Seatbelt Spy
Fourth grader Keel McQuilkin’s Seatbelt Spy is an extra light that would tip off police when seatbelts aren’t fastened. —Macklin Reid photo
Max Lax Dryer
Branchville fourth grader Kruz Meier invented the Max Lax Dryer, to keep his lacrosse stick dry. —Macklin Reid photo
Suction Solution
Melissa Schnee, a fourth grader, shows off the Suction Solution, designed to keep people from accidentally tipping over their chairs. —Macklin Reid photo
Paws Off
Second grader Katherine Lombardo’s ‘Paws Off Kit’ makes cats stay off furniture with the smell of lavender. She was among 71 kids showing off their products at Branchville School’s Invention Convention Friday. —Macklin Reid photo
Chew Shoew
Braelyn Muldoon, a Branchville School second grader, invented the Puppy Chew Shoe to limit dogs’ destruction of footwear. —Macklin Reid photo
The Dog Clog, the Grocery Gondola, Heat the Sheet, Doggie Doo Flags — what kinds of minds give birth to such inventions?
The minds of Branchville Elementary School students.
It was all on display Friday night, Feb. 27, at Branchville’s fourth annual Invention Convention.
“You know how cats are always scratching up your furniture? Well, I want to prevent that from happening,” said Katherine Lombardo, capturing the inviting cadences of a late night TV pitchman.
A second grader, she’s the inventor of the Paws Off Kit. It includes a waterproof cloth and a spray bottle. But a not-so-secret formula of “one cup of water, 60 drops of lavender” does the real work.
“You spray it on the waterproof cloth, then put it on the chair — the furniture,” Katherine said. “The cats do not like this smell, so they will jump on, smell it, jump back off.”
And the upholstered chair seat is spared the clawing and kneading that is a predictable prelude to cat napping.
“The Invention Convention has become hugely popular, and kids and families look forward to it each year,” said Magda Fincham, co-chairman with Julie Bradley of the Branchville PTA event.
“It is open to all second to fifth graders. We started out with 18 kids registered for the first year and have 71 registered this year!”
Dog shoe
Braelyn Muldoon, another second grader, explained the problem solved by her Puppy Chew Shoe in a series of rhetorical questions that suggest the old adage ‘necessity is the mother of invention.”
“Does your puppy eat your shoes? Does your puppy chew your shoes. Does your mom get mad?” her poster read. “Introducing The Chew Shoe. A shoe just for your dog.”
There was also what may have been a confession: “The Chew Shoe is made out of my brother’s shoe.”
Braelyn described her product development process.
“I removed the laces and put in leather laces because they are stronger,” she said. “Inside the shoe I put some doggie treats to attract the dog to the shoe and not a real shoe. Also inside the shoe I put three doggie squeaking balls. Dogs like the sound of these balls and it will keep the dog busy.”
The inventor gave an interview Friday from the convention floor in Branchville School. Clearly a dog collaborated with her, demonstrating the utility of the product.
What kind of dog?
“A chocolate Lab.”
How many shoes had the dog eaten?
“A hundred,” she said.
What kinds of treats are located inside the Chew Shoe?
“I put in beef treats, doggie treats,” she said.
Braelyn was pleased with her prototype.
“I think it’s a really good idea,” she said, “because she has her own shoe to chew and now she doesn’t chew on shoes.”
The Invention Convention is fun, but also a meaty effort to enhance STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — learning.
This year Scotland Elementary School is launching its first Invention Convention, and Branchville PTA organizers are working to have similar events at the middle schools in the future.
“This is a wonderful and growing initiative to provide more STEM events in our district,” Ms. Fincham said.
Buckle up!
Keel McQuilkin, a fourth grader, took on a serious problem.
“Seatbelts save lives, but drivers don’t always wear them and police can’t tell … Until now!” said his poster touting the Seatbelt Spy.
The “How it works” section of his poster explained it.
“The police can’t tell if a driver is wearing a seatbelt,” it said. “The Seatbelt Spy is an LED on the back bumper of a car. If the driver isn’t wearing their seatbelt the LED flashes red.
“The police will now know if the driver is wearing a seatbelt,” Keel said.
“This will encourage drivers to always buckle up.”
His demonstration poster offered statistical evidence of the need for the invention.
“1. On average, one out of seven people don’t wear seatbelts. 2. In 2009, 90 people a day died in car accidents. 3. 53% of drivers killed weren’t wearing seatbelts. 4. In total, 16,500 drivers were killed in deaths that could have been stopped.”
The ‘What I learned’ section of his poster read: “1. I learned how to make a flashing LED circuit. 2. I learned how many people die each year from car accidents.”
