Famous Inventor Series: Free Printables, Unit Studies and Hands On Activities – Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in Croatia. His interest in electricity began at a young age when his mother invented small household appliances. His father was a priest, but Tesla wanted to stick with science. Enjoy these FREE Printables, Unit Studies, and Hands-On Activities about the life and work of famous inventor Nikola Tesla.

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If you enjoy unit studies in your homeschool you will love this series on famous inventors. Inventions are fascinating and inventors are so much fun to learn about. It is a great conversation when you talk to your kids about the inventions that were created and what our world would be without these things. Makes for a great history lesson and a lesson on appreciating what we have!

In this series I will be highlighting some well known inventors with free printables, unit studies and hands-on activities that pertain to the particular invention the inventor created. Your kids will love learning about these famous inventors and their inventions that have made a huge impact on how we live our lives today!

This week we are learning about Nikola Tesla.

Nikola Tesla had the idea for the induction motor, but it did not take off, so he moved to the United States when he was 28 years old. He worked alongside Thomas Edison helping him to improve his inventions. Tesla is not given enough credit for the inventions that he created, and he was often discredited.

His dream was to provide free electricity to the world. He had over 700 patents in his lifetime, some of the famous inventions attributed to Tesla are the Rotating Magnetic Field, Tesla Coil, Alternating Current, Remote Control, Radio, and much more! Explore these FREE Printables, Unit Studies, and Hands-On Activities about the life and work of famous inventor Nikola Tesla.

FREE Printables:
Nikola Tesla Coloring Page
Nikola Tesla Biography Worksheet
Nikola Tesla Wordsearch
Nikola Tesla Quizzes and Worksheets

Online Unit Studies and Websites:

PBS has free online lesson plans at Tesla for Teachers, as well as a page called Inside the Lab where you can explore his inventions and see a virtual tour of the Niagra Power System. You can also learn about Tesla’s Remote Control.

Nikola Tesla and the Electric Fair free online comic book from Physics Central  for middle school students.

Learn about the Tesla Coil, music and fashion with this online study on how tesla coils work with music. There are some really neat videos your teens will love from Physics Central.

The Tesla Society has great links and videos of Tesla’s creations:
Read about the Tesla Coil, with links to see it in action. Learn about Tesla’s Induction Motor and about Tesla’s basic Radio Design.

Learn about Tesla and his legacy at the Nikola Tesla Museum and see 3D Models of his inventions.

Nikola Tesla facts from Science Kids.

Nikola Tesla Facts from Kids Press Magazine.

Here are some fun videos that would go along great with a study of Nikola Tesla:

Nikola Tesla Song

Ten Things you didn’t know about Tesla

Books on Nikola Tesla: