Physical Science

Unit 3: Energy on the Move

Unit Project 1

Introduction:

Who invented the light bulb? Who was the more prolific inventor – Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla? Students will compare the careers of these two inventors to answer these questions.

Task:

Have students research the lives of Edison and Tesla. Instruct them to use a word processing or spreadsheet application to create a timeline that spans the years 1800-1950. They should include significant events in the lives and careers of these inventors, as well as important inventions and discoveries made by other people of that period.

Alternative:

Have students work in pairs. Create a single, large timeline for the class. Each pair of students will be responsible for recording timeline events for one of the decades from 1800-1950.  

Resources:

Thomas Edison

http://www.thomasedison.com/

http://edison.rutgers.edu/milan.htm

http://fi.edu/franklin/inventor/edison.html

http://www.edisonsark.org/Edison/index.htm

Nikola Tesla

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla

http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ins/index.html

http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jul/tesla.html

Historical milestones

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century

http://www.cbc.ca/kids/general/the-lab/history-of-invention/timeline.html

http://www.coe.uh.edu/archive/sstudies/sstudies_lessons/ssles5/inventions.html

Timeline Templates

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/results.aspx?qu=timelines

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