The Rideau Hall Foundation is proud to partner with Historica Canada, the largest independent organization devoted to enhancing awareness of Canadian history, to create a series of videos exploring Canadian innovations that have made the world a better and safer place. This four-part series features innovation stories from Ingenious: How Canadians Made the World Smarter, Smaller, Kinder, Safer, Healthier, Wealthier and Happier, written by former Governor General of Canada David Johnston, and Tom Jenkins. The animated videos are available in English and French and complement the Rideau Hall Foundation’s Education for Innovation (E4I) resources. These free, bilingual, K-12 lesson plans can be used by parents and teachers alike to keep kids learning and engaged during this period of distance education. The E4I resources introduce students to inspiring Canadian innovations and guide learners through the four phases of the Innovation Cycle. Students are inspired to inquire, ideate, incubate, and implement their innovations to make an Impact!
Jolly Jumper
Inspired by the motion of a swinging cradleboard, Ojibwe woman Olivia Poole invented her own baby jumper, making her one of the first Indigenous women in Canada to patent and profit from an invention.
Converto-Braille
Born with only 2% of his vision, Roland Galarneau invented the Converto-Braille machine, which could scan and translate texts into braille at 100 words/min.
Although he never patented or profited from his lifesaving invention, Robert Foulis’ steam-operated fog alarm assisted fogbound mariners for over a century.
Barred from McGill’s Faculty of Medicine because of her gender, Dr. Maude Abbott went on to publish the Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease in 1936, paving the way for modern heart surgery.
About the Rideau Hall Foundation The Rideau Hall Foundation (RHF) is a registered national charity that brings together ideas, people and resources to enhance the impact of the Office of the Governor General as a central institution of Canadian democracy. Working towards a better Canada, the RHF’s work spans four key programmatic areas and challenges for Canada, including: (1) learning initiatives that strive for excellence and promote equality of opportunity; (2) strengthening Canada’s culture of innovation, (3) widening the circle of giving and volunteering; and (4) building and celebrating excellence in Canadian leadership, and increasing public awareness about and commitment to Canada’s multi-faceted democracy.
About Historica Canada Historica Canada is a registered national charitable organization that offers programs to explore, learn and reflect on Canada’s history, and what it means to be Canadian. You may know them through their Heritage Minutes and The Canadian Encyclopedia, but they run many other programs to build awareness of Canadian history and citizenship. Historica Canada provides free, bilingual educational content in schools, public places, on television, trains, planes – and online everywhere
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