Invention Convention

INVENTION CONVENTION TIME

All students will be participating in Windermere's Invention Convention. Students will identify a problem and develop an invention to solve their problem.

Student Journal

Students viewed a slide show of problems and inventively simple solutions to get them thinking. They should have completed the first page of their student journal by this Friday, May 9th. Coming up with three unrelated problems will give them plenty to work with next week. They will use technology to research their problem and solution.

Students will complete their journal at school to document their process, from identifying their problem to building a prototype. Student journals will be finished and sent home Friday, May 16th in order to give plenty of time to complete their display boards. Please don't let your student lose their journal or they will be significantly behind.

Display Boards

Display boards are due May 23rd. I will send home a paper copy of the display board requirements (click below)  with student journals on May 16th. Display boards will be constructed at home as homework. Tri-fold display boards may be purchased at United Art & Education,  3622 Fishinger Blvd.  You may use poster board, but it should include all of the following information as well.

(click to enlarge)

This was sent home on a green sheet of paper, separate from the student journal.

Here are several display board examples: While these don't follow all of the requirements for the board above, they will give you and your student some ideas. I have shared many different examples with your student so they should be familiar with this step. You can probably help most by having them plan  and do a little work daily so they don't have to cram the night before their board is due. Anything on their board should be securely attached so it won't fall off.

Prototype

Students will build a representative (does not have to be a fully operational) prototype. These will be due on June 2nd. Prototypes must be no larger than a paper box (approximately 20" x 12" x 12") and may not use electricity (except for batteries).  Prototypes will be constructed at home as homework.

Convention

Students will present their journal, display board, and prototype the morning of June 3rd.

Important: If we have to switch Field Day, currently scheduled for Monday, June 2nd, due to rain, we will host the Invention Convention on Monday, June 2nd, instead of Tuesday June 3rd. 

Students will assess each other's inventions from 9:00am till 10:00am. Parents are invited to come from 10:15 till 11:00. You are welcome to take your student out for a celebratory lunch. Students who are unable to go out for lunch will watch a movie during lunch in my classroom to celebrate (I don't want anyone to feel left out).

Help

The most common question I receive is, "How much should parents help?"

This is NOT parent work. You may help your student by encouraging them to think about and complete their at school work. You can even help them assemble their boards and prototypes, but students must be able to explain their work and demonstrate understanding of every step of the process. We are not looking for robots or technologically bound solutions, but simple and achievable solutions to problems that impact many people. The real benefit of this project is the student learning. We want our future to see they can identify and solve others' problems. In the spirit of the Ugandan Water Project, the inspiration for this year's Wish Run, we want our students to take full advantage of the privileges we have in our community to help others.