Mothers of Invention:

Women Who Create!

chron.com/cie

This program is generously sponsored by Chevron.

� is program is generously sponsored by Chevron.

Mothers of Invention:

Women Who Create!

This program is generously sponsored by Chevron.

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ing both, so she took one cookie from the sand-wich and wrapped it around the flowers to hold them together. She wrapped the other cookie, cone-like, around the ice cream so she could hold it without it splattering on her dress. The nearby ice-cream salesman saw this, thought it brilliant and started selling ice cream

with a cone of cookie wrapped around it. Voila! The ice cream cone was born. One person thought of the idea, but another person was smart enough to use it and tell others. Sometimes the idea belongs to the inventor and sometimes the inventor is just clever enough to know a good idea when she sees one!

Necessity may be the mother of invention, just as many women have given birth to new ways of doing things. Women, like men, have used curiosity, creativity and hard work to come up with ways to make all our lives easier. How many times has your mother helped you solve a problem in some clever way?

One stormy day in 1902, a woman named Mary Anderson was riding in a streetcar when she noticed that the driver had to open the window (in those days the front windshield opened in the middle) in order to see because snow was covering the window. That didn’t work too well, and the poor streetcar driver was hit in the face with an icy blast of cold and snow. Once she saw the problem, Anderson thought of a solution and – swish, swish – the windshield wiper was invented. By 1916, all new cars had windshield wipers.

“Necessity,” it is said, “is the mother of invention.”

That means that inventors see a need or a problem and

come up with a way to fill that need or solve that

problem. Other inventions might be the result of curiosity or accident.

That means that someone might invent something

without really trying.

The ice cream cone may have been invented – also by a woman – just that way. One story (although there are several stories of this invention) is that a young woman was attending the World’s Fair in St. Louis, Mo., in 1904. She was walking along, eating an ice cream sandwich and carrying a bunch of flowers. She was having a hard time balanc-

TM Trademark

sm Service mark

Swish, Swish, Splat! Splat!

necessity – ideas

“Necessity,” it is said,

“is the mother of invention.”

Learning Standard: using prior knowledge

and experience Necessities are things that you

need in order to live, things you would die without. Luxuries are

things that you want, that make life easier. Find three of each in today’s

Houston Chronicle.

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Since the earliest times, women have designed creative ways of doing things. The first women were responsible for their families’ food and clothing, so it is likely that they also invented the first tools for prepar-ing food and creating cloth. Anthropologists (people who study the development of people) believe that women invented tools like the mortar and pestle (a heavy bowl and a club-like hammer), used to grind flour and prepare food and medicines. They also think that women were the first to design shelters and clothing. In other words, necessities (such as food, clothing and shelter) led to inventions (such as tools, cloth and places to live).Necessity gave birth to invention.

And, speaking of birth, within seconds after you were born, you took your first test, which was invented by a woman. In 1949, Dr. Virginia Apgar developed a test for checking a baby’s health right at birth. Up to that point, doctors figured that a baby was healthy unless he or she had something noticeably wrong at birth. Dr. Apgar knew that the moments just after birth were really important to the health of a baby. She didn’t think that just looking at a baby was a careful way to test for problems. So, she created a point system to check a baby’s breath-ing, reflexes, muscle tone, heart rate and color. The points make up an “Apgar score” based on the results of those checks. This system has saved thousands of lives and is used all over the world.

Patents Protect InventorsSometimes when an inventor gets an idea, she chooses to protect it so that others cannot steal it or make money from it. A patent is a gov-ernment document that does just that. To patent an invention, the inventor has to prove that it is new and useful. The inventor will often hire a lawyer or a patent agent to help complete the complicated appli-cation. Then, if the patent is approved, the inventor pays a fee and her invention is protected for 20 years.

The U.S. Patent office has a great Web site for students. Check it out at http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/

® Registered

Credits:This Hot Topics supplement was:Written by Debby Carroll

Edited by Ken Bookman

Learning activities by Ned Carroll

Designed by Berns and Kay, Ltd.

