22nd March 2019

Dear Parents,

In the coming weeks, from next week up until 10th June 2019, Milepost 2 will be following a unit called
Inventions that Changed the World. This unit of work is part of the International Primary Curriculum. This
new curriculum sets out very clearly what children will learn – the learning goals – in three different areas:

1. The subjects of the curriculum. The learning goals for each of these subjects are at least as
challenging as anything taught in the curriculum in your child’s own country. In many cases, the learning
goals are more challenging.

2. Personal development – the characteristics which will help children become more responsible,
independent learners.

3. International understanding – which will help children develop both a sense of the independence of
their own country and culture and the interdependence between countries and cultures.

During this unit we will be focusing on History, Technology, Science, Art, Society and International.

In History, we’ll be finding out:

• About significant inventions of the last 100 years

• About inventions in the way we communicate

• About the history of flight and associated inventions

In Technology, we’ll be finding out:

• How levers, pullies, gears and cams work

• How to make a moving poster and simple machines

In Science, we’ll be finding out:

• About the air around us and the science of flight

• How to carry out a scientific test

In Art, we’ll be finding out:

• How technology has been depicted in art

• About techniques in traditional and modern art

 • How to create digital art
• How to make a print

In Society, we’ll be finding out:

• How technology and inventions affect people’s lives

• How inventions have made life easier or harder

• About inventions in the home and host countries

• Why some countries have fewer or more technologies than others

In International, we’ll be finding out:

• How the invention of the Internet has changed the way we communicate

The unit vocabulary is attached and the Danish translations will be provided during Danish lessons. We
will learn these words in context during the course of the unit. You can help your child by going through
the list to help them become familiar with the terms. You could also translate the words into your
mother tongue.

For our Entry Point we will have an Inventions Exhibition on Tuesday 26th March 2019. If you have any
examples of inventions and machines from the last 100 years, please send them into the classroom
by Monday 25th March. A message was previously sent out to both classes. Thanks to those who
have already sent items in. Examples include typewriters, old phones, tapes, video recorders,
camcorders, old movable toys.

The Home Learning tasks will be sent out next Friday 29th March 2019. If your child has some work to
research, please help them, but without actually doing the work. If you have the chance to further their
interest in the ideas of this theme please take it, but your enthusiasm and interest is most important.

Attached is a list of notable inventions and inventors to begin looking into with your child.

By the end of the unit, we hope your child has met all of the learning goals. We hope they will have had
an enjoyable time in the classroom and that they will have gained lots of new knowledge, developed
their skills and deepened their understanding about inventions. Keep a look out on our blogs for
information about each week’s learning and for news of our exciting trips and Exit point. You will be
invited to participate in this, our final Exit Point of the school year!

This will be a fascinating unit!

Kind Regards,

Pete and Zoe

Notable inventions from the 20th and 21st centuries

1900–1949

Invention Date Inventors

Vacuum cleaner 1901 Hubert Booth

First motored and manned 1903 Wright Brothers
airplane
Teabags 1904 Thomas Sullivan
Cornflakes 1906 William Kellogg
Colour photography 1907 Auguste and Louis Lumiere
Cellophane 1908 Jacques E Brandenberger
Instant coffee 1909 George C Washington
Talking motion picture 1910 Thomas Edison
Pyrex 1915 Eugene Sullivan and William Taylor
Stainless steel 1916 Henry Brearly
Modern Zip 1917 Gideon Sundback
Pop-up toaster 1919 Charles Strite
Band aid plaster 1920 Earle Dickson
Lie detector 1921 John Larson
Self-winding watch 1923 John Harwood
Mechanical television 1925 John Logie Baird
Aerosol can 1927 Erik Rotheim
Bubble gum 1928 Walter E Diemer
Car radio 1929 Paul Galvin
Jet engine 1930 Frank Whittle and Dr Hans von Ohain
FM radio 1933 Edwin Howard Armstrong
Nylon 1935 Wallace Carothers and DuPont
Photocopier 1937 Laboratories
Chester F Carlson
Ballpoint pen 1938 Ladislo Biro
First successful helicopter 1939 Igor Sikorsky
Modern colour TV 1940 Peter Goldmark
Computer controlled by 1941 Konrad Zuse
software
Aqualung 1943 Emile Gagnan and Jacques Cousteau
Microwave oven 1946 Percy Spencer
Mobile phones 1947 Bell Laboratories
Frisbee 1948 Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren
Cling film 1949 Franscioni
Dow Chemical Company
1950–1999

