Inventors Toolkit

7/30/2019 Inventors Toolkit

1/22

Aut viam inveniam aut faciam


2/22

"I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun."

Thomas A. Edison, holder of U.S. patents for 1,093 inventions

Want to get started on your own invention?

This tool kit is packed with ways to spark your creativity.When you have ideas, sketch them in the blank pages at the back.

THIS BELONGS TO

_________________________________________________________________

INVENTOR'S TOOL KIT


3/22

3INVENTOR'S TOOL KIT

In the early 20th century, horse-drawn carriages and automobilesshared streets with pedestrians, which made streets dangerous.One day Garrett A. Morgan saw a car accident and asked himself

how it could have been prevented.

His answer? A traffic signal.

Do you have an invention that could make people safer?Sketch it in the back of this book.

The man who stopped traffic

"I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done." Marie Curie, scientist and Nobel Prize winner


4/22


In the early 1940s, the Swiss engineer George de Mestral wenthunting with his dog through the mountains. When he returnedhome, his clothes and his dog's fur were covered in small burrs.He wondered how the burrs stayed attached, so he looked at themunder a microscope and found that the burrs were covered withtiny hooks.

Inspired by the burrs, de Mestral invented an amazing hook-and-loop fastener that now goes by the brand name Velcro.

Has a plant or animal ever given you an idea for a new product?Visit our Inventor's Gallery at inventnow.org and tell us aboutyour idea!

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station."

George Washington Carver, inventor

An idea that stuck


5/22


Though Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he couldn'thave done it without his loyal assistant, to whom he made the firstphone call.

Friends can help you think of new inventions. To meet other younginventors and share your ideas, visit the Inventor's Gallery atinventnow.org.

"Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds."

Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone

Once upon a time, before text messages


6/22


Great inventors know that fun helps them stay creative. So whenEinstein wasn't solving the mysteries of the universe, he made

time for his favorite hobby, sailing.

The next time you're having trouble thinking of an idea, restyour brain and go play.

Ideas come when you least expect them!

Time for recess!

"When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all." Teddy Roosevelt, 26th U.S. President


7/22


Four hundred years ago in a small Dutch town, two childrenwere playing with lenses in a shop and found that they could

see better when they looked through one lens in front ofanother. The kids told the shop's owner about it, inspiring himto create the telescope.

The next time a happy accident gives you an idea, sketch itin the back of this book.

Kids with vision

"Eureka! I have found it."Archimedes, ancient Greek inventor after an accidental discovery


8/22


"Learning never exhausts the mind." Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance scientist, artist and inventor

DID YOU KNOW?

At birth, a panda is smaller than a mouse.

A human sneeze can travel at 120 miles per hour.

Forty is the only number with its letters in alphabetical order.

A jumbo jet is longer than the Wright brothers' first flight.

Houseflies hum in the key of F.

A honeybee travels about 43,000 miles to gather one pound of honey.

A golf ball has 336 dimples.

Tom Hanks is related to Abraham Lincoln.

The first hockey puck ever used was a frozen piece of cow poop.

The earliest surviving yo-yo dates to 500 BC.

Did you learn something else that's interesting today?

Maybe it will give you an idea for an invention!

Learning new things helps spark creativity.

Check out these fun facts!


9/22


Have you ever had a dream where you could fly?How about one where you could breathe underwateror jump over buildings? When you're dreaming, youcan go anywhere and do anything.

Keep a notebook and pen beside your bed andwrite down your dreams when you wake up.Then turn your amazing dreams into real inventions!

Dream it, build it

"If birds can glide for long periods of time, then...why can't I?"Orville Wright, coinventor of the airplane


10/22


Before you can actually make your invention, you'll need to try outa bunch of different ways to make it work. The early designs ofinventions are called prototypes. Inventors make a bunch of

prototypes before they have a final version of their creation.

Use the back pages of this book to make drawings of your ideas.Then share your ideas in the Inventor's Gallery at inventnow.org.

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."Albert Einstein, creator of the theory of relativity

Sharpen your pencil and open your mind


11/22


Almost 120 years ago, a PE teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts,was looking for an indoor game that would keep students in shapeduring the winter. He wasn't satisfied with the games that alreadyexisted, so he decided to create a new one. He nailed peachbaskets to each side of the gym, and had the students try to scorepoints by throwing a soccer ball into their team's basket.What started as a fun PE game in a small town is now one ofthe world's most popular sports.

Do you have an idea for a new sport? Visit inventnow.org andtake the Invent-A-Sport Challenge!

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunitiesbrilliantly disguised as insoluble problems."John W. Gardner, winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

How basketball was born


12/22


It took:

Six weeks to make the first airplane engine

Four years to paint the Sistine Chapel

22 years to build the Taj Mahal

and over 1,000 years to finish the Great Wall of China!It takes a lot of focus and patience to create an invention,but seeing your idea become a reality makes it all worth it.

Now that you've seen how inventors come up with new ideas,get started now on your own invention at inventnow.org!

"Genius is one percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration."Thomas A. Edison, inventor of the Edison lightbulb

Greatness takes time


13/22

NOTES


14/22

NOTES


15/22

NOTES


16/22

NOTES


17/22

NOTES


18/22

NOTES


19/22

NOTES


20/22

NOTES


21/22

NOTES


22/22

NOTES

Documents

Inventors Toolkit