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missionfamily
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I want to do an American Inventors unit...we are in the Industrial Revolution era in our own history path but are going to look back at the Colonial and Revolutionary periods over the next eight weeks...so I figure we'll put an American Ingenuity spin on it...any ideas for my reading list?
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Colleen
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Mare
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| Posted: Sept 05 2008 at 1:33pm | IP Logged
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Colleen,
We are using The Ben Franklin Book of Easy and Incredible Experiments . My girls are enjoying the plans and the book very much. 
I'm also reading a bit each week from Great Inventors and Their Inventions by Frank Bachman. Here's a preview to see if this something that would work for your family. Not all are American inventors but a number of them are.
HTH,
Mare
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MaryM
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So Colleen, I have some ideas/suggestions but a question first. Are you specifically looking for American ingenuity/inventors of the Revolutionary & Colonial time periods only, or are you sticking with the Industrial Revolution timeframe and including American inventors of that time frame also?
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Mary M. in Denver
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missionfamily
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Mary--Yeah, I'm kind of going combining all time periods for this one in an effort to weave where we are chronologically back into the Serendipity story...go any and all time periods are up for grabs...can't wait for your suggestions.
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Colleen
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MaryM
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OK, this is going to be scattered and not as complete as I'd like, but it's what I'm thinking of right now. I'll add more later as I have a chance to figure out the other inventor biographies I really liked from the plethura that are out there.
Since an activities book for Ben Franklin has been mentioned, I'd add these from Chicago Review Press. This series always has great interactive ideas.
Thomas Edison for Kids
The Wright Brothers for Kids
There is also this other Ben Franklin activity book - Amazing Ben Franklin Inventions You Can Build Yourself.
I really like the picture book, Marvelous Mattie. Story of a woman inventor sometimes called the female Edison. I wish I could find more like this about obscure inventors.
For overviews of various inventors (not just American though), So you Want to be an Inventor? is a clever book. I also think this one looks good though I haven't read it yet - Hooray for Inventors (I judge books by their covers,  )
Colonial and Revoluntionary era
Benjamin Franklin:
Now and Ben
The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin
How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning
George Washington:
Farmer George Plants a Nation - great book! I suggest it because he had some interesting inventions for farming, including a round barn thresher (which you can see if you visit Mount Vernon)
Industrial Revolution era
A Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison
Robert Fulton: From Submarine to Steamboat
My Brothers' Flying Machine:Wilbur, Orville, and Me
Young Thomas Edison
I really like this interactive time line from the PBS series "The American Experience" - Technology Timeline. It has good basic info that can serve as a starting point to find out more about specfic inventors/inventions of interest.
And a couple other nice websites:
American Inventors
They Made America
Inventor of the Week
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Mary M. in Denver
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missionfamily
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Mary--You are once again, my superhero!
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Colleen
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MaryM
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| Posted: Sept 20 2008 at 1:29am | IP Logged
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Colleen, you me....but thanks for the kind words - researching history themes in picture and chapter books is one of my favorite pasttimes. So,I've been meaning to get back to this.
I did end up checking out the Hooray For Intentors book. It is a great book - very busy illustrations and fun to read. Each two page spread covers an inventor in a series of cute pictures with informational captions. It isn't just American inventors though. The American Inventors it does include are:
Thomas Edison
Alexander Graham Bell (story includes Meucci's contributions)
Wright Brothers
A couple of the pages are filled with short little one box blurbs about various inventors, including Americans. Wow, lots of great inventions. I learned a lot of inventor info I never knew.
We also picked up Queen of Inventions: How the Sewing Machine Changed the World. It's about Isaac Singer. My daughter the aspiring seamstress loved it - not sure if you'd get the same reaction from the boys (though there are some great old pics of tailors and of sailors using a sewing machine at sea).
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ALmom
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I had posted tons of biographies and lost my post. I think most are out of print so maybe it is just as well. I do have to mention one, though, it is American Science and Invention a Pictorial History by Mitchell Wilson. It is fabulous. I picked it up at the Friends of the Library booksale - one of my most reliable sources for great books. Our libraries don't seem to have anything - but their booksales are really fantastic and the price is always right. I buy so many books they have started taking my phone # to call me when they have books to dump  .
Janet
Janet
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MaryM
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The recent inventor thread reminded me of this one and I wanted to update with some really nice picture book biographies that have been recently published. There are additional new inventor books but am just listing the American Inventors here.
Going Up!: Elisha Otis's Trip to the Top (1811-1861)
Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea: A Fairly Fabricated Story of a Pair of Pants (1829-1902)
In the Bag!: Margaret Knight Wraps It Up (1838-1914)
All Aboard!: Elijah McCoy's Steam Engiine (1844-1929)
A Wizard from the Start (1847-1931)
It's a Snap!: George Eastman's First Photograph (1854-1932)
Odd Boy Out: Young Labert Einstein (1879-1955)
Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade (1880-1942)
Pop: The Invention of Bubble Gum (1905-1998)
The Boy Who Invented TV: The Story of Philo Farnsworth(1906-1971)
The Day Glo Brothers (1914-1997)
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Mary M. in Denver
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: American Inventors
