Grade schoolers come up with innovative inventions
Having trouble getting your horse to move? Does your back hurt when you load dishes in the bottom rack of the dishwasher? Are you tired of walking around, cleaning up after your dog?
If you have any of these problems, students at Ramona Lutheran School may have the answers.
The school held an invention and creative writing convention Friday afternoon, displaying students’ stories and their innovations.
Fourth-grader Garrett Rutherford played his “Plumber’s Trumpet,” a “cross between a trumpet and a cornet.”
Garrett said the instrument was made out of “the top of a two-liter bottle and a PVC pipe.”
Second-grader Theo Burchmore exhibited his “Poop Scooping Robot” by operating it to scoop up a toy car. It was a cleaner demonstration that way, noted his mom, Dorothy Burchmore.
Theo said he created it to help people clean up after their dogs, so they wouldn’t have to walk around.
“It was the first thing he thought of,” said his mom.
“We have a dog who poops a lot,” Theo explained.
He and his dad, Jonathan, picked up robotic parts to put it together.
“It didn’t come with a kit or anything,” Theo proudly added.
Nikolaus Arcaina made a dog house out of plastic water bottles that is waterproof, bulletproof, fireproof and can withstand earthquakes.
Working with magnets, Zachary Williams created a water bottle holder with magnets.
“You can connect it to bikes,” Zachary said.
Science teacher Frank Lucio said the school holds the fairs every other year and alternates with science projects and inventions. This was the first year they incorporated creative writing.
Students in grades first through sixth began their projects before Christmas. Kindergartners also participated with Lego inventions and stories.
Lucio said he wants students to think about ideas and put them into concrete forms but realizes there are limitations to what materials they can use because of their age. To solve that, he allowed them to come up with prototypes.
Sixth-grader Sophia Dotterer wanted to invent something that would help a person with a bad back load up a dishwasher, Lucio said. She came up with a dishwasher bottom shelf that springs up. Since she couldn’t make it, she drew up diagrams and instructions as to how it would work.
“The idea is there and it’s a very good idea,” said Lucio.
Elia Castle drew her invention: a stick that would attach to a horse’s harness with a string to dangle a carrot in front of the horse. The stick could be moved in different directions and the carrot would motivate the horse to move, she explained.
“My horses are very stubborn and I tried to do this and it really worked,” she said.
Brayden Santa, a third-grader, came up with a system to soak barley for his chickens.
“It’s an eight-day cycle,” he explained of his invention — a wood rack with barley in plastic containers that are rotated every day. When a container reaches a certain rack, it’s ready to be fed to chickens or goats or used to make bread, Brayden said.
Ginger Martinez and Ally Turpin created “The Travel Bag.”
“It won’t hurt your back if you carry heavy books,” said Ginger.
“And you can lay on it,” added Ally.
“It helps with traveling on an airplane like Ally said,” explained Ginger.
Other inventions included Sterling Bryant’s “Fan Fork” to cool food down before eating, Noah Dotterer’s soccer board game, and Elizabeth Feagin’s and Alayna Wettstein’s “Cold Catcher” — head gear with a roll of bathroom tissue connected to a small bag so someone with a cold has tissue close at hand and can easily dispose of it.