

Weblinks

There are no weblinks needed for this session.

Session 2 Da Vinci and his parachute

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Learn about the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

Design and Technology

  • Design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria.
  • Evaluate ideas and products against design criteria.

Teaching and Activities

Meet da Vinci the inventor and learn about his parachute idea. Order transport inventions through time. Make da Vinci’s parachute and then design and make own parachutes.

Teaching Outcomes
 To meet Da Vinci the inventor and learn about his parachute idea; To order transport inventions through time.
To make Da Vinci’s parachute; To design and make their own parachute.

Children will:

  • Travel by aeroplane to meet Da Vinci in Italy.
  • Explore and order modes of transport through time.
  • Use Da Vinci’s parachute design to design and make their own parachutes.

Provided Resources

  • Airline tickets
  • Transport through time cards
  • Transport through time images
  • Da Vinci’s parachute

You Will Need

  • A range of ‘junk’ resources
  • String
  • Tape
  • Small plastic figures or small weights

Session 3 Da Vinci's inventions and technical drawings

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Learn about the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

Art and Design

  • Use drawing to develop and share their ideas.

Design and Technology

  • Design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria.
  • Select from and use a wide range of materials and components, according to their characteristics.
  • Evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria.

Teaching and Activities

Look at copies of da Vinci’s transport designs as technical drawings. Complete a technical drawing of a vehicle. Make a model of one of da Vinci’s transport designs using variousfixings.

Teaching Outcomes
 To look at copies of Da Vinci’s transport designs as examples of technical drawings.
To complete a technical drawing of a vehicle.
To make a model of one of Da Vinci’s transport designs using various fixings.

Children will:

  • Explore Da Vinci’s transportation designs.
  • Do a technical drawing of a model helicopter or glider, including fixings.
  • Try out a range of fixings.
  • Create a mock-up of one of Da Vinci’s transportation designs using a range of fixings.

You Will Need

  • Invention process chart (from session 1)
  • Various types of fixing
  • Drawing equipment, including 2B pencils and good-quality paper
  • Construction kits
  • A range of junk resources

Session 4 Testing planes with the Wright Brothers

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Learn about the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

Design and Technology

  • Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking and mock-ups.
  • Evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria.

Teaching and Activities

Learn about the lives of the Wright brothers. Make and test paper aeroplanes.

Teaching Outcomes
 To learn about the lives of the Wright brothers.
To make and test paper aeroplanes.

Children will:

  • Travel by aeroplane to meet the Wright brothers in America.
  • Make and test a range of paper aeroplanes.

Provided Resources

  • Airline tickets
  • Da Vinci’s gliders
  • The Wright brothers’ glider
  • The Wright brothers’ aeroplane
  • Evolution of the Wright brothers’ designs

You Will Need

You do not need any particular resources for this session.

Session 5 Making vehicles move

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Learn about the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

Design and Technology

  • Design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria.
  • Evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria.
  • Explore and use mechanisms in their products.

Teaching and Activities

Explore historic engines / mechanisms that make things move. Design and make a mode of transport using a simple 'stored energy’ (rubber-band) mechanism.

Teaching Outcomes
 To explore historic engines/mechanisms that make things move.
To design and make a mode of transport using a simple ‘stored energy’ (rubber band) mechanism.

Children will:

  • Explore a range of mechanisms and engines that the Wright brothers and other inventors have used to make their designs move.
  • Design and make their own vehicles using a rubber-band mechanism.

Provided Resources

  • The Wright brothers’ engine
  • Power cards
  • Rubber-band vehicles

You Will Need

  • Invention process chart (see session 1)
  • Rubber bands
  • Marker pens
  • Corrugated card
  • Duct tape
  • Old or blank CDs
  • Thin wooden skewers
  • Styrofoam or modelling clay
  • A range of junk resources
  • Various types of fixing

Session 6 Applying for an inventor's tender

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

History

  • Learn about the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

English

  • Compose sentences orally before writing them.
  • Use subordinations and co-ordinations (e.g. ‘and’, ‘then’, ‘because’, ‘if’).
  • Note down key words and ideas.
  • Write for different purposes.
  • Evaluate writing with the teacher.

Teaching and Activities

Identify the qualities of historic inventors. Draft and redraft a letter of application for an inventor’s tender.

Teaching Outcomes
 To identify the qualities of historic inventors.
To draft and redraft a letter of application for an inventor’s tender.

Children will:

  • Identify the traits that made Da Vinci and the Wright brothers great inventors of their time.
  • Draft and re-draft a tender application for an ‘inventor question’ that has yet to be solved, using some ‘technical’ terms.

Provided Resources

  • Images of Da Vinci and the Wright brothers
  • Inventor description cards
  • Invitation to tender
  • Example tender letter

You Will Need

You do not need any particular resources for this session.

Weblinks

There are no weblinks needed for this session.

Session 7 Becoming an inventor

Session plan Download all files

Objectives

Art and Design

  • Use drawing to develop and share their ideas.

Design and Technology

  • Design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria.
  • Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology.
  • Evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria.

Teaching and Activities

Create a technical drawing of own design. Design, make and present an invention.

Teaching Outcomes
 To create a technical drawing of their design.
To design, make and present an invention.

Children will:

  • Complete a technical drawing of their own invention.
  • Create a mock-up or prototype of their own invention.
  • Present their own invention to the class.

Provided Resources

  • Sample tender acceptance letter
  • Da Vinci’s technical drawings
  • The Wright brothers’ technical drawings

You Will Need

  • Invention process chart (see session 1)
  • Drawing equipment, including 2B pencils and good-quality paper
  • A range of junk resources
  • Various types of fixing

Weblinks

There are no weblinks needed for this session.

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