Benjamin Franklin Great American scientist inventor and writer

Benjamin Franklin Great American scientist, inventor, and writer

Benjamin Franklin: Fun Facts • Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston and was the 15 th of 17 children! • For a time, he worked as a printer for his brother James where he began to write letters under the name Silence Dogood • At only 17, he ran away to Philadelphia where he started his own printing business. He even printed • His face also appears on the $100 do laws and other important documents for the assembly. • During his life he traveled to many places and discovered many things. Unfortunately, not everyone accepted his curious nature. Some disagreed

Benjamin Franklin as a Scientist Benjamin Franklin made many discoveries about the nature of electricity including: • That electricity was made up of one common element he called electric fire • That electricity was like a fluid, it flowed from one object to another and was never destroyed • That metal was a good conductor of electricity (meaning it attracts electricity) • Video: Benjamin Franklin Experiments with Electricity

Benjamin Franklin as an Inventor Benjamin Franklin made many more discoveries which led to inventions like: • The lightening rod • Bifocals • The Franklin Stove • Glass Armonica • Swim Fins • Don’t know what these inventions are? Click on “What Is It? ” to find out! • Video: Benjamin Franklin's Lightening Rod

Benjamin Franklin as a Writer Benjamin Franklin loved to write! He wrote things like: • The Pennsylvania Gazette • Poor Richard’s Almanac • He wrote about funny things, he wrote about his inventions and discoveries, and more • He also wrote one of the most important documents in the history of the United States. The Declaration of Independence!! • Don’t know what Poor Richard’s Almanac is? Click on “What Is It? ” to find out! • Video: Benjamin Franklin and the

What Is It? • The lightening rod: a metal point attached to the roof of houses that saved towns from catching on fire during storms • Bifocals: like eye glasses but with a top half for seeing far away and a bottom half for reading. • The Franklin Stove: it kept heat in, sent ashes and smoke out, and used less wood! • Glass Armonica: a mechanized (produced by a machine) instrument that produced the same sound as wine glasses filled with different amounts of liquid. • Swim Fins: like the ones you wear on your feet but made for your hands! • Poor Richard’s Almanac: printed annually, and contained things like weather reports, recipes, predictions and homilies.