Famous Inventor Series: Free Printables, Unit Studies and Hands On Activities – Thomas Edison

Published:
May 4, 2017

Sarah Shelton

Contributor:
Sarah Shelton

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Thomas Edison has been described as America’s greatest inventor. He was born on February 11th, 1847. He was the youngest of 7 children, and he was also homeschooled! Enjoy these FREE Printables, Unit Studies and Hands-On Activities about Thomas Edison.

Thomas Edison

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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 Thomas Edison.

Thomas Edison invented many devices that made a huge impact on how Americans lived. He created the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long lasting electrical light bulb! He created so many things that the had over 1,000 patents! Check out all of these FREE Printables, Unit Studies and Hands-On Activities about Thomas Edison.

FREE Printables:
Thomas Edison’s Inventions Coloring Page
Thomas Edison Coloring Page
Thomas Edison Inventor Info and Coloring Page
Thomas Edison Historical Hero Reading Passage and Worksheet
Thomas Edison Reading Primary Source
Thomas Edison Coloring Page with Handwriting Practice
The Invention of the Lightbulb Little Book
Thomas Edison Printable Biography

Unit Studies:
FREE Thomas Alva Edison Unit Study from There’s No Place Like Home
Slideshow Timeline of Thomas Edison and his inventions on Soft Schools
Edison’s Incandescent Lightbulb: A Unit Study from Home Hearts
Thomas Edison Lesson Plans: How Inventions Build Upon Each Other from Brain Pop Educators

Thomas Edison Lapbook
Thomas Edison Lapbook

Websites:
Thomas Edison.com is a website full of Thomas Edison quotes, a gallery, biography pages and many articles of his inventions and creations.
These quotes would be great to use for copywork.

Thomas Edison Inventor from Biography.com

Thomas Edison Inventions from History.com

Thomas Edison’s Inventive Life Biography and inventions from the Smithsonian.

Resources for Homeschool Teachers from Edison Muckers.

Hands-On Activities:
Here are 4 top-quality science project downloads from the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation. Links to all of the projects with photos and descriptions can be found at Home Hearts.

The Improvement of the Electric Lightbulb hands-on experiment from Following the Path of Discovery.

Teaching STEM with Thomas Edison from Edison Muckers.

Build a Lightbulb from Steve Spangler Science.

Here are some fun videos that would go along great with a study of Thomas Edison:
The History of Thomas Edison: A Short Story

Thomas Edison Lightbulb Experiment

First and Second Grade Social Studies Lessons for Kids: Thomas Edison

 

Here are some great books on Thomas Edison that your children will love:

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