 THOMAS A. EDISON
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THOMAS A. EDISON
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Thomas Alva Edison was called Alva, or Al by his family. He was a very curious child. He was always asking questions. Even his mother, who had once been a schoolteacher could not answer all his questions. He would experiment to try to find the answers. Once he tried to hatch some eggs by sitting on them. Another time he accidently burned down the family's barn.
The teacher told someone she thought there was something wrong with Alva; that he was "addled" * . He told his mother and they took him out of the school. He only went to school for 3 months in his whole life. Afterwards , he was taught at home.
He wanted to experiment. To make money for his experiments, he went to work at age 12 selling newspapers and candy on a train. When he had some spare time on the train, he would do experiments in the baggage car.
When he was 16 he went to work for the telegraph * office sending messages.
He became nearly deaf due to an injury to his ears. He later said he didn't mind being deaf because it helped him to concentrate.
When he was 22 years old he went to New York. He only had $1 in his pocket. He hunted for a job during the day, and at night he slept in the basement of a gold company. He watched everything around him very closely. Some equipment broke down and Edison was able to fix it because he had been watching it work before he went to sleep each night. The owners gave him a job. He improved the machine so much the company paid him $40,000 for his invention. He started the American Telegraph Works in New Jersey.
He built a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was here with his employees he made many of his inventions. He would work night after night, and sometimes he would fall asleep at his workbench. His wife wouldn't see him for days at a time.
He and his team worked to make a light bulb which would burn for a long time without burning out. They tried 1,500 materials and nothing worked well. Finally he tried a new material in the filament * that burned nearly 200 hours.
After he had made the light bulb, he worked to make a power system so people could use the bulb. In 1882 he flipped a switch and 85 houses in New York City had electric lights for the first time.
Thomas Edison was probably the world's greatest inventor. He had a patent on 1,093 inventions. In addition to the electric light, he also invented the phonograph * , a camera to take motion pictures, a cement mixer, the automatic * telegraph, and he improved Alexander Graham Bell's telephone.
Pioneers of Electricity
from SCE
Edison Antique Electric Museum
Edison's Miracle of Light PBS site
Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum
Biography of Thomas Edison
from World of Biography
Edison Invents
from the Smithsonian
Timeline of Edison's life
Edison After Forty
from American History
Thomas Edison
at Time For Kids
Edison's Miracle of Light
transcript of the film at PBS
Thomas Edison
from The Learning Page at the Library of Congress
Thomas A. Edison Papers
Rutgers
The Wizard of Menlo Park
from Franklin Institute Online
A Trip with Edison
Norm Brauer Publications
Thomas Alva Edison
at Buzzle.com
Thomas Alva Edison
from Hero History
Inventors and Inventions
at Kid Info
More Inventors
from Enchanted Learning
Brief Biography of Edison
from the National Park Service
Questions and Answers about Edison
National Park Service
Thomas Edison versus Nikola Tesla
Who is more productive?
Online book "Inventors"
Thomas Edison, page 223
At biography.com search for Thomas Edison.
Scroll the panel for the "Video & Audio Results".
Thomas Edison: A Brilliant Inventor
By Lisa DeMauro, ed. / Harpercollins Publishing
Take a close-up look Thomas Edison, the brilliant scientist who perfected the light bulb and founded the first movie studio. Interviews with experts and lively writing deliver the accurate reporting you expect from TIME for Kids. Historical and contemporary photographs capture the life of this inventor who revolutionized our world. Recommended for ages 7 to 9.
Electricity, Intermediate Thematic Unit
By Teacher Created Resources
Thematic Units from Teacher Created Materials are literature based, cross-curricular, and ready to use. They provide activities, many of them hands-on, for all areas of the curriculum, including math, science, language arts, social studies, physical education, art, and music. Each book offers two or more literature-based units and lesson plans plus cross-curricular activities and worksheets, a culminating activity, management ideas, and a bibliography. Complete and comprehensive, these reproducible units are designed with student interest and teacher usability in mind. The planning is complete. The book used in "Electricity" (that will need to be purchased or borrowed) is: "Electricity" by Steve Parker There are also several articles in this workbook about Inventors and their Inventions.
Thomas Edison Biography FunBook
By Carole Marsh & Sherry Moss(Editor) / Gallopade International
Everyone's favorite way to learn about America's most important citizens! Easy-to-read information, facts, trivia, humor and activities are all included in Biography Funbooks! Ages 7-12. paperback.
Inventor Resource
comprehensive expert advice for inventors
From Word Central's Student Dictionary
by Merriam - Webster
(Pronunciation note: the schwa sound is shown by ə)
addled, addle
Pronunciation: 'ad-əl
Function: verb
Inflected Form: ad·dled
: to make or become confused...
telegraph
Pronunciation: 'tel-ə-"graf
Function: noun
: an electric device or system for sending messages
by a code over wires ...
phonograph
Pronunciation: 'fO-nə-"graf
Function: noun
: an instrument that reproduces sound recorded on a grooved disk ...
filament
Pronunciation: 'fil-ə-mənt
Function: noun
: a single thread or a thin flexible threadlike object, process, or part: as a : a wire (as in a light bulb) that is made to glow by the passage of an electric current...
automatic
Pronunciation: "ot-ə-'mat-ik
Function: adjective
: having devices or mechanisms (as timers) that permit operation without help from a person, (automatic washer)...
Page Comments
Most Recent Comments ( See more comments on this page ) 2009-04-30
Dear Mrs. Stevens,
I am very thankful for finding your webpage. We have been working on a unit about inventors, and your biographies are very useful. We also enjoy the links to the activities.
Thank you for you generous contribution.
Chile Pepper teacher
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