Class: ESOL/GED

Topic: African-American Inventors

Computer Time: One hour

Objectives:

To explore and successfully use the Internet for research.

To practice reading, writing, and perhaps math skills.

To increase awareness of the contributions of African-American inventors.

Web Sites:

African-Americans in the Sciences / Inventors site:

http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/display/faces.html

African-American Inventors Bibliography site:

http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/display/faces.html

Lemelson-MIT Prize Program: African-American Inventors of Our Times:

http://web.mit.edu/invent

African-American Inventors Series:

http://www.erols.com/tdpedu/blkin.htm

Background

The group consists of six ESOL students at the ESOL Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences (SCALE), ages 18-23, in a GED preparatory class that meets 8 hours per week. Five of the students are from Haiti, and one is from Cape Verde.

Students have used the computers for word processing, to run instructional software programs, to send/receive e-mail, and to conduct research via the Internet. Students are accustomed to projects with an interdisciplinary focus. In this particular lesson, science, history, writing, and math are all involved.

Throughout our examination of U.S. History, students have been particularly interested in the social roles and contributions of African-Americans. We have sought out information about African-American freemen/women, slaves, soldiers, explorers, statesmen/women, abolitionists, and scholars. We are about to learn about the Industrial Revolution. Students will read about several famous inventors, including Alexander Graham Bell, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. They'll also read about two African-American inventors, Jan Matzeliger and Garrett Morgan.

Steps for Learners (a description of the process)

a. Investigate at least one of the listed Web sites.
b. Choose an intriguing invention and find out about both the invention and the inventor.

c. Share your information.

d. Choose one invention you think has made the most profound impact on the world and write a paragraph/essay (depending on level) to explain your choice.

e. Think of an invention that would make your life easier. It does not need to be something you can actually build -- just a fantasy invention. Draw the invention and describe what it does. (If resources allow, students could produce a model or do a scale drawing to practice proportions.)

Follow-up

I would like to create a Web page for this lesson with links to all the above Web pages to allow students to easily access the sites. In addition, students inventions could be posted either on a classroom or Web-based bulletin board. Students could write and edit text to accompany their drawings. For a Web posting, they could scan in their drawings. They could also create links to other interesting invention pages.

Students could choose a common electrical or mechanical device that they would like to understand and conduct research on the Web to determine how it works and share the information with the class. Students with knowledge about how things work could inform the class. Students could expand on their inventions and make projections about production costs or marketing. This could lead to discussions about patents, the stock market, and many other topics related to the business side of inventing.