“If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves….”– Thomas Edison
At Envision we believe in light switch moments -- where our students get excited about a topic or potential career path and it sparks a passion or a ‘light switch’ for them. In honor of these light switch moments, we hope to help you spark some creativity in your students by learning about Thomas Edison, lightbulbs and the ingenuity it takes to invent something.
Thomas Edison had patents for over 2,000 for his inventions, which earned him the nickname “The Wizard of Menlo Park”. His most famous inventions are the phonograph, the motion picture camera and helped produce the first commercially viable lightbulb. He also created the industrial research and development laboratory at Menlo Park.
Fun Facts on Edison:
- His favorite holiday was Independence Day.
- Edison’s lab associates were called “Muckers”.
- His first patent was for an electronic voting machine in 1868.
- Twenty-three other people invented lightbulbs before Edison.
- He was deaf.
- He started out as a telegraph operator and proposed to his first wife by Morse Code!
- Edison’s film studio made almost 1,200 films.
Edison operated on four simple principles throughout his life, taught by his mother:
- Never get discouraged if you fail. Learn from it. Keep trying.
- Learn with both your head and hands.
- Not everything of value in life comes from books-experience the world.
- Never stop learning. Read the entire panorama of literature.
Explore these great lesson plans on Thomas Edison, lightbulbs and/or inventing:
Thomas Edison National Historical Park – If you live near West Orange, NJ, take your class to the Laboratory Complex for a field trip but if not the National Park Service has two lessons for in the classroom. One looks at the invention process and challenges students to think of what it takes to be an inventor.
Edison Muckers – This is a great site devoted to Edison from the Edison Innovation Foundation. There is information on Edison as well as resources for teachers and students on innovation and STEM. Their resources for teacher page has great lessons on design challenges and how to use problem solving and innovation in your classroom.
The National Endowment for the Humanities has a lesson for 3-5th graders on Edison’s Inventions and how they are used today. This lesson gets students to think about technology both today in and 1900, learn more about Edison, his life and inventions and finally think about how Edison’s technology is in their homes today.
The Library of Congress features a few different lesson plans on Thomas Edison, Electricity and America. These lessons all use different primary sources to teach about Edison’s role in electricity in America and the rise of consumer goods.
The U.S. Department of Energy offers a lesson for elementary and middle school students on comparing different types of lightbulbs and measuring their energy and heat to compare energy efficiency.
We hope these lesson ideas spark a light switch for you and your students!
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