BACKGROUND:
Science and inventions are similar
but different. Inventions find ways to use scientific principles in our
everyday life. Today, most scientists require college degrees and
laboratories to work in; but inventors just need a creative mind and an
ambition to create or make an object more efficient. Emphasize that our
society progresses technologically by INVENTIONS not by scientific
discoveries. An inventor is able to take science and make it usable.
Many scientists are also inventors; and many inventors are also
scientists. In human history many scientific breakthroughs were made
long before someone found a use for it. Students in kindergarten should
begin to distinguish between science and inventions.
Benjamin Franklin is a good example
of a famous person who was an inventor. He was a person who always
thought of ways to make life better for people. He invented a stove,
electricity, binoculars, and many other useful items. Mr. Franklin had
very little scientific training, but he was curious about how to make
things work better, or saw a need and invented something that filled
that need. Explain that Benjamin Franklin was also a key figure in
obtaining our freedom from England during the Revolutionary War.
PROCEDURE:
- Students will probably relate more
to the experiments of Benjamin Franklin Bunny. Tell students that the
bunnies' name comes from Benjamin Franklin, not the other way around.
- Mr. Bunny is trying to find a new
glue. As you read the book, go over Ben Franklin Bunny's reasoning. He
won't stop until he finds the right glue. You can use this book to show
that experiments don't always work; but that doesn't mean that you have
to give up.
- Inventions are usually created
because there is a need. Ben Franklin Bunny is an inventor because he is
very creative and he likes to experiment. Tell students they can invent
also, but ask their parents first!
- This book or a similar story will
help students think about the hands-on lab, which have the students
develop their own glue.
- As an added treat for students,
have them look at the "magic" substance at your desk. Make
this mixture prior to class. Mix corn starch (200 ml) and water (50 ml)
and stir. If you have never worked with corn starch before, experiment
prior to class. The mixture that you make is very mysterious. It looks
like a liquid yet you can pick it up. If you keep rolling it, the
substance will stay solid. Once you stop, it acts like a liquid. Have
the students look at it and play with it. This substance looks like
glue, but does not work as a glue....just a mess that Benjamin Franklin
Bunny would think up!
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