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Innovation 101
This interactive module is a powerful tool for educators to inspire creativity and critical thinking skills.


America Invents!
We’re collecting and sharing videos, resources and ideas from grassroots Makers.

american innovation
America’s passion for innovation inspired Henry Ford to found this institution more than 80 years ago. Today, our goal is to fuel the spirit of American innovation and inspire a can-do culture. Learn More

Connect American Innovation to your curriculum
OnInnovation.com
At The Henry Ford, we think that innovation is a state of mind, that it can be taught and nurtured as a culture. OnInnovation.com is filled with in-depth interviews with some of the nation’s finest thinkers, entrepreneurs and visionaries.
dramatic presentations
Meet famous inventors like the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, and Elijah McCoy as they share tales from their life and work that still inspire today.
if i had a hammer
Students immerse themselves in this problem-solver’s delight as they work together to build an 8- by 11- foot house inside Henry Ford Museum.
maker faire detroit
A two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, food, music, science and technology projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It’s for creative, resourceful people who like to tinker and love to make things.
american innovation
OnInnovation.com
dramatic presentations
if i had a hammer
maker faire detroit
American Innovation
Onsite Programs
(9)
Dramatic Presentation in Greenfield Village. Meet Thomas Edison the day after he introduced the world's first practical incandescent light bulb in this live one-man show.    View Website   View Summary
 
Dramatic Presentation in Greenfield Village. 15-minute play about Elijah McCoy's journey to overcome racial injustice and register 57 patents.   View Website   View Summary
 
Online & Onsite Resource Guide. Encourage your Boy Scouts to discover and apply the core principles of entrepreneurship as they strive to earn their Entrepreneurship Merit Badge and ultimately become successful businessmen.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Dramatic Presentation in Greenfield Village. Orville, Wilbur, and their sister, Katharine, tell the dramatic tale of their first flights on December 17, 1903.    View Website   View Summary
 
Facilitated Program in Henry Ford Museum. Teams of students work together to construct an 8- by 11-foot house inside the Museum. Uses math and language arts skills.   View Website   View Summary
 
Free downloadable Teacher Guide to accompany If I Had a Hammer program in Henry Ford Museum. Includes pre- and post-visit activities and curriculum connections.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Online & Onsite Resource Guide. Encourage your Boy Scouts to discover and apply the core principles of innovation as they strive to earn their Inventing Merit Badge and ultimately be successful in their own lives.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Special Event outside & in Henry Ford Museum. A two-day, family-friendly celebration of arts, crafts, engineering, food, music, science and technology projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset.   View Website   View Summary
 
The Henry Ford offers amazing camp experiences. Discovery Camp® is our week-long history-based camps for children going into the 2nd through 9th grade. Each level has its own theme and related crafts and activities.   View Summary
Field Trip Enhancements
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Expectations and tips for chaperones on field trips to The Henry Ford.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Self-guided itinerary. Enrich your field trip experience with these “for the teachers, by the teachers” themed itineraries. Created by The Henry Ford 2009 Teacher Fellows and tested with their students, these curriculum-aligned tools for teachers, group leaders and students will deepen student learning and understanding of the Ford Rouge Factory Tour.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Scavenger Hunt in Henry Ford Museum. Explore the exhibit "Heroes of the Sky" through featured artifacts, drawing, vocabulary, and questions for writing and discussion. Includes a tip sheet for parents/teachers/chaperones.    Get Document   View Summary
 
Scavenger Hunt in Greenfield Village. Explore the George Washington Carver Cabin and Mattox Family Home through featured artifacts, drawing, vocabulary, and questions for writing and discussion. Includes a tip sheet for parents/teachers/chaperones.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Scavenger Hunt in Henry Ford Museum. Explore the exhibit "Your Place in Time" through featured artifacts, drawing, vocabulary, and questions for writing and discussion. Includes a tip sheet for parents/teachers/chaperones.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Scavenger Hunt in Greeenfield Village. Explore the homes and workplaces of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers through featured artifacts, drawing, vocabulary, and questions for writing and discussion. Includes a tip sheet for parents/teachers/chaperones.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Scavenger Hunt in Henry Ford Museum. Explore the exhibit "Made in America: Manufacturing" through featured artifacts, drawing, vocabulary, and questions for writing and discussion. Includes a tip sheet for parents/teachers/chaperones.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Self-guided itinerary. Focus on innovation and design in furniture and the home. Enrich your field trip experience with these “for the teachers, by the teachers” itineraries created by The Henry Ford 2009 Teacher Fellows.    Get Document   View Summary
 
