Introduction
We all know how important inventions have been in our life. Most of them have contributed positively to make our lives easier somehow, even though we know that a few ones have put our life into risk, such as the invention of several chemical substances as explosives, or guns, although the idea of the inventors was not to torment us.
Several inventions have become so important that we cannot imagine living without them, such as the mobile phone, the Internet, the computer, and so on. Though they have made us very dependent on them, they have also reduced the gaps existing between people, especially concerning communication. Just imagine that in the past when people needed to contact or send news to someone who just lived far apart, they sent a letter by a messenger on a horse, or running, and that took days, or even months and we couldn't really trust that these messages would really reach their destinations.
Needless to say that means of transportation have let us arrive in a distant place, even a foreign country in a few hours, and the transport of heavy loads became possible due to huge transportation that were created.
The aim of this WebQuest is to allow students to find out and discuss the major inventions and accredit them to their respective inventors and to provide students with an opportunity to investigate and write about their research using Web tools.
Task
These are the tasks that you need to do:
Activity 1:
1. Research about inventors.
2. Write a paragraph about their lives.
Activity 2:
1. Watch a video about the Top 10 inventions.
2. Answer the questions about the video.
3. Write a short essay about the invention you consider the most important.
Activity 3:
1. Answer the questions requested and read the online text "The Adi Dassler Story" to check them.
2. Prepare a presentation about the most important invention and present it to the class.
Process
Activity 1
Before you go on the the next step, answer the following questions briefly. (Students are allowed to comment on their classmates' responses, whether they agree or not, or add any additional information)
1. Do you know any inventors?
2. What did they invent?
3. How important are these inventions for our life?
4. Use a web browser (Explorer, Mozilla, Chrome, etc) and find out information about the following inventors. Complete the chart.
Access the websites:
http://www.biography.com/people/leonardo-da-vinci-40396
http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventors/a/Levi_Strauss.htm
http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/
| NAME | Birth place | Birth date | Died in (year) | Major invention | How it was invented | Other inventions (if there are) |
| Alfred Nobel | ||||||
| Levi Strauss | ||||||
| Leonardo da Vinci |
5. Remember that the simple past is used to indicate that an action started and finished in a specific time. Observe the following example:
A. Steve Jobs invented the iPhone in 2007.
In the sentence above, we refer to a finished action in a specific past time. We add -d, -ed or -ied to the end regular verbs to form the simple past affirmative. In the example, more emphasis is given on the performer of the action (Steve Jobs). Otherwise, if we wish to emphasise the recipient of the action, or when we simply do not remember or do not want to mention who the performer is, we can use the passive voice.
Observe the following example:
B. The iPhone was invented in 2007 (by Steve Jobs) .
In the sentence above, the emphasis was given on the recipient of the message (iPhone). Notice that the performer of the action does not have a main role just as in example A. The information about the performer is irrelevant or for some reason, not mentioned. To form the past passive voice, we combine WAS / WERE + PAST PARTICIPLE.
6. Now that you have reviewed some information about the simple past active and passive in the previous exercise, write sentences using either of the forms and the information you researched in exercise 1.
Activity 2:
What are your top 3 inventions? Exchange ideas with your classmates to find out what theirs are.
Now we're going to see a video suggesting the top 10 inventions. Which inventions appear in the video? Does any of them match your or your classmates' top 3?
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNUfZ3_VkuE width:640 height:85 align:center]
1. Do you agree with the ideas on the video? Why?
2. What's the most important invention?
3. What's the least important invention?
Activity 3
Do you know what the two pictures represent? How do they relate to each other?
Decide if the sentences are true or false and then, check your answers in the text:
1. He was a sportsman. True / False
2. He developed equipment for athletes. True / False
3. He was the owner of the Adidas company. True / False
4. He made sports shoes using canvas and rubber from American fuel tanks. True / False
5. He invented things for money. True / False
6. He made his first shoes when he was a teenager. True / False
7. He has less than 1000 patents. True / False
8. Adidas was a very important company right after the Second World War II. True / False
9. By 1945 his company name and logo was very famous. True / False
10. He used famous people for advertising his brand. True / False
You can access the text at the following address:
http://1000greatinventions.blogspot.com.br/2009/07/adi-dassler-story.html
After you read the text, answer the following questions and compare your answer with a classmate's.
1. Why do you think Adi Dassler gave so much importance to the developing of Sport Gear?
2. How do you think Adi's company was affected by the Second World War?
3. Which is in your opinion the most important factor for Adi's success?
Evaluation
Now that you know something about three of the most acclaimed inventors in history, it’s your turn to tell who is, in your opinion, the most important inventor. Make groups of three or four students and create a presentation in which you explain your choice. You can try using the link below to create funny and creative presentations:
Conclusion
Credits
CARLOS ROJAS MANZANEDA
LEIDY JOHANA DELGADO MARTINEZ
THIAGO RODRIGO ALMEIDA
VIVIANA CABALLERO ESTÉVEZ