Cover illustration by Tanya Roitman

Some photos by Shira Carroll

Copyright, 2001 Hot Topics Publications

© Copyright

Learning Standard: organizing, displaying

and analyzing dataThe Apgar score was a rating system for newborns. Develop your own

rating system, using articles from the front page. Use a rating scale from 1 to 10 to show how important each article is to the world, the United

States, your community and you. Make a chart to show

the results.

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ideas – invention

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Barbie is Born!Ruth Handler watched her daughter play with paper dolls. She noticed that Barbara always played with the adult dolls, never with the ones that looked like babies or like girls her own age. Little girls didn’t want to play at being girls. They already were girls. Instead, they wanted to play at being what they weren’t yet – grown women, wearing glamor-ous clothes and leading exciting lives. Handler wanted to make a real doll that looked like a woman. In March 1959, Barbie (Named for Handler’s daughter Barbara) was born, followed by Ken (named for her son, Kenneth). The toy world was changed forever! How many Barbie dolls are in your house?

INVENTIONS FOR THE

HOMEIt’s A-Maizing! In the early 1700s, colonist Sybilla Masters was the first woman inven-tor. Well, she wasn’t actually the first woman to invent something, but she was the first to be recorded as an inventor. And even that was tricky. Masters invented a way to process corn (sometimes known as maize) into many food and cloth products, and she wanted to patent her invention. But there was a law in 1715 that women could not own patents, so the patent was in her husband’s name, though he was not the inventor.

Frances Gabe hated housework. She called it a “nerve-twangling bore.” She had to do something, so, in 1984, she invented the self-cleaning house. Each room of Gabe’s house has a 10-inch square “Cleaning/ Drying/ Heating/Cooling” apparatus in the middle of the ceiling. At the touch of a button, it sprays a powerful blast of soapy water over the room, then rinses and blow-dries the entire area. The rooms’ floors are sloped slightly so the extra water runs off. The breakable stuff is protected under glass. The dishes are cleaned, dried and kept in a cabinet, which is also a dishwasher; clothes are cleaned, dried and stored while hanging in a closet, which is also a combina-tion washer-dryer. The sinks, tubs and toilets are self-cleaning and the bookshelves dust themselves. Gabe continued to perfect and live in her house for many years. Is there a chore you don’t like? Can you find a creative way to solve that problem?

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I HaTe Housework!

Babies: Safe and SecureSometimes an inventor gets an idea from watching how other people solve problems. Ann Moore was a nurse with the Peace Corps in Togo, Africa, in the early 1960s. She noticed that the native women tied slings around their bodies to hold their babies so they could use their hands to work and to carry other things. This way, the babies were warm, safe and secure while the mothers were able to do their work. Moore and her mother, Lucy Aukerman, designed and patented the "Snugli" (1969), a pouch-like baby carrier. Today, the Snugli can be seen every-where. You probably rode in one yourself when you were a baby.

Learning Standard: Analyzing cultural charac-

teristics: The pouch-like baby carrier, “Snugli,” was an idea that originated in Africa. The ideas and traditions of one culture can often

be adapted in other cultures. Use the Houston Chronicle to find some cultural feature that is different

from our traditions in the United States.

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The Wetness WonderIn 1950, Marion Donovan was a young, creative mother with too many diapers to wash. She thought of a way to get out of this thank-less job. She used a shower curtain (certainly that could handle wet-ness!) to invent what she called the “Boater” – a plastic covering for a cloth diaper. After that, she used disposable (throwaway) material that could soak up water and com-bined it with her Boater design to make the first disposable diaper. Manufacturers thought her product would cost too much to make and were not inter-ested, so Donovan started her own business. A few years later, she was able to sell her company for $1 million. Parents world-wide probably are thankful every day for her hard work.

