This DK children's book aged 11-14 is brimming with exciting, educational activities and projects that focus on electronics and technology. Keep your siblings out of your room with a brilliant bedroom alarm, power a propellor motorboat, make a stereo from pipes, build your own AM radio, and construct a night light by following step-by-step instructions and using affordable equipment. Inventor Lab will engage budding scientists and engineers as they experiment, invent, trial, and test technology, electronics, and mechanics at home. Simple steps with clear photographs take readers through the stages of each low-cost project, with fact-filled "How it works" panels to explain the science behind each one, and to fascinate them with real-world examples. With an increasing focus across school curricula on encouraging children to enjoy and explore STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and maths), Inventor Lab is the perfect companion for any inquisitive child with an interest in how the worlds of science experiments and technology work, and why.

Students learn how to use electrical circuitry; read biographies to learn more about the character qualities that lead to creativity and achievement; an introduction to electricity and magnetism, and the study of systems and interaction. 23 p. of reproducibles.

Encourage tinkering, curiosity, and creative thinking in children of all ages with these 55 hands-on activities that explore art, science, and more The creator of the highly popular creativity site for kids, Tinkerlab.com, now delivers dozens of engaging, kid-tested, and easy-to-implement projects that will help parents and teachers bring out the natural tinkerer in every kid—even babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. The creative experiments shared in this book foster curiosity, promote creative and critical thinking, and encourage tinkering—mindsets that are important to children growing up in a world that values independent thinking. In addition to offering a host of activities that parents and teachers can put to use right away, this book also includes a buffet of recipes (magic potions, different kinds of play dough, silly putty, and homemade butter) and a detailed list of materials to include in the art pantry.

Build, create, invent, and discover 28 awesome experiments and activities with Maker Lab. Created in association with the Smithsonian Institution and supporting STEAM education initiatives, Maker Lab has 28 kid-safe projects and crafts that will get young inventors' wheels turning and make science pure fun. Explaining science through photographs and facts that carefully detail the "why" and "how" of each experiment using real-world examples to provide context, each activity is appropriate for kids ages 8-12 years old and ranked easy, medium, or hard, with an estimated time frame for completion. Requiring only household materials, young makers can build an exploding volcano, make bath fizzies, construct a solar system, make an eggshell geode, and more. With a foreword by Jack Andraka, a teen award-winning inventor, Maker Lab will help kids find their inner inventor to impress friends, family, and teachers and create winning projects for science fairs and school projects.

How America's individual inventors persisted alongside corporate R&D labs as an important source of inventions. During the nineteenth century, heroic individual inventors such as Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell created entirely new industries while achieving widespread fame. However, by 1927, a New York Times editorial suggested that teams of corporate scientists at General Electric, AT&T, and DuPont had replaced the solitary "garret inventor" as the wellspring of invention. But these inventors never disappeared. In this book, Eric Hintz argues that lesser-known inventors such as Chester Carlson (Xerox photocopier), Samuel Ruben (Duracell batteries), and Earl Tupper (Tupperware) continued to develop important technologies throughout the twentieth century. Moreover, Hintz explains how independent inventors gradually fell from public view as corporate brands increasingly became associated with high-tech innovation. Focusing on the years from 1890 to 1950, Hintz documents how American independent inventors competed (and sometimes partnered) with their corporate rivals, adopted a variety of flexible commercialization strategies, established a series of short-lived professional groups, lobbied for fairer patent laws, and mobilized for two world wars. After 1950, the experiences of independent inventors generally mirrored the patterns of their predecessors, and they continued to be overshadowed during corporate R&D's postwar golden age. The independents enjoyed a resurgence, however, at the turn of the twenty-first century, as Apple's Steve Jobs and Shark Tank's Lori Greiner heralded a new generation of heroic inventor-entrepreneurs. By recovering the stories of a group once considered extinct, Hintz shows that independent inventors have long been—and remain—an important source of new technologies.

With a foreword by Gitanjali Rao, Time Magazine’s inaugural Kid of the Year, this engaging guide from MITeen Press teaches anyone to design and publish their own apps—no experience necessary!—and introduces young app creators from around the world. Have you ever wanted to build your own mobile apps? App Inventor, a free and revolutionary online program from MIT, lets you do just that. With the help of this companion guide chock-full of colorful graphics and easy-to-follow instructions, readers can learn how to create six different apps, including a working piano, a maze game, and even their own chat app to communicate with friends—then use what they’ve learned to build apps of their own imagination. User-friendly code blocks that snap together allow even beginners to quickly create working apps. Readers will also learn about young inventors already using their own apps to make a difference in their communities, such as the girls from Moldova whose app helps alert residents when local well water is contaminated. Or the boys from Malden, Massachusetts, whose app lets users geotag potholes to alert city hall when repairs are needed. With this inspiring guide, curious young dreamers can become real inventors with real-world impact.