Benjamin Franklin is well known to most individuals as a great scientist, inventor and statesman.  However, some of his particular achievements, such as the charting of the Gulf Stream, are sometimes less well known.  England appointed Benjamin Franklin joint Postmaster General for North America on August 10, 1753.  A question arose concerning the postal ships traveling between the colonies and England. Very often, the ships traveling from England to the colonies would be delayed a week or more compared to traveling the opposite course.  Ben Franklin set out to find an answer to this puzzling occurrence.

Complete one or all of the following lessons about Benjamin Franklin to learn a bit more about him and the important part he played in American History.
 

Lesson #1 Scientist vs. Statesman Identify qualities of a great scientist and those of a great statesman.  Using a venn diagram, determine which qualities are common between these two identities.  Discover how these identities at times overlapped in Ben Franklin's pursuits and achievements.

Lesson #2 What if Ben had satellites (Language Arts Activity) Read  Ben Franklin's daily writings in the "Journal of a Voyage" as he traveled from London to Philadelphia in 1726.  How would his writings change to reflect the advancements of the 21st century.

Lesson #3 Money, Power and Elected Officials Two hundred years later the debate of money and power is still a concern of our public officials.  Discover how some of Ben Franklin's concerns during the Federal Convention of 1787 have been re-visited in more recent congressional sessions.