Dear Grades 6–12 Students,

Hi from the Lemelson-MIT Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA! This week, we have a great set of activities for you. You will explore inventions of four categories in our modules called “Use it!,” “Move it!,” “Eat it!,” and “Cure it!” In each module, you’ll read about inventors’ stories, watch their videos, complete an invention project using common materials, and experience what an inventor would do by brainstorming an invention problem and its solutions. You can build a prototype of your solution with materials you find at home.

The total estimated time for each module is two hours, but take as much time as you want! You don’t need to work through the modules in order. If you know which module you are particularly interested in, start with that one! You also don’t need to finish all the modules. You can spend the whole week on the module or the category of invention that you are most interested in! If you are not sure which module you are interested in, or if you want to get a holistic view of inventions, we recommend you work through all the modules. Remember, inventing is just plain fun. We wish you lots of fun this week!

Happy inventing!

Pavi, Tony, and Helen from the Lemelson-MIT Program