Unit Studies All About Inventors
Published:
October 29, 2019
Contributor:
Jeannette Tuionetoa
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Usually, a child’s ability to invent has a direct correlation to their available opportunities and the exposure to innovation in their environment. Isn’t that sad? We all know that some kids are just not exposed to innovation or aren’t encouraged to invent anything. We can get our kids motivated to create new things or to learn about cool inventions with these unit studies and resources all about inventors.
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), becoming an inventor in America relies on the exposure our kids have to innovation. I think that inevitably means that my kids will never be inventors because I can hardly think about making my bed in the mornings. There is no innovation in my home, just hard work, and grit.
Although I don’t like the odds, it doesn’t stop it from being true. Some specific characteristics and factors determine who becomes an inventor in America. These statistics, of which just came out in January 2019, had me concerned. Here are the odds that children are up against when it comes ever to become an inventor:
- Characteristics at birth, such as race, gender, and parent’s socioeconomic class, all define the opportunity your child will have to become an inventor.
- Kids from high-income families (top 1%) are ten times as likely to invent something as kids from low-income families. This is true even when the kids have similar math scores in early childhood.
- Environment plays a crucial role in kids becoming inventors. Kids whose families move to a high-innovation areas are more likely to become inventors. (These rule out many of us.)
Although these are pretty drastic odds, not all kids have to become inventors – thank goodness. That doesn’t diminish the need for the kids to study all about them. Some kids don’t even know there are still inventors out there.
There have been some significant and impressive inventions that your kids will love to learn about. Whether they are interested in creating things themselves or whether you would like them to learn about innovation in your homeschool, these unit studies all about inventors will be a great tool to use.
Check out these unit studies and resources to help you teach all about inventors this school year:
Inventors and inventions unit study | Sandra Balisky
FREE Famous Inventors/Invention Unit study | There’s No Place Like Home
Famous Inventors Online Unit Study | Techie Homeschool Mom
Black Inventors Unit Study | With the Huddlestons
Young Inventors STEM and Biography Unit (Includes Lessons) | Little Log Cottage School
Help Kids Develop a Growth Mindset through a Unit Study on Inventors | Real World Learning
Learning About Inventors | iHomeschoolNetwork.com
Scientists and Inventors Research Unit | Wife, Teacher, Mommy
Grab these resources all about inventors to go alongside your unit studies.
Famous Inventors Series (Albert Einstein)
Famous Inventors Series (The Wright Brothers)
Famous Inventors Series (James Watt)
FREE Inventors and Inventions Cheat Sheets
What is an Inventor / Inventors, Inventions, and Simple Machines| Confessions of a Teaching Junkie
Steps to Inventing / Where Would We be without Inventors? | First Grade Wow
Student-Friendly Inventor Research Projects | Southern Fried Teachin’
George Washington Carver | A Page out of History
Inventions Bingo | The Brighter Rewriter
Wright Brothers Biography Pack (Famous Inventors) | A Page Out of History
FREE Inventors Notebooking Pages | Blessed Beyond a Doubt
Who Was…Inventors Book List with FREE Printable | Peanut Butter Fish Lessons
Inventors Writing Activity and FREEBIE | Education to the Core
Famous Inventors & Inventions That Changed the World | Heart 2 Heart Teaching
FREE Inventors and Inventions Unit Studies
Alexander Graham Bell Biography Pack | A Page Out of History
Famous Inventors Series FREE Printables (Marie Curie)
I am not promising you will find your child inventing something amazing after these unit studies. What I am saying is that your child can get motivated to learn about inventors and their inventions with our help. I also think studying all about inventors should end or begin with the greatest inventor of all – God.
After all, how could we teach our kids all about inventors without speaking of the one who created it all? Teaching our kids about God the Creator is significant because it establishes the root to know that God is indeed the Creator of our universe and worthy to be praised. As you provide a unit study all about inventors, don’t forget the one who created the heavens and the earth. There is no more significant inventor than Him.