In an interview, Keel said the shocking number of fatal accidents had inspired him.
“I saw an ad and it said how many people had died, a lot about car accidents and how many people die,” he said.
“When I’m driving with my dad, I can’t see people in other passing cars. I can’t see behind the windshield. So,police can’t see if people are wearing seat belts.
“This can show police, and anybody else,” he said. “Nobody wants a ticket, so instead of getting a ticket they could just put on their seat belt and save their life.”
Keel’s product appealed to parents strolling around the event.
“That’s a great idea!” said Nancy Clari, a mom.
Paul Signorelli, a dad, agreed. “That’s a very good idea,” he said, “and also will generate a lot of revenue for the police.”
The convention floor at Branchville School was crowded with families Friday night, and there’d been a walk-through by classes that day. But the meat of the event comes in the weeks kids are working on their inventions.
“The children participating in the Invention Convention work individually (no teams of inventors, per state rules) and independently at home,” Ms. Fincham said.
“We have a wonderful faculty adviser, Mrs. Kathy Wilson, who holds after-school hours to advise any inventors who need help or get stuck while working on their invention,” she said.
“We emphasize process over result in our Invention Convention. We stress to children and parents that following a logical problem-solving process is a primary goal: Identify a problem (find something that bugs you in your everyday life), identify possible solutions, evaluate the pros/cons of the possible solutions, pick one, improve it in an iterative fashion until you have something you are happy with.
“We are hoping that engaging in such an analytical, rational approach (particularly for children who participate year after year) will instill a rational problem-solving approach to all problems encountered by the children.”
Dry lacrosse stick
Fourth grader Kruz Meier invented the Max Lax Dryer.
It deals with a problem Max has experienced as a veteran of Ridgefield’s youth lacrosse, where many coaches have a rain-or-shine ethic.
It’s a bag for toting around a lacrosse stick that works to dry it off as it’s being carried.
“It’s a waterproof material,” Kruz said, “and then the inside’s a towel.”
How’d he come up with it?
“I started to think about things I liked, and thought of the general problem and the general solution,” he said, “and this was one thing that sparked in my mind.”
At the convention he demonstrated the product using a little spray bottle of water. But his R&D process was more rigorous. “At home I tested it with a bigger portion of water and it still worked,” he said. “I filled two glasses of water and I dumped it on it and it stayed dry.”
The program has a social as well as an academic side.
“One of my favorite aspects of it is the walk-throughs of each of the classes during the school day,” Ms. Fincham said. “While the family evening event is wonderful in its own right, seeing how supportive the children are of each other during the day is truly heartwarming.
“I have to admit that I was nervous the first year as to how the fifth graders would treat the second and third grade inventors when it was their turn to view the inventions. But I was amazed and relieved to see that the older children were supportive, encouraging, kind, and genuinely impressed with many of the inventions,” she said. “And the second and third graders were visibly bursting with pride and self-confidence when explaining their own inventions to their older peers.”
Suction works
Melissa Schnee, a fourth grader, is the inventor of the Suction Solution.
“I always am tipping my chair over and my brother’s broken two chairs,” she said.
The product consists of suction cups affixed to the bottom of chair legs with duct tape.
“My invention solves the problem of chairs tipping over when someone tilts them subconsciously,” her poster said.
Melissa had done some critical thinking.
“The only flaws with it,” she said, “are the duct tape — it’ll come off — and it only works on flat, clean surfaces.”
Branchville is registered with the Connecticut Invention Convention, and 10% of participants get a Recognized Inventor prize, meaning they’re invited to the state event at UConn in Storrs each May.
“Several of the BES inventors have gone on to win additional prizes in the state competition,” Ms. Fincham said.
There are also prizes sponsored by local businesses. The Leonardo Da Vinci Prize for most artistic invention was sponsored by Watershed Gallery. The Thomas Jefferson Prize for most patentable invention was sponsored by Fincham Downs LLC. The Nikola Tesla Prize for best home life improvement invention was sponsored by Keough Hardware. The Stephanie Kwolek Prize for best pet-related invention was sponsored by Ridgefield Pet. The Thomas Edison Prize for the biggest thinking invention, that solves the biggest problem, was sponsored by Books on the Common. The Branchville PTA sponsored the Isaac Newton Prize for best school-related invention.
“Most schools who participate in the state competition have embraced Invention Convention as part of their curriculum and it is integrated through multiple grade levels and incorporated into classroom time,” Ms. Fincham said. “Faculty members of such schools have often remarked that they recognize in their kids a much more logical approach to everything from solving homework problems to resolving conflicts with their peers and siblings.”