Inventions chronology: a guessing game
- Give pupils the names of the inventions and ask them, working in small groups, to place the inventions in the order in which they were invented.
- After they have had 6-10 minutes to think about it, show them the answers.
- Having given them the chronology of inventions, ask them to make an intelligent guess as to the date of the inventions. They must specify an exact date for all the inventions, even the ones which were thousands of years B.C., or part 3 of the exercise will not work.
- Show them the answers. Ask each group to calculate how many years out their guesses were for each invention, and then add together the sum of how far out they were in their guesses. The group with the lowest total wins.
- Ask the groups what effect the inventions had, and which had the biggest influence on human existence. They could also be asked if it was possible to classify the inventions into different sorts of invention- are there any that “go together” with others?
Chronology:
Potters’wheel/shipwithsails/sundial/writing/paper/windmill/gun/printingpress/telescope/
pendulum clock/anaesthetic/aeroplane/television/computer/video recorder.
Potters’ wheel 6,000 B.C.
Ship with sails 3,500 B.C.
Sundial 3,400 B.C.
Writing 3,250 B.C.
Paper 150 A.D.
Windmill 600 A.D.
Gun 1250 A.D.
Printing Press 1455 A.D.
Telescope 1608 A.D.
Pendulum clock 1657 A.D.
Anaesthetic 1842 A.D.
Aeroplane 1903 A.D.
Television 1926 A.D.
Computer 1943 A.D.
Video recorder 1956 A.D.