Like Water Off a Duck’s BackOne day in 1953, Patsy Sherman was at work trying to invent a new kind of rubber to be used in the fuel lines of jet airplanes. A lab assistant dropped a glass beaker of the mixture and its contents splashed all over their shoes. Not only couldn’t they wash the stuff off their shoes, but also they noticed that the water they used when they tried to wash it off just beaded up and rolled off the shoes “like water off a duck’s back.” That’s how Scotchgard™ was born. When it is put on cloth, the chemical surrounds the fibers with an invisible shield that can’t be

penetrated by water, oils, most other liquids, or dirt. The chemi-cal keeps fabrics clean and makes them stronger. Sherman continued to work and perfect that and other inventions. She said, "Anyone can become an inventor, as long as they keep an open and inquiring mind and never overlook the pos-sible significance of an accident or apparent failure."

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Cheaper by the DozenThe book Cheaper by the Dozen was written about the Gilbreths, a real family of two parents and 12 children. The mother was Lillian Moller Gilbreth. If ever there was a woman with a good reason to invent things to make home life easier, she was certainly that woman! Gilbreth patented many devices, including an electric food mixer and a trash can with a step-on lid-opener that was used in lots of homes.

Discove

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News

Household Creativity

Learning Standard: understanding the impact of

technologyChances are you don't live in a

self-cleaning house, so you probably have to clean your room. But there are many inventions that make your

life easy. Search the Houston Chronicle for the top ten mostconvenient items. Write a short

explanation of why you chose each one.

Discover the News

Cold Arms Don’t you just hate it when you’re playing in the snow and the snow gets up past your gloves and works its way into your sleeves? Then your coat sleeves are all wet and your arms are cold and wet. Well, 10-year-old Kathryn (K-K) Gregory hated it enough to do something about it. With her mother’s help, she sewed some fleece tubes that fit snugly over her forearms but under her gloves. She made them for her friends in her Girl Scout troop and they were a big hit. She named her invention “Wristies,” applied for a trademark and founded a company, Wristies®, Inc. In the fall of 1997, K-K became the youngest person ever to promote a product on QVC, where a 6-minute spot earned her $22,000 in sales.

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Female Household Creativity

Beauty SecretsMargaret Stewart Joyner understood that a person’s appearance would affect the way that person felt and that how the person felt would affect how she acted. She knew that people who felt good about their appearance acted with more self-respect and more respect for others, too. She invented a permanent-wave machine to create hairstyles that would last for a long time. In 1926, she became the first African American woman to receive a patent for her invention, and that opened the door for many others to follow. She worked for years to help young African Americans find jobs and she raised money for African American colleges.

Learning Standard: demonstrating that

individuals make choices

Find an item in the Houston Chronicle that you would like to sell. What are the most important points

you would like the customer to know? Write a script for a

radio commercial for your product.

Discover the News

Firsts!

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BrainstormWhen people come up with a good idea, they sometimes say they’ve had a brainstorm. Brainstorming is also a process that scientists use to develop new ideas. Brainstorming is a freewheeling way of thinking that can get the mind flowing with ideas. The goal is to let loose lots of ideas, without judging whether they are good or bad. When brainstorming, you should try to think with your wild imagination. Know no boundaries! Go nuts!

Paper Clip PossibilitiesTry this brainstorming activity. Here is a pic-ture of some ordinary paper clips. Ask your teacher to pass out some paper clips so that everyone gets to check one out. Look at the clip seriously to see how it works. Then take turns brainstorming ideas about creative uses for the paper clip. Call out your ideas, one at a time, so that your teacher can write them on the board. Remember, the rules of brainstorm-ing are that only one person speaks at a time and that no one passes judgement on anyone’s ideas. When there’s a nice long list of ideas on the board, take some time to talk about which ones could work the best.

Which is the most creative?

Which is the most bizarre?

Now that you are thinking like an inventor, it’s time to find a problem and create an invention to solve the problem.

12 Steps To Being

An Inventor1. Begin with a survey.

