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Inventors Ladder · Middle school · Grade 6–10

The Age of Electricity

Franklin's kite and lightning rod, Volta's pile, Faraday's motor and generator, Morse's telegraph, Bell's telephone, Edison's lab and Tesla's motor.

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7 topics in 4 units. Builds on The Scientific Revolution. Leads to Flight. Not sure this is the right course? Find your rung.

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Unit 1 Sparks and the First Battery

2 topics

Franklin's experiments with lightning, and Volta's pile, the first steady current.

  1. Benjamin Franklin: Lightning, the Rod, the Stove and Bifocals
  2. Alessandro Volta: The Pile of 1800

Unit 2 Magnets and Motion

1 topics

Faraday turns electricity into motion, and motion into electricity.

  1. Michael Faraday: The Motor and the Generator

Unit 3 Messages over Wires

2 topics

Morse's telegraph and Bell's telephone.

  1. Samuel Morse: The Telegraph and Its Code
  2. Alexander Graham Bell: The Telephone

Unit 4 Light and Power

2 topics

Edison's invention factory and light bulb, and Tesla's alternating-current motor.

  1. Thomas Edison: Menlo Park and the Light Bulb
  2. Nikola Tesla: The Rotating Magnetic Field