Know her amazing inventions
Personatges:
Tema: Women inventors. Important inventions by Beulah Louise Henry
Competències
Competència en Comunicació Lingüística
Competència personal, social i aprendre a aprendre
Competència Ciutadana
Competència emprenedora
Competència en consciència i expressions culturals
Matèries i cursos per Sistema Educatiu
Espanya > Anglés > 2n ESO > Comunicació
Enunciat
ACTIVITY 1
Guess who Beulah Louise Henry was.
http://historico.oepm.es/museovirtual/galerias_tematicas.php?tipo=MUJER&xml=Henry,%20Beulah%20Louise.xml (15/05/2022)
1. Watch these pictures and guess what these patents are about. If you had to choose one, which one would be your choice? Justify your answer.
Hair curler
Parasol bag and parasol
Can opener
Writing machine
Sewing machine
Vacuum ice cream freezer
Answer the following questions:
What do these inventions have in common?
When were they invented?
Can you guess how many more inventions she created?
Are they useful?
2. Read this biography and share your comments with your partners
Beulah Louise Henry was an American inventor born on February 11, 1887, in North Carolina (nicknamed "Lady Edison" for her many inventions). A very prolific inventor, she had around 110 inventions in total, though she held the patent for just around 49 during her lifetime. The first of her numerous patents was for a vacuum ice cream freezer in 1912. Soon other successful inventions followed and before long she gained the reputation of being one of the most prolific inventors of her era.
Born into a family known for its artistic inclination, she inherited her creativity from her parents. From a young age she loved to tinker with things and create newer objects with practical utility. Originally from North Carolina, she moved to New York City following the early successes of her inventions.
One of her most popular early inventions was an umbrella with a snap-on cloth cover that allowed the owner to coordinate the umbrella with clothing. The umbrella was much loved by the people and led to her appearance in ‘Scientific American’ as one of their "Outstanding Inventors".
She established two companies of her own where she worked on her inventions and also worked for the Nicholas Machine Works and served as a consultant to several companies that manufactured new items. She was included into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.
Observacions i context
In groups, the pupils have to guess which inventions the patents shown on photocopies or on the computer correspond to. They answer questions about the inventions and have to select the one they like the most, justifying their choice.
In order to get to know the character, each group will then be given a short biography of their first invention. After reading it and analysing the vocabulary, their comments will be presented to the rest of the class.
Patent cards can be kept laminated and one per group. Once the questions have been answered, they will be exchanged with the rest of the groups.
Although other women inventors, such as the American chemists Ruth Benerito (1916-2013) and Giuliana Tesoro (1921-2002), achieved a larger number of patents (50 and 125, respectively), Beulah Henry's merit is even greater, as she was self-taught.
We also highlight the following women inventors:
1. Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000), to whom we owe the technology that made wi-fi networks or Bluetooth possible.
2. Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) created the first algorithm that would process the analytical machine (considered the first computer in history). She is considered the first computer programmer in history.
3. Alice H. Parker (1895-1920) designed a central heating system using natural gas as a source of combustion. She became the inventor of the first boiler, the forerunner of central heating and hot water systems.
4. Katharine Burr Blodgett (1898-1979), the first woman to work for the General Electric Company. We can thank her, among other things, for the effectiveness of our sunglasses. Her best-known invention, anti-reflective glass, is used to make computer screens, car windscreens and camera lenses.
5. Ángela Ruiz-Robles (1895-1975), a Spanish professor, devised and patented a system of "mechanical, electrical and air pressure procedure for reading books" in 1949. It is what we know today as the e-book.
Descripció
Using photocopies or computer projections, students will try to improve their production of oral texts by guessing which inventions the patents they are looking at correspond to, exchanging ideas and sharing their opinions with the rest of the class.
Comprehension, production and co-production of oral, written and multimodal texts, short and simple, literary and non-literary.