Introduce them to the article:

• Ask your learner to think about inventions that make their lives easier.  Which ones have come into their lives in recent years?  Who invented these things?
• Why might universities and colleges be connected to inventions?

Reading it with them:

• Take turns reading portions of the article

Terms to explain:

• Intellectual property, regional innovation centre, commercializing inventions, monetizing, private and public wealth, machine learning, artificial intelligence, intangible assets

Key things they can learn from it:

• Learning about inventions can be very exciting.  Inventions change how we live and work. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ideas.  Entrepreneurs often see things that others do not.

Sample questions to pose:

• How would you come up with an invention?
• Once you had an idea, what would you do to try and make the idea come to life?
• How would you know if there is a market for your idea?
• What would you do if someone told you your idea was stupid?

Challenges to look into:

• What steps would your children take to bring an invention to life?
• Are there entrepreneurs who have failed?
• What contributes to failure?
• What would they do if their friends thought their idea was silly?
• How would they get money to develop their idea?  How much money would they need?

Helpful Internet searches:

• Look for websites that outline Canadian inventions, inventions that rocked history and inventions that came from university research.  Talk about each one.
  • https://www.thoughtco.com/made-in-canada-1991456
  • https://interestingengineering.com/19-great-inventions-that-revolutionized-history
  • https://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/08/100-important-innovations-that-came-from-university-research/