Look around your house — the Middle Ages are hiding everywhere! Does anyone in your family wear glasses? Eyeglasses were invented in the Middle Ages. Is there a clock on your wall? Mechanical clocks began ringing in medieval towers.
Every book on your shelf exists because of the printing press. Buttons on your coat? A medieval idea! Even the wheelbarrow in the garden came from that time.
Wind power did not disappear either. Medieval windmills ground grain — today, giant wind turbines use the same idea to make electricity! Old inventions grow into new ones. Today you will hunt for medieval inventions in your own home.
1. Name two medieval inventions you can find in a home today.
2. What do modern wind turbines make?
3. How are wind turbines like medieval windmills?
Hunt around your house! Find things that started as medieval inventions. Check off each one you find and write where you found it.
| Medieval invention | Found it! Where? |
|---|---|
| A clock | |
| Eyeglasses | |
| A printed book | |
| Buttons on clothing | |
| A wheelbarrow or cart |
Write T for true or F for false in each circle.
1. Which medieval invention do you use the most? How does it help you?
2. Pick one thing in your house. How might kids 500 years from now use a better version of it?
1. help people see better — a medieval invention!
2. Mechanical first rang bells in medieval towers.
3. Wind today make electricity like windmills made flour.
4. on coats were a medieval idea.
5. Printed spread ideas around the world.
| I learned... | Circle one |
|---|---|
| Medieval inventions I use today | YES / NOT YET |
| How old inventions grow into new ones | YES / NOT YET |
| Where to find history in my own home | YES / NOT YET |