Look around your home. Almost everything with a plug, a screen, or a motor comes from the 1900s or grew out of a 1900s invention!
Your refrigerator, washing machine, and lights all use electricity that came to homes in the early 1900s. Your TV comes from 1920s inventions. Even your family's phone is the great-great-grandchild of old telephones with cords and dials.
Grown-ups in your family remember some of these changes. Maybe a grandparent remembers their family's first TV or first computer! Talking to older family members is like opening a living history book. Today, you will do exactly that.
1. What clues show an invention came from the 1900s?
2. What did old telephones have that yours does not?
3. Why is talking to older family members like a living history book?
Walk through your home like a history detective. Find and list four things that use electricity or a motor. Beside each one, write what people used BEFORE it was invented (ask a grown-up if you need help!).
| Invention I found | What people used before |
|---|---|
| 1. | |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. |
Interview a grandparent, parent, or other grown-up. Ask them these questions and write their answers.
| Question | Their answer |
|---|---|
| What invention do you remember getting for the first time? | |
| What did you do for fun before that invention? | |
| What invention changed your life the most? | |
| What invention do you think I will see invented? |
1. What surprised you most from your interview?
1. Most home machines use .
2. Many inventions came from the .
3. Old had cords and dials.
4. Older family members are like a living book.
5. Grown-ups when inventions were new.
6. Today you were a history .
Draw a line or write OLD or NEW for each item.
| Item | OLD or NEW |
|---|---|
| Icebox with a block of ice | |
| Refrigerator with a freezer | |
| Washing clothes in a tub by hand | |
| Washing machine | |
| Candles and oil lamps | |
| Electric lights |
| I learned... | Circle one |
|---|---|
| How 1900s inventions fill my home | YES / NOT YET |
| I completed an invention hunt | YES / NOT YET |
| I interviewed a grown-up about inventions | YES / NOT YET |