The Adventure of Inventing

Proposing to a class that they dive into the world of creating inventions where they may have to employ their math and science skills may not sound like a world of fun. So why not add some humor to warm them up to the idea. Some of their favorite toys were inventions created by mistake. Silly Putty was invented in an attempt to find a substitute for rubber during World War II. And Slinky was invented while designing a meter to monitor horsepower on naval battleships. Richard James, a naval engineer dropped a spring to the ground. He noticed how it kept moving, and thought it would make a good toy. His wife Betty named the toy “slinky”. Your students will not only get a good laugh out of these blunders, but it will provide them with an important lesson in life – to learn from and take advantage of mistakes.