Interview everyone you can think of to find out what prob-

lems need solutions. What kind of invention, tool, game, device, or idea would be helpful at home or at school?

2. List the problems that need to be solved.

Think about the simple, everyday problems that come up. Not enough pens or pencils? Hair too long to reach with a regular brush? Forgetting homework assignments too often? Computer keyboard always dusty? Dog eating the cat food? Bed unmade?

3. Get down to nuts and bolts.

Next comes the decision-making process. Using your list of problems, decide which ones it would be possible for you to work on. Predict the outcome or possible solution(s) for each problem. Make a decision by choosing one or two problems that you could solve with some kind of invention.

4. Hook your ideas together.

Begin writing an Inventor’s Log or Journal. A record of your ideas and work will help you develop your invention.

ThinkLike an Inventor!

Throughout these lessons, you’ve read about women who came up with creative ways to solve problems. These women all had an ability to think inventively. They were

able to look at problems and solve them in new ways. This is what inventors do. It’s how their minds work.

How about you? Can you think like an inventor? Try it!

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5. Nail down your best idea.Brainstorm inventions that could solve the problem. Zero in on the one idea that you think is your best. Then ask yourself these questions:

q Is my idea practical? q Can it be made easily? q Is it as simple as possible? q Is it safe? q Will it cost too much to make or use? q Is my idea really new? q Will it be strong enough or will it break easily?

6. Is your rose a rose? Now that you’ve found a problem and a possible solution, name your invention.

7. Create in color.Draw your invention. You may even want to make a model of it.

8. PrioritizeList, in order, the steps for completing your invention, including all the materials you will need to build it.

9. Erase all obstacles.Think of the possible problems that might occur. How might you solve them?

10. Band your efforts together.Collect your materials and complete your invention. You may want to ask your parents and/or teachers for advice.

11. Map a marketingstrategyDevelop a marketing slogan or jingle to sell your product. Why do companies use slogans? What are some that you know?

12. Clip and compare the competitionCollect Houston Chronicle ads that are eye-catching and outstanding. Then create one of your own for your invention.

Congratulations! You’re on your way!

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Discove

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News

INVENTIONS FOR THE

WORKPLACELearning Standard:

recognizing technology as the result of a creative act

We have made incredible advances in technology since the “photocopying” of the 1920s. Using the Houston Chronicle, make a list of the latest and

greatest in technology.

It Will LastSculptor Patricia Billings was certainly heartbroken when a swan she worked on for months fell and shattered into a million pieces. She studied other great artists, like Michelangelo, and she knew they had often mixed in a kind of cement that made their plaster sculptures stronger. So, in the late 1970s, she took some time off from her art to develop a strong material for sculpting. That detour was sure profit-able as she ended up creating Geobond®, a material so strong it not only resists breakage but fire, too! Geobond® products are so resistant to heat that after being torched with a 2,000˚F flame for four hours, it’s just warm. Billings has won two patents for her work, but she has

kept the complete recipe for Geobond® a secret. Contractors began to use Geobond®, and

people who saw how it could be used for fireproof building were really impressed.

Petroleum Breaks DownDuring the mid 1950s, Edith Flanigen worked on the complicated process of breaking down petroleum (crude oil), which is unusable unless it is first broken down. Gasoline is one of the substances that comes from petroleum, but she is also responsible for creating at least 200 other things. While most people have never heard of Flanigen, she is quite famous among chemists and other researchers.

