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Maine Samplers Part III

Almost Famous by David Getz

Henry Holt and Company, 1993

Summary: Ten-year-old Maxine is constantly striving to become a famous inventor so that she can take care of her little brother Wat, who has a chronic heart condition. She also has a second goal: to appear on the Phil Donahue Show. With the encouragement of Dr. Stone, Wat's physician, Maxine forms a partnership with Toni. Together Maxine and Toni create an invention to help both Wat and Toni's grandmother. They also compete in a class invention contest sponsored by their teacher Mr. Seligman. Their classmate Victor provides the humor.

Level: RL: 4 IL: 4 - 8

Themes:

inventions and inventors
the invention and research processes
overcoming obstacles

Activities:

1. "Study your inventors, Maxine," he [Dr. Stone] said. "And remember what Newton said when they asked him how he made his discoveries. "By keeping the problem constantly before my mind'. Don't give up." (p. 16)

a. Identify Maxine's goals, both as an inventor and as an almost famous person. What problems did Maxine encounter in her attempts to accomplish her goals? Explain how she solved these problems. Other characters in the novel face obstacles. What obstacles or problems did Wat, Toni, Victor, Toni's grandmother, and Mr. Seligman encounter? Explain how they overcame their obstacles.

b. List the inventions and inventors mentioned in Almost Famous. Working with a partner or small group of students, add to the list names of other great inventors and their inventions. Then have your partner(s) select two or three inventors and read about them in general encyclopedias and some of the reference books noted in the resource section below. From your reading, determine the qualities\characteristics of successful inventors and describe their invention styles (see Experimenting with Inventions in the resource section). Then share your ideas with partner(s). From your study of inventors, add to Dr. Stone's comments. What advice would you give a potential inventor? How can you develop these characteristics?

c. The movie Lorenzo's Oil, available on videotape (MCA, 1992), tells the story of Michaela and Augusto Odone. They "invent" a medicine to treat their son Lorenzo who suffers from ALD. As you view the movie, take notes on the following:

1) What are the symptoms and causes of ALD?
2) What obstacles do the Odones face? How do they overcome these obstacles?
3) Augusto Odone says he uses "research, observation, and understanding" to create a medicine to treat his sonÕs illness. Analyze the steps in this process by identifying the types of sources used in his research, by recording the Odonees' observations, and by explaining how the Odones used the images of the kitchen sink and the paper clip chain to visualize and understand the problem.
4) Compare/contrast the Odones' process to the thirteen-step research process in the Maine Educational Media Association's Information Skills Guide for Maine Educators (Maine State Library Media Services, 1990.) How are the processes similar or different?
5) At a time when the doctors were making little progress in finding a treatment for ALD, the Odones successfully invented a medicine. Why did the Odones succeed? (Hint: collaboration).

2a Explain why Mr. Seligman decides to have his students participate in the Invention of Children Contest.

b. Summarize the helpful hints about how to create an invention given in the contest instruction manual (Chapter 13). Explain how Maxine and Toni use the hints to create their invention. Then create your own invention. For more helpful hints, read the chapter titled "Inventing New Uses for Common Objects" in Experimenting with Inventions by Robert Gardner in the resource section below.

c. In Almost Famous, how is the winner of the classroom competition selected? In your opinion, is this a fair method of evaluating student inventions? Explain. Suggest ways of improving how to select a winner by creating your own criteria for judging inventions. Compare your ideas with those of other students in your class. Then revise the criteria.

d. Invent America is a nonprofit organization that helps students and teachers create their own invention competitions. It also sponsors a national contest. The group has materials and information for people interested in organizing an "invention convention" for their school or entering a national competition. Write a letter to Invent America, 1505 Powhatten Street, Department P, Alexandria, Virginia 23314 request an Invent America starter kit. Include $2.50 for postage and handling. Organize an "invention convention" for your class or school. Use the criteria created in 2b to judge the inventions.

e. The July 4, 1993 edition of Parade featured an article about seven-year-old inventor Akhil Rastogi. Read the article. Why did Akil's father apply to the U.S. Patent Office? Write a letter to the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Washington, D.C. 20231 requesting information of how to patent an invention. Use the information obtained from the U.S. Patent Office to prepare an oral report for you class on how to patent an invention. OR invite an attorney to your class and have her speak about patents and trademarks. In your invitation include a list of questions you would like her to answer.

