Edison: The Wizard of Light
From Devine Entertainment Specials · 1998
53 min3rd4th5th6thScienceSocial Studies
Summary
In 1890s New Jersey, a young orphan named Jack ducks into a workshop to hide from the police and stumbles into the laboratory of Thomas Edison -- the world's most famous inventor. Edison takes the boy on as an apprentice, and together they tinker toward one of Edison's newest wonders: moving pictures. Along the way Jack sees how Edison turns thousands of failed tries into a working invention, and gets the first steady friendship of his life.
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Ages 7+
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
A runaway orphan hides in Thomas Edison's lab and becomes the inventor's apprentice as they work toward moving pictures.
- Edison said he didn't fail -- he just found many ways that didn't work. How is that a useful way to think about mistakes?
- Jack learned by doing real work in the lab, not from a book. What can you learn by trying something yourself that you can't learn by being told?
- Edison invented the light bulb, the phonograph, and movies. Which of his inventions do you use, in some form, today?
- Who is an adult who has taught you something by working on it alongside you?
Quick work-a-long
Words to know: inventor, laboratory, apprentice, experiment
- Edison tried thousands of times before something worked. Name one thing you got better at only by trying again after it went wrong.
- Pick an everyday gadget in the room. Write one sentence guessing what problem someone invented it to solve.