(March 16, 2017) Capping off a month’s worth of effort for the second graders of Buckingham Elementary School, last Wednesday’s third annual “Invention Convention” was attended by hundreds of parents, well wishers and fellow students.
Led by teachers Donna Socha and Jessica Fry, the students spent weeks either researching a famous inventor and developing a presentation on him or her, or developing their own inventions to solve a problem — prototypes included.
Consider the Brush Paste — a toothbrush with a squeezable handle that dispenses exactly the right amount of toothpaste every time, or the Quad-oculars — branching binoculars built for two for the express purpose of “not having to share everything with my twin brother” written right on the product description.
Also, the Easy Scooper, which is built like the shovels used to fill sandbags, with a plastic liner built into the back of the scoop portion, but is intended for litter boxes. Or, the Arm-and-Leg mosquito nets perfectly sized to fit around t-shirts and shorts, just right for after-hours play during summer.
The students, generally between the ages of 7 and 9, tackled problems consistent with the challenges they faced each day.
Too small to flip on the light switch by yourself? Try the Switch Extender, which brings the function a little closer to the ground. Freeze pops too cold to handle? There’s now a kind of Koozie for that.
Some of the children’s’ projects were intended for the adults in their lives.
Imagine the Wakenator, which is supposed to ease the process of stirring a sleeping child by integrating an alarm clock with a spray bottle. Or the Knot Blaster for hair, which forgoes the alarm clock, but adds a variety of combs and brushes to a spray bottle.
A board game, Number Run, had players performing randomized math operations to move about the game board, ultimately constructing a tower in order to win the game. A pet-hair roller was designed like a broom or mop, but with a paint roller on the end sporting Velcro to pull up shed hair.
Another device, the Mail Retriever, is a four-wheeled robotic drone designed to roll out to the mailbox, retrieve what’s inside, and return the packages to the house.
As for the inventors, Fry said the children all chose their own inventors to focus on, which led to a couple of repeats like physicist Albert Einstein, aviators the Wright Brothers and James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.
However, other names surfaced like Garrett Morgan, the African-American inventor of the three-stage traffic signal and a safety hood to protect early firefighters from smoke inhalation.
Also highlighted was Hedy Lamarr. While primarily known for her acting, she also helped develop a jam-proof radio guidance system for torpedoes that persists today in modern WiFi and Bluetooth technologies.
Led by teachers Donna Socha and Jessica Fry, the students spent weeks either researching a famous inventor and developing a presentation on him or her, or developing their own inventions to solve a problem — prototypes included.
Consider the Brush Paste — a toothbrush with a squeezable handle that dispenses exactly the right amount of toothpaste every time, or the Quad-oculars — branching binoculars built for two for the express purpose of “not having to share everything with my twin brother” written right on the product description.
Also, the Easy Scooper, which is built like the shovels used to fill sandbags, with a plastic liner built into the back of the scoop portion, but is intended for litter boxes. Or, the Arm-and-Leg mosquito nets perfectly sized to fit around t-shirts and shorts, just right for after-hours play during summer.
The students, generally between the ages of 7 and 9, tackled problems consistent with the challenges they faced each day.
Too small to flip on the light switch by yourself? Try the Switch Extender, which brings the function a little closer to the ground. Freeze pops too cold to handle? There’s now a kind of Koozie for that.
Some of the children’s’ projects were intended for the adults in their lives.
Imagine the Wakenator, which is supposed to ease the process of stirring a sleeping child by integrating an alarm clock with a spray bottle. Or the Knot Blaster for hair, which forgoes the alarm clock, but adds a variety of combs and brushes to a spray bottle.
A board game, Number Run, had players performing randomized math operations to move about the game board, ultimately constructing a tower in order to win the game. A pet-hair roller was designed like a broom or mop, but with a paint roller on the end sporting Velcro to pull up shed hair.
Another device, the Mail Retriever, is a four-wheeled robotic drone designed to roll out to the mailbox, retrieve what’s inside, and return the packages to the house.
As for the inventors, Fry said the children all chose their own inventors to focus on, which led to a couple of repeats like physicist Albert Einstein, aviators the Wright Brothers and James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.
However, other names surfaced like Garrett Morgan, the African-American inventor of the three-stage traffic signal and a safety hood to protect early firefighters from smoke inhalation.
Also highlighted was Hedy Lamarr. While primarily known for her acting, she also helped develop a jam-proof radio guidance system for torpedoes that persists today in modern WiFi and Bluetooth technologies.