I am Alexander Graham Bell
From Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum · 2020
Summary
Xavier wants to talk to a friend far away and can't figure out how, so the gang visits a young Alexander Graham Bell — inventor of the telephone — who was driven by a desire to help his deaf mother and wife communicate. The episode explores invention, technology, and the idea that solving a personal problem can change the world.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone — motivated in part by wanting to help people who couldn't hear.
- What problem was Alexander Graham Bell trying to solve? What did he invent?
- How has the telephone changed the way people communicate?
- Have you ever invented or built something? What was the problem you were trying to solve?
- If you could invent anything, what would it be and who would it help?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: inventor, telephone, communicate, patent, electricity.
Try it: Draw a device you would invent to help someone in your community. Label its parts and write one sentence about who it helps.