Theme: Inventions and the impact of technology on our lives
Lexical area: inventions, definitions, comparatives and superlatives.
Cross curricular links: Science and technology, Social Science, Personal and Social Education

Instructions for language assistants in italics

Classroom materials

Introduction
The amount of background you give and the depth of discussion depends on the level of your students. It could be useful to have dictionaries available (English-English) so you can check definitions and look at the language used to describe devices. An important point to make is that the British have a history of invention and work in engineering and research but their ideas are then better exploited by Japan and America. The pocket calculator in exercise 1 was invented in Britain but the Japan made versions which they marketed well and sold well. Britain was known in the 19th century as the birthplace of the industrial revolution and it is the innovation in science, technology and transport which powered the industrial development and the growth of the Empire. One of the latest amusing inventions in recent months was a chocolate mousetrap made from plastic impregnated with the smell of chocolate which proves irresistible to mice.

• Higher levels can look at the title and see if they can guess what the topic will be about. What does innovation mean? In what areas are the British or your host country innovative? Music and fashion are two areas of great innovation, and the British invented many of the sports we know today. Can your students think of any recent innovations?
  
  Lower levels and higher levels visual support will enhance this lesson. Diagrams of inventions from a Science and technology dictionary, textbook or pictorial reference book from a local library, on the net can be used to elicit descriptions based on the questions:
  
  • What is this invention?
  • How does it work?
  • Why was it an innovation?
  • When was it invented?
    

• Try to get pictures of the inventions for exercise 1 and go to the Innovation Nation site for photos of the prototypes of the inventions and the winning entry.

1. British inventions

Give pairs or small groups a few minutes to work this out. A process of elimination could also be used if you look at the dates and know the time when things were invented. As extra linguistic practice give each pair one invention to define/describe as if it is a new thing or ask pairs to look up the definitions in dictionaries. If students enjoy this task a follow up inventions quiz could be devised with students thinking of questions, not restricted to British inventions.

• Example:
  
  • Who invented the electric guitar?
  • When were CDs first introduced?

Task 1 British inventions

The British have a long history of invention and inventiveness.

• Match these British inventions to their inventor.
  
  • The steam locomotive (Stephenson)
  • The pocket calculator (Sinclair)
  • The first pneumatic tyres (Dunlop)
  • The World Wide Web (Berners-Lee)
  • Television (Logie Baird)
  • John Logie Baird 1926
  • John Dunlop 1808
  • Tim Berners-Lee 1989
  • Clive Sinclair 1971
  • George Stephenson 1814

2. Which came first

Pairs or small groups can do this and then, if a higher level, give them the question to discuss in groups and then hold a feedback session. With lower levels work on the question about society with the whole class to bring out the language of comparatives.

• Example:
  
  • The Wheel helped people travel faster and made work in the fields easier.
  • Space probes keep us better informed about climate change and give us more control over our world and the world beyond.

Task 2 Which came first

Put these inventions in the order in which you think they were invented.

• Which came first?
  
  • Plastics (4)
  • Photography (3)
  • The Wheel (1)
  • Railways (2)
  • Space probes (5)

• Which of these inventions do you think was the most important to your society?
• Why?

3. Favourite inventions

Pairs or groups can think of more examples and then get a show of hands from the class to see which is the most popular. The reasons for how much an invention is useful can help students cope with the next task and gives further practice in using comparatives. You could put up a list of comparatives for lower levels to use as prompts when they are thinking of reasons.

You can note that some inventions were nominated to both categories : mobile phones and TV are loved and loathed depending on your attitude towards life.

Task 3 Favourite inventions

In 2003 the British Patent Office celebrated its 150 year anniversary. As part of the celebrations the BBC asked listeners to join in a discussion on inventions they like. BBC Radio 4 asked listeners to nominate the best and the worst inventions.

Here are some examples of the survey results

• The best inventions:
  
  • Penicillin Bicycles
  • The Internet
  • Television

• The worst inventions:
  
  • Nuclear weapons
  • Car alarms
  • Landmines
  • Mobile phones
  • Plastic bags

• Can you nominate one example for each category?
• Try to think of reasons why the inventions are useful or not useful.
• Hold a class vote to find the most popular invention and the least popular

4. Innovation nation

Run through the inventions quickly so they know what it is but do not try to go in to detail on every word. Pairs or groups can choose 3 finalists and then get examples from the class. A more fluent class will be encouraged to give their reasons and agree and disagree. The official finalists can be given after this and keep the winner secret until after they have nominated one. Get an image of the winner from the site. Note that the programme based on the competition developed the sketches of the top 10 into real products over a series of weeks and the winner was only announced after a public vote on December 17th 2003.

• Winner: the collapsible kitchen bin
• Runners up: the nib-less pen and the mask-like swimming goggles

Task 4 Innovation nation

In April 2003 BBC Science launched a nationwide competition to find a new invention. Thousands of ordinary people around the UK wrote in with very interesting ideas. A panel of judges chose the ten best inventions. Then they picked three finalists. At the end of December 2003 they chose a winner.

Read a description of the top ten inventions

Find

• an invention which helps make a home safer (the plug stops floods and the lock protects doors)
• an invention which helps you keep your home cleaner (the bins and the special floor cleaner)
• an invention which helps travellers (the anti thrombosis device)
• Choose 3 finalists.

• Which invention do you think will be the winner?
  
  • Check your predictions with your teacher.
  • Why was the winner a useful invention?
  • Do you agree with the judges?

5. Describe an invention

This is suitable for intermediate students and above working in pairs or small groups. Using dictionaries to help is at your discretion. Hold the guessing descriptions as a class game if students are good at it.

Task 5 Describe an invention

• Can you describe these 20th century inventions?
  
  • microwave oven
  • text message
  • play station
  • digital thermometer

• Pick another invention from recent years. Write a description of it.
• Can your friends guess the invention from your description?

6. Society and inventions

This task is suitable for a whole class or group discussion format.

Task 6 Society and inventions

New ideas and inventions can cause great changes to your lifestyle, your way of working and your health or life expectancy. New advances in medical science mean that Britons are living longer. New advances in domestic technology mean people work less hard to clean their homes or cook. Many Britons eat pre packed food which they cook in microwaves and more and more people shop on the Internet.

• Compare your life as a teenager to your parents' lives as teenagers.
  
  • Which inventions have caused the changes?
  • Look at your school life and your way of studying. Which modern inventions have an impact on your studies?
  • How?
  • Are you happy with the changes that are happening in your society?
  • Are people's lives easier or harder? Are people more or less fulfilled or happy?

7. Competitions

This task is suitable for a whole class or group discussion format.

Task 7 Competitions

Many studies show that inventors have similar minds and show common skills. They like problem solving. They like a challenge. They are creative thinkers. They don't give up easily.

• Do you have any of the skills which inventive minds have?
  
  • Name one key feature of your personality: What are you good at?
  • listening to others,
  • working with your hands
  • How far does your education develop creativity?
  • Have you ever entered a competition? If so, what was it? How did you do?
  • Are competitions popular in your school? In your society? On television?

Internet links
www.bbc.co.uk/science/innovation/about.shtml has information about innovations in science around the UK.

Archive links
Know the Net looks at the dangers of the Internet
Science Week hasmore ideas for science topics in the ELT classroom
Toy fads and fashions compares old and new toys and toy innovations

By Clare Lavery