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Lives Saved! Many police officers’ lives have probably been saved by the work of Stephanie Kwolek. She specialized in creating long molecule chains at low temperatures in order to create synthetic (not natural) fibers, or cloth, of incredible stiffness and strength. The result, in 1965, was Kevlar®, a material which is five times stronger than steel, from which bulletproof vests are made. These vests are capable of stopping bullets and therefore can save the lives of police officers and others. Kevlar® is also used to make skis, radial tires, racing sails and numerous other items. Kwolek’s work has earned her many awards, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Oops! I Did It AgainBette Nesmith Graham was a secretary with a problem – poor typing skills. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you because you type on a computer and your mistakes can be fixed instantly. (In fact, your computer may even cor-rect your mistakes while you type!) But in Graham’s day, back in the 1950s, typewriters weren’t so forgiving. If you made a mistake, even just one incorrect character, you might have to retype an entire page because erasures made papers look messy, and that was no good. So Graham came up with a brilliant way to fix mistakes: by basically painting over them with a white liquid, which, when dry, looked just like the paper it was typed on. Then she could type over where the mistake was and no one would be the wiser. First she called the stuff “Mistake Out” and later, as more and more people wanted it, she changed the name to “Liquid Paper” (commonly called Wite-Out®) and patented it. Eventually, she sold her company for $47.5 million. Not bad for someone who just couldn’t type well. What things are you bad at that might someday help you invent something wonderful?

Beulah Gets BusyBeulah Henry was one busy lady during the 1920s. She had 110 different inventions in many different fields. One of her most famous was a form of “photocopying” that could make four copies at one time. That may not seem like a big deal now, but in those days, the ability to write something once and make four copies instantly, without having to write it over and over, was huge news!

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Category Job 1 Job 2 Job 3

Business

Medicine

Education

Computer Technology

Retail Sales

Public Relations

Manufacturing

Creative ThinkingIN THE WORKPLACE

Fun Company XYZ

The best job for me is:

I’d be good at this job because

Learning Standard:

making choices by analyzing consequences and solutions

Sometimes it is not so easy to just paint over your mistakes. Look

through the Houston Chronicle for an example of someone who has made a mistake. What actions could have been taken to avoid or correct the situation? Provide some words of

wisdom to the offender.

Discove

r the News

There are many different occupations, or jobs, for people who can think creatively. With your class, brainstorm a list of jobs where creative thinking is needed. Then, complete this chart using the information from the Jobs ads in the Houston Chronicle or chron.com. See if you can find three jobs in each category that would require inventive thinking. After you have found a few jobs in each category, choose one that you think is best for you. Use the lines below the chart to write a paragraph telling why you would be good for this job.

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Independence For AllBessie Blount was a physical therapist who wanted to help people. She was trying to teach amputees (people who have lost a limb) to use their feet to do the work that their hands once did. She really wanted them to be able to eat by themselves and feel independent, so she invented a machine that would help in eating. The food was delivered through a tube, one bite at a time, to a mouthpiece that could be used whether the patient was sitting up or lying down. When the person wanted more food, he or she just needed to bite down on the tube to signal the machine to send the next mouthful. Unable to get her feeding devices into the market, she signed the rights over to the French government in 1952 with the statement that she had proven “that a black woman can invent something for the benefit of humankind.”

Leukemia-Fighting DrugsGertrude Belle Elion invented the leukemia-fighting drug 6-mercap-topurine as well as drugs that help in kidney transplants. Early in her career, she taught high school science and then became a chemist for a drug company, where she later developed these important medications as well as many others. In 1988, Elion shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine with George Hitchings and researcher Sir James Black. Her name appears on 45 patents.

Inventions for the

Doctor’s Office

Learning Standard: describing how people use science in their professions

Ptetend you have just developed a medical breakthrough. Search for a medical-related organization in the Houston Chronicle that would be interested in hearing about your findings. Write a business letter explaining your discovery and

why this group should be interested.

Discover the News

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INVENTIONS for Government Service

Beautiful and BrainyActress Hedy Lamarr was gorgeous and brilliant. She was married to a man who sold weapons for a living. During her conversations with him, she came up with an idea. In June 1941, she patented an idea for a radio-controlled torpedo. It was never used during World War II, but, shortly thereafter, the Sylvania Company used her idea for the basis of its satellite-communica-tion technology, much of which is still used today.

Discover the News

Learning Standard: describing technology's role in

everyday lifeCan you find instances where the

inventions in these lessons could have helped a situation in the news? Rewrite one article telling how one of these inventions could

have changed the story.