Self-guided itinerary. Focus on inventors and the characteristics they share by visiting the workshops and homes of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Wilbur and Orville Wright. Enrich your field trip experience with these “for the teachers, by the teachers” itineraries created by The Henry Ford 2009 Teacher Fellows.    Get Document   View Summary
 
Self-guided itinerary that highlights stories of innovation at the Ford Rouge Factory Tour. Use this itinerary to help you identify the ways Ford continuously works to improve the work environment for its employees, the quality of the world in which we live and the cars we drive today.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Self-guided itinerary that highlights stories of innovation in Greenfield Village. Use this itinerary to help you identify some of the items that Henry Ford collected to honor his greatest role model and mentor, Thomas Edison.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Self-guided itinerary that highlights stories of innovation at Henry Ford Museum. Use this itinerary to help you identify some of the most significant innovations in Henry Ford Museum and understand the stories behind them.   Get Document   View Summary
Classroom Resources
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Lesson plans. Select lesson plans that most directly support The Henry Ford’s educational theme “American Innovation.” Created by participants in the National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers: America’s Industrial Revolution at The Henry Ford, 2009, 2010, 2011   Get Document   View Summary
 
A guide that is aimed at helping teachers, after-school providers and parents to create a culture that can foster creativity and innovation among youth on an everyday basis so that creativity and innovation become habits of mind and a positive strength from within. Ideas, tips, tools and resources that are part of this guide are designed to be used in a flexible manner to inspire youth with a can-do attitude whether it is in the classroom, after-school programs or at home.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Lesson Ideas relating to Avatar: The Exhibition. Exhibition at Henry Ford Museum October 26, 2013 - January 26, 2014.    View Summary
 
Online Exhibit. Explore R. Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House - the only surviving prototype of Fuller's vision for mass-produced, affordable housing.    View Website   View Summary
 
Guia del educador para la pelicula de IMAX El Vuelo de las Monarca.    Get Document   View Summary
 
Video interview with curator Bob Casey and article on Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, inventor of the Model T and innovator of the moving assembly line.   View Website   Watch Video   View Summary
 
Educator Guide for the IMAX 3D film Flight of the Butterflies.    Get Document   View Summary
 
Online exhibit. Timeline of the history of Ford Motor Company.    View Website   View Summary
 
Educator Guide for George Washington Carver traveling exhibit, at Henry Ford Museum Nov. 2010 - Feb. 2011 as well as permanent resources available at The Henry Ford. Even separate from the exhibit, it contains useful background information, guiding questions, and suggested activities. Produced by the Field Museum and adapted by The Henry Ford.   Get Document   View Summary
 
PowerPoint slideshow. Learn about glass making, the paper mill, and workers with disabilities at the Rouge.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Online Exhibit of Herman Miller furniture and product literature collections. Herman Miller, Inc., a Zeeland, Michigan company founded in 1923, has become a leader in design and manufacture of modern furniture.   View Website   View Summary
 
Free downloadable Teacher Guide to accompany If I Had a Hammer program in Henry Ford Museum. Includes pre- and post-visit activities and curriculum connections.   Get Document   View Summary
 
Interactive module. Uses oral history interviews of some of America's most iconic innovators (past and present) and other assets of The Henry Ford's OnInnovation resource to explore the basic tenets of innovation and its role in participants' own lives.    View Website   View Summary
 
Website from The Henry Ford. Collection of oral histories from today's visionaries; includes video, transcripts, and contextual information. Connects today's and yesterday's innovators.    View Website   View Summary
 
Online Exhibit. Each month, our curators choose unique and interesting items from our collection to showcase.   View Website   View Summary
 
Lesson plan for grades 6-12 that explore Rosa Parks and the concept of social innovation.   Get Document   View Summary
 
PowerPoint slideshow. Examines sophisticated technological and environmental innovations at the Rouge which manage water, soil and daylight.    Get Document   View Summary
 
Online exhibit. Information on the life and work of Henry Ford. Also includes a history of Ford Motor Company.   View Website   View Summary
 
Online exhibit. Information on the life and work of Thomas Edison. Also includes a history of Menlo Park Laboratory.   View Website   View Summary
 
Online exhibit. Information on the life and work of Orville and Wilbur Wright.   View Website   View Summary
Professional Development
(1)
Teacher Fellows work with our Education Team to create educational programs that can become national models and aid classroom instruction. The Henry Ford selects 12 to 16 K-12 social studies and science/technology teachers through a competitive application process.   View Website   View Summary
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