Caveat Academy course · Grades 6 to 8

History of Inventions: how people made the modern world

Follow the inventions that built the world you live in, from 3.3-million-year-old stone tools to the first website: find a ship's longitude from a clock, work out why Watt's engine saved three quarters of its coal, trace how the cotton gin expanded slavery, see why alternating current won and time the Wright brothers' first flight. Six modules at your own pace, with the costs of each invention alongside the gains.

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$19one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $19

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Middle school course library, $79 for 28 items.

6 modules · 18 lessonsabout 13 hours$19

Six modules, eighteen lessons

Each module ends with a practice set that tracks mastery, an explain-it-back prompt, a short written response and a module exam. The final opens when every module is proficient; passing it earns a certificate with a verification code.

  1. Module 1: What makes an invention

    Distinguish discovery, invention and innovation, trace how inventions combine earlier ones and explain what a patent requires and protects.

    • Invention, discovery and innovation
    • Inventions build on inventions
    • Patents: protecting an invention
    about 2.1 h

  2. Module 2: The first inventions

    Explain how early tools, fire, farming, the wheel, writing and the inventions of ancient China, Rome and Greece changed how people lived.

    • Stone tools, fire and farming
    • The wheel and writing
    • Inventions of the ancient world
    about 2.1 h

  3. Module 3: Printing, time and instruments

    Analyze the effects of the printing press, accurate clocks and the telescope and microscope, and compute longitude from a time difference.

    • The printing press
    • Clocks and the problem of longitude
    • Seeing farther and smaller
    about 2.1 h

  4. Module 4: Steam, factories and railroads

    Evaluate the gains and costs of steam power, the factory system, the cotton gin, railroads and cheap steel for different groups of people.

    • The steam engine
    • Factories, textiles and the cotton gin
    • Railroads and steel
    about 2.1 h

  5. Module 5: Electricity and communication

    Explain how discoveries about electricity and magnetism led to generators, the telegraph, the telephone, radio and electric power grids, and compare DC and AC.

    • Batteries, magnets and generators
    • Wires and waves: telegraph, telephone and radio
    • Lighting the world
    about 2.1 h

  6. Module 6: Flight, medicine and computers

    Analyze how flight, vaccines and germ theory, and the transistor, chip and internet were developed, and evaluate an invention's consequences.

    • Learning to fly
    • Inventions that saved lives
    • Computers and the internet
    about 2.1 h

Try it before you start

This is how every lesson works: step through a worked example at your own pace, then answer a check and get the reason right away. Nothing here is saved; the course keeps your progress.

Module 4 · The steam engine

Worked example: the value of the separate condenser

  1. A mine's Newcomen engine burns 40 tons of coal a month.

A lesson check from each module

The checks need JavaScript turned on. The course itself works the same way.

What you get

Academics · Middle School$19 · included with the Academy pass and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A finished course in the history of technology: you can tell discovery from invention and innovation, explain what a patent requires, trace how inventions combine earlier ones, explain how tools, fire, farming, the wheel and writing changed human life, describe the inventions of ancient China, Rome and Greece, analyze the effects of printing, clocks and scientific instruments, compute longitude from a time difference, weigh the gains and costs of steam, factories, the cotton gin and railroads, explain how electricity led to the telegraph, telephone, radio and power grids, and evaluate the consequences of flight, vaccines, computers and the internet. Passing the final earns a Caveat certificate of completion.
Who it is for
Students in grades 6 to 8 who like knowing how things work and where they came from, students who enjoy history more when it has machines in it, and homeschool families who want a history course that connects to science and math. Some lessons cover hard history, including how the cotton gin expanded slavery, at a level suited to middle school.
Format
An online self-paced course: 6 modules and 18 lessons with worked examples you reveal step by step, 144 practice and exam items (multiple choice, numeric, fill-in and ordering), an explain-it-back prompt and a rubric-checked short response in every module, module exams with one retake, a 24-question final and a certificate with a verification code. About 13 hours in all; works on a phone or a computer.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the course opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Middle school course library ($79) and the Academics Suite pass ($149), and 1 more bundle. Progress is saved in this browser on this device, and the certificate page lets you download your record.
Where it lives
The Middle School space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Access, a receipt, a refund or a correction to the course: team@caveatacademic.com.

How it works

  1. Open the course and start Module 1. Each lesson takes about 25 to 35 minutes; two or three a week finishes the course in about a semester.
  2. Answer the checks as you read. Every answer shows the reason, and a miss links you back to the lesson that covers it.
  3. Finish each module with its practice set and exam. Proficient on every module opens the final; 70 percent passes it.
  4. Print or download your certificate and record from the certificate page.

Start the course

Sources and accuracy

The lessons are original writing by Caveat Academic Services. Facts were checked against these free, open references, which are also good places to read further.

  1. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation: invention.si.edu
  2. United States Patent and Trademark Office, patent basics and the history of the U.S. patent system: uspto.gov
  3. Royal Museums Greenwich, John Harrison and the longitude problem: rmg.co.uk
  4. Library of Congress, the Wright brothers papers and the first flight, and the Morse papers: loc.gov
  5. U.S. Census Bureau historical counts of the enslaved population, 1790 to 1860, as summarized by the National Archives and Library of Congress teaching resources: census.gov

History of Inventions is a self-paced course from Caveat Academic Services. It follows the sequence of a typical middle school history of technology elective but does not replace a school history course and awards no credit. Hands-on activities use paper, string and kitchen materials only; never take apart electrical devices or work with mains electricity. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.