#2 Pencil Innovations

Purpose: To show how inventive thinking can be stimulated by making innovations to an everyday object

Materials

• #2 pencil
• science journal
• colored pencils

Procedure

1. Observe an ordinary #2 pencil.
2. Think about these questions and record your responses in your science journal:
   • What functions can a #2 pencil fulfill?
   • What differences exist between a pencil and a pen?
   • What improvements can be made to a #2 pencil?
   • What is the #2 pencil's best feature?
   • What new features can be added to the #2 pencil to make it more useful?
3. In your science journal, draw a picture of what your new and improved #2 pencil would look like. Label all parts!
4. In your science journal, brainstorm ideas of what a 22nd century pencil will look like; then draw and label it.
5. Share your newly innovated #2 pencil and 22nd century pencil with a friend and explain why they are better than the original!

Extension
Visit your local library and check out the book, The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstances by Henry Petroski, to learn the history behind the pencil.