Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hot Spot 4 Inventors and Inventions' Webquest
Hot Spot 4 Inventors and Inventions' Webquest
First read this passage about an important invention, and answer the question
at the end.
I was invented in China about 3000 years ago. I have been used as a
scientific tool by famous inventors like Leonardo da Vinci and the Wright
brothers. I am a popular children’s toy, but I am also used in competitions
around the world. I am a traditional New Year’s gift for Japanese children.
I can be used to pull things like boats, ice skaters and surfboards. In some
countries like Afghanistan, people play fighting games with me. What am I?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson056.shtml
Exercise 1
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0804/postcards/
Exercise 2
You want to tell a friend about kites, and why they are such an important
invention. Choose one of the postcards, write about kites and send the card to
a friend in your class.
This page is taken from www.macmillanenglish.com/hotspot. It is photocopiable and may be used within the class.
Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010.
1
Hot Spot 4
Kites were used as scientific tools by many famous inventors. One of them
was Leonardo da Vinci. Go to this website, read about him and do Exercise 1:
http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=l_daVinci
Exercise 1
Most of these sentences contain a mistake. Can you find and correct them?
http://www.bkfk.com/inventor/inventors.asp
Exercise 2
There are lots of famous inventors on this website. Can you match the person
(1 – 8) with their invention (A – H) below?
This page is taken from www.macmillanenglish.com/hotspot. It is photocopiable and may be used within the class.
Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010.
2
Hot Spot 4
Exercise 3
Choose another inventor from the list and find out what he / she did. Write a
few sentences about him / her.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
This page is taken from www.macmillanenglish.com/hotspot. It is photocopiable and may be used within the class.
Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010.
3
Hot Spot 4
Answers
Part 1
Exercise 1
1. False: they came to Japan from China, 2. True, 3. True, 4. False: they
were used by Homan Walsh, 5. False: he used them to measure
temperature, 6. False: he used them to help send a message across the
Atlantic, 7. True, 8. False: they were used to pass information from ships
to aircraft.
Part 2
Exercise 1
1. He was born on the 15th April, 2. He was born in a town called Anchiano
near Vinci, 3. He wasn’t an actor, 4. This sentence is correct, 5. He went
to Florence with his father, 6. It is called ‘The Mona Lisa’, 7. This sentence
is correct, 8. It is a painting of someone else’s wife, 9. It is now in a
museum in France, 10. This sentence is correct
Exercise 2
This page is taken from www.macmillanenglish.com/hotspot. It is photocopiable and may be used within the class.
Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010.
4
Hot Spot 4
Part 1 Exercise 1
Students scroll down the page to find the section ‘Up, up and away’. The
information they need can be found in this section only.
Part 1 Exercise 2
Students choose one of the postcards and click on ‘Send E-card’. They fill in
the fields (using the ‘Message’ box’ to write about kites). They can click on
‘Preview E-card’ to see their finished product before sending it.
Part 2 Exercise 1
Students scroll down the page to read the text and find the answers.
Part 2 Exercise 2
Students scroll up and down the page to find the answers. Most of the
inventions are listed next to their inventor, but students can click on the
names to find out more about them.
This page is taken from www.macmillanenglish.com/hotspot. It is photocopiable and may be used within the class.
Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2010.
5