CHARLESTON DAY SCHOOL
Fourth Grade Invention Convention 2021 Solving Problems Through Creation
T
he Invention Convention is a special event designed for This process allowed them to discover problems and our fourth-grade students to promote problem-solving, receive encouragement from Mrs. Hughes and their parents stimulate creative thinking, and practice engineering skills. as they developed their own solutions to refine their design. The students brainstorm and design solutions for everyday In the end, they were all rewarded with the immense pride problems. Fourth-grade students began working on their that a student feels at the completion of his/her invention inventions on October 15 and and display. presented them on November 11 at The Process and Lessons Learned How the Invention Convention the 2021 CDS Invention Convention Judging Took Place • Brainstorming common everyday in the Gym. To encourage students to work problems The planning, writing, and research independently of adults, grades • Applying creative problem-solving were completed at school. The only and awards were not influenced by strategies to develop ideas to solve these at-home part of the project was the effectiveness of the invention problems the collection of materials and the created. Students were assessed on construction of the actual invention. • Researching to prove their ideas were the invention process as evidenced Parents were only asked to participate if new and improved their designs in their invention logs, participation there was something unsafe for students in classroom discussion and • Logging descriptions of their invention to do on their own. Students could activities, and efforts in preparation • Building, testing, and re-engineering also ask parents to take them to the and presentation. prototypes to produce a final working hardware, fabric, or craft stores to find materials. If items had to be purchased, the cost could not exceed $25.00.
prototype
Judges included local defense contractors, a pharmacist, two entrepreneurs, a statistician, a medical student, an endocrinologist, and an MUSC HR executive.
• Creating their display board Students used a form to help them • Presenting to judges, teachers, friends, with designing and planning their and family inventions. They learned many It was not easy for the judges as lessons, one being that sometimes there were so many amazing creations from the great minds things don’t go as planned. As they found flaws in their of these young inventors. Congratulations to all of our original plan during the inventing process, they had to fourth graders for a job well done! rethink their plan and move forward to complete their invention.
This Year’s Winners
1st Place - Delta Ayotte “Lit It Slip It”
2nd Place: Charlie Baarcke The “Not My Dad” Golf Alignment
3rd Place: Millie McFadden “Feet Sweep!” SPRING 2022
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