Move over scientists, there’s new talent in town and they’ve got some pretty innovative ideas.

 

Those ideas were highlighted at Clearview Elementary’s annual inventor’s fair last week, a day where fifth-graders showed off their creativity and problem-solving skills with a wide range of inventions.

 

The ideas at this year’s fair again ranged from the practical to the unique, showcasing the students’ talent and imagination.

 

The three fifth-grade classrooms were filled with people, displays and inventions as the students eagerly demonstrated and explained their projects and answered questions, often in Spanish.

 

In Profesora Maria’s classroom, Isaac Schluchter was explaining his electric go cart to inventor’s fair attendees. His family lives by a lake that has troubles with pollution, so he wanted to come up with a go cart that was better for the environment.

 

“Sometimes I don’t have enough gas for the 4-wheeler,” he said. “And it makes a lot of smoke. I don’t want to pollute the environment.”

 

Riley Quinn had invented the ‘cushie wushie,’ a backpack with foam on the shoulder straps so it won’t hurt if students’ have heavy backpacks. She’s had problems with that issue herself.

Una Josephs created the ‘Button Pushing Candle Thing,’ a glass container with a candle inside that uses a button to light the wick. Her inspiration was her mom, who works with people who have disabilities at UCP (United Cerebral Palsy). 

 

“It sits upright so you can push the button with your palm or elbow,” she explained. “That way you can use it if you have a disability or arthritis.”

 

Over in Profesora Jourdan’s room, Eliana Erickson was demonstrating ‘Paw Away.’ 

 

“It’s a chemical product that takes away marks and scratches from wooden floors,” she said. “A lot of people have the problem of pets scratching floors and I wanted to help with that.”

Henry Steabner had invented ‘The Ball Game Locker 8,000,’ a mechanism to help keep his baseball equipment organized.

 

“My water bottles and bats always roll under the bench,” he said. “And everyone’s glove looks the same. This keeps stuff organized.”

 

Esther Wilcox created ‘The R3’ (Robot Remote Retriever), a robot to attach to TV remotes that’s programed to make noises so it can be found.

 

“My family always loses our remote and it’s usually really hard to find,” she explained as to why she came up with the invention.

 

Ms. Coulter’s classroom also had students eagerly explaining their inventions.

 

Grady Doering created the ‘Doggie Doorbell,’ a device designed to keep dogs from scratching at the door or window when they want to go outside. He’s currently working on training his dog, Nora, who was his inspiration for the invention, to use it.

 

Trinity Wiggins had invented ‘The Catch Me,’ for her two cats.

 

“Sometimes they get bored and they’re kind-of annoying,” she explained. “So, I made it to distract them.”

 

Maddie New demonstrated her ‘Go-Getter Bike Basket,’ that was made with quick couplers so it can be quickly taken on and off her bike so her brother can ride it.

 

“We timed ourselves and the median time it took us to take it on and off was 10 seconds,” she said. “It fits any bike and comes in lots of colors for boys and girls.”