3a. In Connections, author James Burke traces the sequence of events leading up to the creation of great inventions. Read a chapter from Burke's book, listen to a chapter of the book on audio cassette, or view the videotape of an episode from the PBS series based on the book. Select one great invention highlighted in the book. Then construct a timeline for that great invention. Include the earlier inventions leading to its creation. Then add inventions that resulted from its creation.

b. In Almost Famous, medical technology helps to diagnose Wat's heart condition. What inventions does Dr. Stone use to study Wat's heart? Brainstorm other great inventions that have contributed to a medical knowledge. This might include the stethoscope, the microscope, an x-ray machine, etc. Draw a diagram explaining how one of these inventions works, similar to the type of presentation in David Macaulay's The Way Things Work or Steve Parker's The Random House Book of How things Work.

c. In Connections and its sequel, The Day the Universe Changed, Burke shows how inventions altered human history and people's understanding of themselves. Make a webbing diagram showing how the automobile had an impact on social, political, and economic conditions in the United States.

Use the web (below) to write an essay similar to a chapter from The Day the Universe Changed. Select another great invention and research how it had an impact on economic, social, and political conditions. Present this information visually to your class through a webbing diagram, timeline, chart, or Hypercard program.

d. New technologies are changing the way we locate, organize, and communicate information.

1) Locate magazine articles about information technology (on-line computer databases, electronic bulletin boards, E-mail, multimedia, etc.) by using a print index such as The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Then locate articles using an electronic index such as the TOM version of Infotrac on CD-ROM. Compare/contrast the methods used to locate materials, as well as the content, of these indexes. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
2) Compare/ contrast the methods for locating books using a card catalog and an on-line circulation system such as URSUS. Compare/contrast the methods used to locate materials, as well as the content. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
3) Send a letter to a friend via the U.S. Postal Service. Then send a letter to a friend using E-mail or an electronic bulletin board. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
4) Find information on one or more of the information technologies noted above in a traditional encyclopedia. Then find information on the same subjects using a multimedia encyclopedia on CD-ROM. How does the process used to locate information, as well as the content, differ? What are the advantages and disadvantages of print and electronic encyclopedias?

e. Read two or three articles found while doing activity d1 above. Using the information from these articles and your personal experiences from the activities above, write a description of a library of the year 2050. Use the chart below to evaluate the content of your piece and make revisions.

 
Student Self - Evaluation

  _____1.I have incorporated at least three observations from 
my personal experience into my narrative.  Those observations are:
a.

b.

c.  

  _____2.  I have incorporated information from my reading 
into my narrative.  Those facts or ideas include:

a.

b.

c.

  _____3.  I use sensory details, words appealing to the 
five senses to help my audience experience the events in 
my narrative.  Below are four or five words appealing 
to each sense:

Sight         Sound     Taste     Touch     Hearing








  _____4.  I use vivid verbs.  Nine or ten vivid verbs 
in my narrative are:

Resources:

Inventors, Inventions, and Invention Contests

Aaseng, Nathan. The Rejects: People and Products that Outsmarted the Experts.
Lerner Publications, 1989. [Learn about inventions that were first rejected but, through the persistence of the inventors, succeeded anyway.]

Bender, Lionel. Invention. Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.
[This Eyewitness Book includes the history of inventions, "what they do, how they work and why they have changed our world."]

Bergstrom, Joan M. and Craig Bergstrom. All the Best Contests for Kids.
Ten Speed Press. [This book provides invaluable information on numerous contests for kids, including competitions for young inventors.]

Gardner, Robert. Experimenting with Inventions. Franklin Watts, 1990.
[Not only does this work give the history of great inventions, but it also explains how to create an invention, form an invention club, organize an invention fair, and apply for a patent.]

Jones, Charlotte Fitz. Mistakes that Worked. Doubleday, 1991.
[Find out how people accidentally invented potato chips, trouser cuffs, Silly Putty, and other inventions.]

Macaulay, David. The Way Things Work. Houghton Mifflin, 1988.
[The author uses colorful illustrations to explain how various machines work.]

Parker, Steve. The Random House Book of How Things Work. Random House, 1991.
[Here are more explanations of how things work.]

Santoli, Al. "Thomas Edison, Move Over!" Parade. July 4, 1993, pp. 14-15.
[This article reveals how seven-year-old Akhil Rastogi patented his invention.]

Trends in Technology

Burke, James. Connections. Available on audio cassette through Audio Renaissance Tapes, Inc. and on videotape through Time-Life. [Burke shows how eight major inventions changed the course of history.]

___________. The Day the Universe Changed. Little, Brown, and Company, 1985.
Also available on audio cassette through Audio Renaissance Tapes, Inc. [Burke examines how a change in knowledge produced through technology or great inventions alters peopleÕs understanding of themselves.]

Toffler, Alvin. Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century. Bantam Books, 1990.
[One of Toffler's focuses is the impact of infor-mation technology on society. A thought-provoking book for library media specialists and teachers.]

Prepared by Marilyn Joyce, Stearns High School, Millinocket