Thanksgiving Innovation, Served Well

USPTO, Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention team up for invention education activities highlighting mealtime delights

Have you ever used a potato peeler to whip some spuds into a classic side dish? How about a cooking rack to ensure the perfect roast on your chosen bird? 

If so, you have the hard work of inventors to thank for your delicious Thanksgiving feast. The USPTO wants to help celebrate and educate inventors on innovative kitchen mealtime delights in November. 

Inventors make life easier in ways big and small. Whether it be an impromptu lunch or elaborate holiday spread, mealtime is no exception.

In food production, preservation, and safe cooking practices, Americans use patented technology in the kitchen every day. A few examples:

Martha Jones’ corn husker made preparing one of the most commonly used vegetables more convenient. Josephine Cochrane’s dishwasher helped make post-meal cleanup a breeze. Earl Tupper’s sealing containers are still used to store leftovers today.

Some of those scraps even inspired another pivotal advancement: The inventors of LASIK laser eye surgery experimented on turkey cartilage left over from a Thanksgiving meal.

The USPTO worked with the Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention to create a series of invention education activities participants can enjoy from their own kitchens. 

Young innovators will learn about viscosity while making Ooblek, a sticky substance with a primary ingredient of cornstarch. Patty Lipka, director of experiential education at the Cade, and Reggie Duncan from the USPTO will unlock the science behind a pop-up turkey timer and help young musicians make a kazoo out of wax paper.

Families will explore the concept of hydrophobic substances while making play clay out of a favorite dessert ingredient: cocoa.

“The kitchen is the perfect place to practice Inventivity®,” Lipka says. “We hope that this series inspires families across the country to get curious about the inventions around them and recognize that creativity and inventiveness lives inside us all. ” These free educational videos, complete with instructions to participate, will be posted on the USPTO’s YouTube channel throughout the month of November. Subscribe at youtube.com/USPTOvideo so you don’t miss a thing!

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