CLIL Activity P2 Inventions

LITTLE-GREAT INVENTIONS
Introduction
This activity provides a variety of tasks, taking into account the learning
purpose and learner styles and preferences. As recommended from a CLIL
perspective, receptive skill activities are of the 'read/listen and do' genre.
Inventions are new ideas for useful things. We want the students to be
aware of the fact that most inventions make our lives easier but there are
a few of them that can be dangerous (such as guns, atomic bombs and gun
powder). We also want them to learn that every year lots of new inventions
are invented to help us in our daily lives.
You will need:
A copy of Worksheet 1 and Worksheet 2 for each student.
Optional Activity: An enlarged colour copy of Worksheet 3 or a copy
for every pair of students.
A copy of Worksheet 4 for every group.
Instructions:
1. Start the activity by telling the students they are going to
investigate and learn a bit more about inventions.
2. Then ask the students questions about the topic (do you know what

an invention is? Do you know of any important invention? And the

name of a famous inventor?). If they answer, they would probably
tend to mention inventions and inventors from the past. Tell them
that all the tools we use everyday have been invented by someone in
the past and that new inventions are been patented every year.
3. If possible, visit any of the following websites where you will find
extra information:
http://www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/15-science/86-inventors-ainventions.html (Fast facts about inventors and inventions).
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/ (Inventors and inventions
by letters).

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0004637.html
(A
Guide
to
Inventions and Discoveries: From Adrenaline to the Zipper).
4. To get the students attention, you can also visit the following
website with a list of inventions made in 2004, the year in which
most 2nd graders were born.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1940424,00.html
5. Tell the students you are going to read a text with information about
different inventions. Ask them to listen as they will have to fill in a
table later. Read Worksheet 1 (Little-Great Inventions) and ask the
students what they have understood.
6. Give each student a copy of Worksheet 1 and Worksheet 2. Tell
them it is time to read the text on their own looking for the
necessary information to fill in the table (Worksheet 2). The
students should find out the who (inventor), the what (invention) and
the when (year) of the invention. While they complete the task, move
around helping and praising them for their efforts.
7. Optional Activity: Show the students an enlarged copy of Worksheet
3 (or give a copy for every pair of students) and ask them if they
know the names of those inventions and why they are important in
our lives.
8. Talk about the inventions in the text and in the optional activity (if
you have done it): Are they all important in our daily lives? Which one

do you think is more important? What do you think people did before
those inventions were invented?
9. Divide the class in groups of two-three students to make a survey to
the teachers in the school or their own families. Give each group a
copy of Worksheet 4 and time to ask the questions and write the
answers (during playtime or at any other time you may find
convenient).
10. Once each group has completed the survey and are back to class,
put all the ideas in common and decide which invention has been
chosen to be the most important invention in our daily lives: Do all

people agree? Do adults have the same opinion as kids? What about
the rest of your classmates survey? Exchange results and draw a
diagram with the information from every group and display it where
the students can see it. When the activity is finished, the students

have learnt there are things that can be very important for a group
of people and not so for other ones, and to respect everyones
opinion.
________________________________________________________________Worksheet 1

LITTLE-GREAT INVENTIONS

An invention is defined as a device, method or process developed

from study and experimentation.
Most of the time an invention is created because of a need, but
sometimes a device is invented before there is a need.
Some of the most important inventions are considered to be the
cotton gin, the automobile, the telephone, the electric light, the
printing press, the steam engine, the camera, the computer, the
sewing machine and the television.
But there are other inventions that have changed our lives. Can
you imagine a life with no crayons, paper clips, blue jeans or toilet
paper?
The first pair of blue jeans were invented in 1873 by Jacob
Davis and Levi Strauss, two visionary immigrants, turned
denim, thread and a little metal into the most popular clothing
product in the world.
Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chips and
chocolate chip cookies in 1930.
Chupa Chups is a lollipop company
founded by the Catalan Enric Bernat
in 1958. He got the idea of a
"bonbon with a stick" from an angry
mother as her child got sticky hands
from melting sweets.
Dr. John Stith Pemberton was
an American pharmacist, soldier, and inventor who
invented Coca-Cola in 1886.

The paper clip was invented in 1899 or 1890 by a Norwegian patent

clerk called Johann Vaaler.

Crayola brand crayons were the

first
kids
crayons ever made, invented by cousins, Edwin Binney
and Harold Smith. The brand's first box of
eight Crayola crayons made its debut in 1903.
The eight colours were black, brown, blue,
red, purple, orange, yellow, and green.
The game of basketball was invented
by James Naismith, a Canadian physical
education instructor who invented the game in 1891 so that his
students could participate in sports during the winter.
Joseph Gayetty invented toilet paper in 1857.
Before his invention, people tore pages out of
mail order catalogues - before catalogues were
common, leaves were used.

________________________________________________________________Worksheet 2

WHO invented WHAT?

WHO?

WHAT?

WHEN?

Joseph Gayetty

CRAYONS

LOLLIPOP

1886

Ruth Wakefield

BASKETBALL

1890

BLUE JEANS

________________________________________________________________Worksheet 3

DO YOU KNOW THEIR NAMES?

There are many inventions that help us in our daily lives. Below
there are pictures with some of the most important inventions of
the twentieth century. Do you know their names?

____________________________________
____________________________Worksheet
4

WHICH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INVENTION?

Make a survey to find out which is the most important invention for people
around you. Fill in the chart by writing the name of the person who answers
your questions and the following criteria:
(1) VERY IMPORTANT (2) IMPORTANT (3) NOT VERY IMPORTANT (4) IRRELEVANT (5) USELESS

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Blue jeans
Toilet
paper
Coca-cola
Chocolate
chips
cookies
Basketball
Crayons
Paper clip
Lollipop
Light bulb
Fridge
Computer
Television
Ball pen
Mobile
phone
Telephone
Microwave
Other
(write it)

Survey made by ___________________________________________