Samiksha R.
Alexander Graham Bell
Samiksha R.
Simcoe County Heritage Fair
Midhurst, ON
It all started with my first time participating in the Heritage Fair. I was new to this program and didn’t know much about choosing research topics. While I was searching online, I came across Alexander Graham Bell when I was looking up famous inventions. At that time, I chose a different topic. But this year, when I heard the announcements about the Heritage Fair, I immediately knew what my topic would be! That’s when I began learning more about Bell’s important inventions. To my surprise, he didn’t just invent the telephone—he created many other interesting things that had a big impact on Canadian history.
The key people who helped me were my parents, who supported me while I worked on my project, and my teachers, Mrs. Hales and Mr. Ma. They helped me get ready for my presentation and guided me through the whole process. They also gave me great advice on how to design my Heritage Fair board, which helped me feel more confident and prepared.
My main inquiry question was: How does this affect me?
As I learned more about Alexander Graham Bell and his work, I realized that his inventions have made a huge difference—not just in my life, but in the lives of my family, other people, and even scientists and inventors around the world. His ideas helped improve communication and opened the door for more new inventions. I used these reasons to answer my inquiry question. I also explained how different groups of people, not just my family, have been positively impacted by his work. My final answer to my inquiry question is this: Alexander Graham Bell’s inventions have made a big difference in my daily life and in the lives of many others, both in the past and today
Working on this project taught me how powerful teamwork can be, and how even small efforts can lead to amazing results. I enjoyed the whole process of creating, making changes as suggested, presenting, and now preparing for showcasing.
What sources and evidence did you consult for your project? What different perspectives did they provide on your topic?
I used Britannica.com and The Canadian Encyclopedia, PBS.org and Biography.com, History.com and Elon University’s “Imagining the Internet”, The Science Museum (UK) and The Franklin Institute (fi.edu). Additionally, I used ChatGPT to generate color images.
What is the historical significance of your topic?
This topic is relevant to prominent inventions that have made contributions to Canadian industrial and economical growth, thus taking Canada to new heights. The inventions such as Harmonic Telegraph, Silver Dart, HD-4 Hydrofoil Boat left great impression in Canadian History. These inventions evolved the Telecommunication, Aviation, Media & Journalism, Hearing and Speech Technology.
Why did you choose this topic?
I chose this topic because I read about Alexander Graham Bell in 5th grade while googling about inventors while making project last year. I came across a topic of who made the telephone which I found interesting so I started researching about him and found that Alexander Graham Bell made many more inventions and is not limited to just telephone or communication. For example the mine detector, graphphone etc which many people didn’t know about so that’s why I decided to research about Alexander Graham Bell and present a topic that concludes all his significant inventions. Also, while doing so I could very well relate his ground breaking inventions to Canadian history which spark interest more for me.
