Thomas Edison Timeline

crayola supplies

Fine Line Markers
Colored Pencils
Model Magic®
No-Run School Glue
Glitter Glue

household supplies

buttons

Why?

Track how Edison's inventions changed everyday life. Imagine a world without lightbulbs or sound recordings!

Steps

1. Read about U.S. inventor Thomas Edison. What years did he work? With what resources did he work? What challenges did he overcome? Find the dates and names of his major discoveries. What did his first lightbulbs, phonographs, and other items look like?
2. Work with a small group of classmates to compile a list of Edison's most important inventions, and their dates, with Crayola® Colored Pencils. Be ready to explain why you think they are so important.
3. Count out one button for each invention, or make small Crayola Model Magic replicas of each one.
4. Glue the invention buttons or replicas in a line along the top of a large paper with Crayola School Glue. Connect them with a line of Crayola Glitter Glue. Dry.
5. Write the dates and any information that is important about each invention on the timeline with Crayola Fine Line Markers. If you used buttons, draw a picture to represent the invention. Label each one. Title your Thomas Edison Timeline.

adaptations

Tally which inventions students chose as Edison's most important. Which were chosen most often? Why?

Write about what it was like to live in Thomas Edison's time era. Edison was a lighthouse keeper and a carpenter in his early years, before some of his 1,093 ideas were patented, setting a world record. Compare and contrast how people live today, and what kind of inventions are popular now.

Work individually or in small groups to create 3-D inventions. Write or tell the class about the invention's purpose. Draw blueprints to scale of how it was constructed.

Create similar timelines for other important people, events, or inventions. Find out what other scientific breakthroughs were necessary BEFORE Edison could come up with his ideas. For example, the unit of electrical current, ampere, is named for André Ampere, a French physicist who founded the science of electrodynamics.

benefits

Children research information about U.S. inventor Thomas Edison, who is best known for inventing the lightbulb and the phonograph.

Students find information about the dates of Edison's inventions, what these inventions did, and how they looked.

Students create a pictorial timeline of Edison's inventions, listing them in chronological order.

grades

Grades 1 to 3
Grades 4 to 6

subjects

Science
Social Studies
Visual Arts

time

30 to 60 minutes
Multiple Sessions

curriculum standards links

US: Research U.S. Standards
UK: Research UK Standards
Canada: Research Canada Standards

safety guidelines

Glitter Glue— WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD—Small parts. Not for children under 3 years. Not for use on skin.

Crayola Modeling Materials including Crayola Model Magic®, and Model Magic Fusion™, Crayola Air-Dry Clay, and Crayola Dough—

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The use of modeling material to make items that look like food is discouraged for children younger than age 5 to avoid their confusion with real food.
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Crayola Dough—contains gluten (wheat flour) as an ingredient.
Crayola Air-Dry Clay, Crayola Model Magic and Model Magic Fusion are gluten-free. However, they are produced on the same machinery as Crayola Dough which does contain gluten. Although the machines are cleaned prior to the start of each production run, there is a slight possibility that trace amounts of gluten from Crayola Dough may be present in the other modeling compound products. For information regarding specific ingredients or allergic concerns, please call our Consumer Affairs department at 1-800-272-9652 weekdays between 9 AM and 4 PM Eastern Standard Time.