Archive for January, 2014

Kid Inventors’ Day

Kid Inventors' DayJanuary 17th is marked on the calendar as “Kid Inventors’ Day.”  The ingenuity of kids can be astounding.  Not scared to think outside the box, historically kids were a leading force behind many inventions still used today.  Through STEM education in schools, kids today continue to change the world with their innovative minds.  Here’s a list of 5 inventions, some old and some new, made by kids:

  • Toy Truck: First patented by 6-year old Robert Patch in June 1963 and a favorite toy of kids everywhere today, the first play vehicle could be taken apart, rebuilt, and transformed into other types of vehicles.
  • Ear Muffs: In the winter of1873, 15-year old Chester Greenwood was out trying to enjoy a new pair of ice skates.  Frustrated that his ears were getting so cold, the teenager tried tying a scarf around his head but found that was too itchy and bulky.  His solution:  Chester bent wire into two round loops and asked his grandmother to sew fur on them.  Connected by a steel headband, Ear Muffs were invented.
  • Braille:  After an eye injury at the age of 3 caused sight loss in one eye and a disease at age 5 left him completely blind, French-born Louis Braille invented his own reading and writing method using raised dots arranged in specific patterns at the age of 15.  Although not a method widely used upon it’s initial invention, after Braille’s death at the age of 43, the sophisticated method for communication for the blind was widely adopted and is still used today.
  • Smart Wheel: “Safe Motorist Alert for Restricting Texting, Tweeting, Typing, Touch screens, and Touch ups” was invented by a group of teenagers some even too young to drive themselves with the intention to help curb distracted driving.  The Smart Wheel is a steering wheel cover that contains censors and LED lights that determines when a driver no longer has two hands on the wheel.
  • Sign Language Translator: After watching a translator verbalize a fast food order for a group of dead people in 2002, Ryan Patterson, then 17, invented a glove that contained sensors to translate the motions of American Sign Language on a digital display.  Later added was an audio feature.
Jan 17, 2014 | 0 comments | View Post

100th Day of School

100th Day of School

A hundred days of school is a milestone worth celebrating in a student’s education, particularly at the younger grade levels.  Students new to the school arena by now have successfully gotten through the rough adjustment period of being out of the comfort of their home with their parents and in an environment where rules and expectations are most likely different.  A hundred days earlier, students embarked on a learning adventure and have made it to the halfway point enlightened and eager to continue learning.  Here are a few ways to celebrate learning achievements on the 100th Day of School:

  • 100-Day Edible Necklaces:  Have students count out 100 pieces of ring or donut shaped cereal like Fruit Loops, Cheerios, etc.  With a being of yarn or bakers twine, string the cereal together.  For a little touch of added sweetness, use candy such as Gummy Life Savers.  Ask students to create a pattern using the cereal and candy.  Suggestion, limit the candy to 10 pieces per student otherwise you’ll be peeling kids off the wall!
  • 100 Years Ago Essay:  Ask students to research what life was like 100 years ago.  Topics could include the President and moments in political history during that year, inventions, fashion, methods of transportation, etc.  For this assignment, get as general or specific as you would like.  Have students do a comparative essay of “Then and Now.”  If you want to make the assignment more personal to students, ask them to interview the oldest person in their family.  While not everyone has someone in his or her family that has lived to 100+ but it is likely everyone has someone that has heard a story from something that occurred 100 years ago from their elder.  For example, a student’s Grandparent may be able to share stories they heard while growing up from their own parents.  The history in the stories will fascinate students.
  • Word Scramble:  Ask students to make as many words as they can out of the letters used in  “One Hundred Days.”  Award a prize to the student who makes the most.
  • “If I had $100…”: Ask students to finish the sentence “If I had $100…”  Have them draw an image depicting what they would do with the money and create a bulletin board display using their answers and drawings.
Jan 09, 2014 | 0 comments | View Post