The "Wright" Invention

Case Introduction
Welcome, detectives! Everything you need to get started in your investigation is at your fingertips! Click the links below to learn the problem situation, your role opportunities, and the case criteria for the case. Be sure to review the steps in the invention process!

Here's the Situation!
It is early 1893, and the Wright Cycle Exchange, operated by Orville and Wilbur Wright, is a thriving business. The Wright brothers are hard at work repairing bicycles and selling bike accessories. The booming business has taken the brothers by surprise, and they realize they must move their workshop. The demand for their custom-built Van Cleve and St. Clair bicycles has left them with little time to make the appropriate upgrades to the new working environment, The Wright Cycle Company. In the transition of moving, tools, bike parts, and equipment are no longer "handy," and there is little time for organizing and storing the many pieces and parts used to assemble their creations. Realizing that "time is money," the Wright brothers decide to hire a team of creative thinkers to develop an invention that will organize their tools and equipment and help them make a smooth transition from their original place of business to their new business.

Your Role in the Case!
Working with the Wright brothers is a great opportunity that any young inventor would jump at! This is your chance to show the Wright brothers that you have the "Wright stuff!" They've asked that you work with a team of your peers to invent a device or method that will help clean up, organize, and store all the tools, bike parts, and equipment used in building their creations. They've also asked that you keep safety in mind! Knowing that creativity is a skill that requires practice, they have organized some resources to help get your team started.

Your role as an inventor, one who creates or produces an original device, idea, or process, includes the following duties:

• looking for problems that need solving
• keeping a log or record of all work and ideas
• thinking creatively or "outside of the box" for possible solutions
• selecting a solution to a problem or need
• conducting research on possible solutions to a problem or need
• developing a plan of how to create an invention or innovation
• designing and building a model
• testing the model
• managing the invention or innovation

The Criteria for the Case
Inventions come about in many ways. Most of the time, inventions happen because someone has to solve a problem or meet a need, but sometimes inventions are the result of accidents. Inventions can be as complex as powered flight and as simple as the paper clip! The complexity of the device or process is up to you. The Wright brothers have learned that documentation of ideas and discoveries is very important. With that in mind, they have developed criteria for your team to follow:

• Keep an inventor's log that includes detailed notes, drawings, and photos of your ideas and invention throughout the invention process. Log entries must include the date and be initialed by you and a witness.
• Develop a design plan.
• Provide the bibliography information for at least three sources during the research step in the invention process (internet sites, CD-ROM, textbooks, books, etc.).
• Create a final product that meets specific requirements.

It has also been said that beginning the task is half the battle! To help get your creative juices flowing the Wright brothers recommend that you research the work of another creative mind and inventor, Rube Goldberg. Goldberg is best known for his "invention" cartoons that use a string of bizarre tools, people, objects, and steps to accomplish everyday, simple tasks in a very complex way.