Invention of Post-it Notes

Name:
Warm-up

1. Have you ever used a post-it note before?

2. Do you think the invention of the post-it note was accidental or
intentional?
3. How important do you think innovation is in the business world?
4. Do you believe that sometimes failure can lead to success in unexpected
ways?

Listening
Watch the video and answer the following questions.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/orA8e1AeMTs?si=WyE5DG-baFADvLoE

1. Who invented the post-it note?

2. What was Dr. Spencer Silver originally trying to invent?
3. How did Art Fry come up with the idea to use the weak adhesive?
4. What was the initial purpose of using the weak adhesive as a bookmark?
5. How did the idea of using the weak adhesive as a bookmark evolve into
the post-it note?
6. How much did 3M make in sales from the post-it note in 2019?
7. What lesson can we learn from the story of the invention of the post-it
note?
Essential
Name: Punctuation rules
Period (.) full stop (BrE)
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Use a period after most abbreviations.
Comma (,) If it rains, I´ll stay at home.
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so, yet) connecting independent clauses.
Place a comma after introductory elements (phrases or clauses) in a
sentence.
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Semicolon (;)
Use a semicolon to connect closely related independent clauses
without a coordinating conjunction.
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themselves contain commas.
Colon (:)
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Exclamation Mark (!)
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statements, or commands.
Question Mark (?)
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Quotation Marks (" ")
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Apostrophe (')
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sudden break in thought.
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Read the following text with missing punctuation marks (commas, periods, etc.). Review
the text and identify the correct places where punctuation marks are missing.
Name:

Post-it Notes
Post-it Notes were invented in the 1970s at the 3M company in
Minnesota quite by accident.researchers at 3M were working on
developing different types of adhesives,and one particularly weak
adhesive, a compound of acrylate copolymer microspheres, was
developed .employees at 3M were asked if they could think of a use for a
weak adhesive which,provided it did not get dirty,could be reused.one
suggestion was that it could be applied to a piece of paper to use as a
bookmark that would stay in place in a book.another use was found
when the product was attached to a report that was to be sent to a
colleague with a request for comments on the report-the colleague made
his comments on the paper attached to the report and returned the
report.the idea for Post-it Notes was born .

it was decided within the company that there would be a test launch of
the product in 1977 in four American cities. sales of this innovative
product in test cities were less than stellar, most likely because the
product, while innovative, was also quite unfamiliar. a final attempt was
then made in the city of Boise to introduce the product.in this attempt
3M salesmen gave demonstrations of the product in offices throughout
Boise and gave away free samples of the product.when the salesmen
returned a week later to the offices where the product had been
demonstrated and given away ,a huge percentage of the office workers ,
having noted how useful the simple little product could be, were
interested in purchasing it .over time 3M came to understand the huge
potential of this new product and over the next few decades more than
400 varieties of Post-it products-in different colors, shapes, and sizes_have
been developed.
 Name:

Post-it Notes
Post-it Notes were invented in the 1970s at the 3M company in
Minnesota quite by accident. Researchers at 3M were working on
developing different types of adhesives, and one particularly weak
adhesive, a compound of acrylate copolymer microspheres, was
developed. Employees at 3M were asked if they could think of a use for a
weak adhesive which, provided it did not get dirty, could be reused. One
suggestion was that it could be applied to a piece of paper to use as a
bookmark that would stay in place in a book. Another use was found
when the product was attached to a report that was to be sent to a
colleague with a request for comments on the report; the colleague
made his comments on the paper attached to the report and returned
the report. The idea for Post-it Notes was born.

it was decided within the company that there would be a test launch of
the product in 1977 in four American cities. Sales of this innovative
product in test cities were less than stellar, most likely because the
product, while innovative, was also quite unfamiliar. A final attempt was
then made in the city of Boise to introduce the product. In this attempt,
3M salesmen gave demonstrations of the product in offices throughout
Boise and gave away free samples of the product. When the salesmen
returned a week later to the offices where the product had been
demonstrated and given away, a huge percentage of the office workers,
having noted how useful the simple little product could be, were
interested in purchasing it. Over time, 3M came to understand the huge
potential of this new product, and over the next few decades more than
400 varieties of Post-it products - in different colors, shapes, and sizes-
have been developed.
2. Study the previous passages and choose the best answers to the questions that
follow.
Name:
1. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the
first highlighted sentence in paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the meaning
in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. Of the many adhesives that were being developed at 3M, one was not a
particularly strong adhesive.

B. Researchers at 3M spent many years trying to develop a really weak adhesive.

C. Numerous weak adhesives resulted from a program to develop the strongest

adhesive of all.

D. Researchers were assigned to develop different types of uses for acrylate

copolymer microspheres.

2. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the
second highlighted sentence in paragraph 1? Incorrect choices change the
meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. The 3M company suggested applying for a patent on the product in a report

prepared by a colleague.

B. One unexpectedly-discovered use for the adhesive was in sending and receiving
notes attached to documents.

C. A note was attached to a report asking for suggestions for uses of one of 3M's
products.

D. A colleague who developed the new product kept notes with suggestions by other
workers.
3. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the
first highlighted sentence in paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the meaning
in important ways or leave out essential Information.

A. The 3M company was unfamiliar with the process of using test cities to introduce
innovative products.

B. Sales of the product soared even though the product was quite unfamiliar to most
customers.

C. The new product did not sell well because potential customers did not understand
it.

D. After selling the product for a while, the company understood that the product
was not innovative enough.

4. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the
second highlighted sentence in paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the
meaning in important ways or leave out essential Information.

A. The company immediately understood the potential of the product and began to
develop it further.

B. The company worked overtime to develop its new product, initially creating
numerous varieties to make it successful.

C. The company initially introduced 400 varieties of the product and then watched for
decades as sales improved.

D. It took some time for the company to understand how important its new product
was and how many variations were possible.
Listening
Correct answers:
1. Dr. Spencer Silver invented the post-it note.
2. Dr. Spencer Silver was originally trying to invent a super strong adhesive.
3. Art Fry came up with the idea to use the weak adhesive as a bookmark after
hearing about it from Dr. Spencer Silver.
4. The initial purpose of using the weak adhesive as a bookmark was to keep it in
place without damaging the page.
5. The idea evolved into the post-it note after trial and error, making it a versatile note
that can be stuck and removed without leaving a mark.
6. 3M made over $1 billion in sales from the post-it note in 2019.
7. One lesson we can learn from the story is that even if something doesn't go as
planned initially, good things can still come from it in the future.

Reading
1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D