Invention Date Inventors

First credit card 1950 Ralph Schneide

Videotape recorder 1951 Charles Ginsburg
Optic fibre 1955 Abraham Van Heel and Harold H
Hovercraft 1956 Hopkins
Christopher Cockerell
Laser 1958 Gordon Gould
Microchip 1959 Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce

Bubblewrap 1960 Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes

Felt-tip pen 1962 Yukio Horie
Liquid crystal display (LCD) 1963 George Heilmeier
Compact disc (CD) 1965 James Russell
Computer mouse 1968 Douglas Engelbart
Internet 1969 Advanced Research Projects Agency
Animal cloning 1970 John B Gurdon
Email 1971 Ray Tomlinson
Post-It note 1974 Arthur Fry
Laser printer 1975 Xerox Research
Artificial heart 1978 Robert K Jarvik
Laptop computer 1979 William Moggridge of Grid Systems
DNA fingerprinting 1984 Alec Jeffreys
Synthetic skin 1986 G Gregory Gallico III
Laser vision correction 1987 Stephen Trokel
Computer-controlled 1992 Stephen Trokel
Smart
PortablepillMP3 player 1999 Tim Berners-Lee

Inventions that Changed the World Websites

 The following websites may be useful for Home Learning:

www.ideafinder.com/home.htm
Ideafinder is a fact-filled website with all kinds of information for children.

http://bkfk.com/family-activities
Motivate your child to be an inventor and to be active!

www.egyptgiftshop.com/papyrus.html
Egypt Gift Shop website has a history of papyrus.

www.ueet.nasa.gov/StudentSite/historyofflight.html
This Nasa website for children has a history of flight from the first failed attempts to the
first heavier-than-air flight by the Wright Brothers.

www.slideshare.net/sirandyofgecko/locomotion-flying-and-gliding- presentation
Slideshare has a PowerPoint presentation called ‘Flyers and Gliders’ that includes many
photographs of different flying and gliding animals.

www.crackingideas.com/exhibition/
A lot of ideas and materials for children relating to innovation. Includes a gallery of children’s ideas for
inventions!

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
NASA has a virtual tour of the International Space Station, how it works, how the crew lives,
eats, sleeps and exercises.

www.1001inventions.com
The 1001 Inventions website has information and award-winning videos for children about the
Islamic ‘Golden Age of Invention’.

http://earlyhumans.mrdonn.org/caveart.html
Early Humans for Kids website has information about cave paintings. Includes a virtual tour of the
Lascaux cave in France.

http://www.funzug.com/index.php/technology/green-ideas-green-inventions.html
Funzug website has some green inventions
INVENTIONS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD VOCABULARY

Mathematics the study of numbers, amounts, shapes

Astronomy the study of the universe

Architecture designing buildings

Engineering using science and maths to design and build roads, bridges, tools, and machines

Education the learning needed to get knowledge, understanding and skills

Computing using computers

Science a search for general laws about how the world works

Chemistry the science of what substances (solids, liquids and gases) are made of

Optics the science of sight and light

Medicine the science of identifying and treating disease or injury

Invention the creation of something new

Inventor a person who invents something

Machine something made from parts that can move or do work

Engine a machine that uses energy from fuel or electricity to do work, such as to move

Flight moving through air or space by flying

Aircraft any machine that can fly through the air

Design to make or draw plans for an invention