Chapter 4, Lesson 1 Inventors Change the World

Mr. Julian’s 5th grade class

Topic

Industry and Immigration

Big Idea

How did the United States change through new inventions and immigration?

Essential Question

How did new inventions change the way people lived and led to the rise of new industries?

Places

Menlo Park, New Jersey

Richmond, Virginia

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

People

Alexander Graham Bell

Thomas Edison

Lewis Latimer

Frank Sprague

Frank and Charles Duryea

Wilber and Orville Wright

Blanche Stuart Scott

Vocabulary

investor

The First Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell was always interested in sound and speech.As a boy in Scotland he tried to teach his dog how to talk.He built a talking machine when he was 16.His next invention was to be a talking telegraph

The First Telephone

In 1871 he moved to Boston and took a job teaching the deaf how to speak.

At night Bell worked on his invention.

He hired Thomas Watson to help him.

At the time, many other inventors were also working on inventing the telephone.

The First Telephone

On March 10, 1876, Bell shouted into his telephone “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” His invention had worked!

Edison’s Light Bulb

Another inventor of the time was Thomas Edison.

A year after Bell’s telephone, Edison invented the phonograph. A machine that could record a voice and play back it back.

Edison’s Light Bulb

Edison wanted to build a light bulb that was safe and dependable.At the time people used gas lights or candles.He began working in his lab in Menlo Park, New JerseyEdison relied on his investors to pay for the experiments.

Edison’s Light Bulb

An investor is someone who gives a business or project money in hope of making a profit.The hardest part of building the light bulb was finding the right materials.Edison finally found carbon filament to work the best.

Edison’s Light Bulb

In 1879 Edison had a bulb that lasted for two days.

An inventor Lewis Latimer improved the light bulb by developing carbon filaments that lasted longer.

Electricity Bring change

Edison knew that his light bulbs needed electricity to power them.

He built the first power station outside New York City.

In 1882 he had lights in 40 different buildings glowing with light bulbs.

Streetcars and Horseless Carriages

Frank Sprague invented the first electric streetcar in Richmond, Virginia in 1888.Electric streetcars traveled faster than horse-drawn streetcars.At the same time, other inventors were working on a horseless carriages, or automobiles.

Streetcars and Horseless Carriages

The first cars with gasoline powered engines were made in Germany.

The brothers Frank and Charlie Duryea were the first to build a working automobile in the U.S in 1893.

Invention Time Line

1850 - Sewing machine

1873 - Typewriter

1876 - Telephone

1879 - Electric Light Bulb

1885 - Automobile

1895 - Radio

1903 - Airplane

Sewing Machine

Isaac Singer’s machine makes it possible to make clothing much more quickly.

Typewriter

American inventor Christopher Latham Sholes builds the first typewriter.

Telephone

The first long-distance phone line connects New York to Philadelphia in 1887.

Electric Light Bulb

Electric lights began lighting city streets in 1880.

Automobile

The earliest cars can only travel eight miles per hour.

Radio

Italy’s Guglielmo Marconi invents the radio at the age of 20.

Airplane

Orville and Wilber Wright build Flyer, the world’s first successful airplane.

The Wright Brothers

In Dayton, Ohio, Wilber and Orville Wright were working on another invention that would change the world.

They built and repaired bicycles for a living and knew nothing about flying.

In their free time they decide to build a flaying machine.

The Wright Brothers

In 1899 they built a glider to test.

They went to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina because of the strong winds and it was not near any big towns.

They had many failures but kept trying.

Finally, on December 17, 1903 the Flyer took flight for 12 seconds and flying 120 feet.

Inventions and Industry

People started businesses to offer telephone and electric service.

Companies began making streetcars, automobiles and airplanes.

This was good news for Blanche Stuart Scott. She drove a car across the country to help advertise for the company.

Inventions and Industry

This made her famous and provided another opportunity.

She soon worked for an airplane company, flying airplanes at fairs and air shows.

This made her the first American woman to fly an airplane.

Review Questions

1. How did Alexander Graham Bell’s invention affect communication in the U.S.?

2. What are two important inventions for which Thomas Edison is remembered?

3. Describe three inventions that changed they way people traveled.