Learning Standard: explaining the importance of public service Women play an important role in society.

In the Houston Chronicle, find a great accomplishment made by a woman. Design a certificate of achievement

explaining her success.

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Mission AccomplishedWhen Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon in July 1969, Ellen Ochoa was 11 years old. She probably didn’t dream that someday she, too, could be an astronaut. She grew up and attended college at Stanford University, where she began working on optical systems, or machines that analyze what they “see.” In time, Ochoa, as co-inventor, won patents for three optical devices: a system that inspects objects; a system that identifies and can "rec-ognize" objects; and a system that minimizes distortion in the pictures taken of an object. Her expertise grabbed the attention of NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and in July 1991, Ochoa became a U.S. astronaut.

Less than two years later, Ochoa flew as a mission specialist on a Discovery space shuttle mission. The next year, she was payload commander on a fol-low-up shuttle mission. Ellen Ochoa has won many awards for her success as an engineer, an astronaut, and a role model – for aspiring Hispanic and female sci-entists and for everyone who believes that excellence pays off.

Space TrashSpace may be boundless, but it’s not always clean. There is actually debris floating in space, traveling at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour. The debris – rocks, sand or even bits of metal – flying through space at that speed could cause immense damage if it hits satel-lites, space shuttles or space stations up there. That’s why, in 1980, Jeanne Lee Crews stepped in to solve this problem. Her goal as an aerospace engineer for NASA was to cre-ate a shield, almost like a space bumper, to protect the equipment. She succeeded in developing the multishock shield, using layers of material to break up anything that hits important equipment. Now, if only cars could have such a terrific shield!

Universal Achievements

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Here is a project for your whole class, so you will all be solving the same problem.

The problem: You need to drop a raw egg in a box from a high place (try standing on a chair and reach up to drop the egg, but be careful!) without breaking it. You can’t lower it on a string; it has to free-fall to the ground, inside a cardboard box.

In order to do this project and solve this problem, you will need a box and some stuff to put inside. You’ll want to choose materials that will absorb the shock so that the egg doesn’t break. You can also think of creative ways to place the egg in the box to protect it.

Step 1:Brainstorm a list of stuff you think would be shock-absorbent.

These should be materials you could easily find around the house.

Here are a few to get you started and some lines to add more ideas:

■Newspaper ■Cotton balls ■Old socks

OPERATIONEGG DROP

Step 2:Sketch an idea for how you will set up your box to house the egg.

Remember that inventors see things in their minds before they begin creating. In this frame, sketch the outline of your box and how you think you will put the egg in there. Label the parts, showing the mate-rial you plan to use and how the egg will nest in there. Remember that the egg needs to sit firmly in the box, so you need to show in your sketch how you will hold it in place.

Step 3:Build your egg box and drop it from a high place. What happened?

(Don’t forget – it is your responsibility to clean up any mess made by this project.) Write the results of your egg drop project on another sheet of paper..

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Dear Chevron and Chronicle In Education,

Mothers of Invention was fun because ___________________________

____________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________

We learned __________________________________________________

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Some of our favorite parts were_________________________________

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We also want to tell you _______________________________________

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____________________________________________________________

Sincerely,

Our Teacher’s Name __________________________________________

Our School Name ____________________________________________

Thank you forMOTHERS OF INVENTION!Please email thank you notes to cie@chron.com or mail to: Chronicle In Education 801 Texas, Room 354 Houston, Texas, 77002

Have students write their own notes or use this template for a note from the class!

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Chevronbelieves in

Human Energy™

Through generous sponsorship of the Mothers of Invention,

program, Chevron is helping more than 23,000 students learn

about creative women and their life-improving inventions plus

how to develop their own inventions.

To learn more about Chronicle In Education,

go to chron.com/cie.

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Mothers of Invention:

Women Who Create!

chron.com/cie

This program is generously sponsored by Chevron.