An inventive way to build skills Pupils use math, reading, writing, spelling and more skills to do their projects.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

POLAND — Do you know who invented the chocolate chip cookie?

There are about 50 fourth-graders at Dobbins Elementary School who can tell you it was a woman named Ruth Wakefield.

And for what are these four Ohioan inventors known: Orville Wright, Charles F. Kettering, Charles Goodyear and Garrett Morgan?

Those same 50 pupils can tell you.

They’ve just completed a social studies project on inventors that has become an annual event for Dobbins fourth-graders.

Teachers Elaine Morlan and Sharyn DiMuzio ran the program this year in which pupils were assigned the name of an inventor and are then required to do Internet research on that person and the effects of their technological advancement on society, prepare a poster and verbal report on what they learned and then make a presentation before classmates and parents.

They also get to make a 2-foot tall papier mâché bust of their inventor.

When all is completed, the pupils then study one another’s work and are tested on what they’ve learned.

Parents get involved as well. The pupils build the papier mâché busts in class but then take them home and enlist the help of parents to paint and dress them up. Some come back to school with wigs and articles of clothing and even, occasionally, a pair of glasses.

“This is a wonderful project that demonstrates how our teachers integrate a variety of [educational] standards required at the fourth-grade level,” said Principal Cheryl Borovitcky. “The children have the chance to share their learning in such a unique way.”

The teacher use a multidisciplinary approach, requiring the pupils to use computer, writing, reading comprehension, math, spelling and problem-solving skills to complete their projects.

Taylor Boydston did her work on inventor John Ericsson, who she said invented the screw propeller, a device that enables boats to go farther and faster than older means of propulsion.

Taylor, who said she had fun working on the project, learned that three U.S. Navy ships were later named in Ericsson’s honor.

Bryanna Fabian drew a better-known inventor — Henry Ford — as her subject. He invented the Model T car, she said, adding that she knew he was someone famous but didn’t know what he’d done until she did her research.

Claire Testa drew the name of John Wesley Hyatt and said she found it interesting to learn about him.

He invented celluloid and basically laid the foundation for the plastic industry, according to her report.

Oh, for those still wondering what the four Ohioans mentioned above invented:

Orville Wright is easy. He helped invent the first successful airplane. Charles Goodyear’s name should have given a strong hint as to his invention. He was the first American to vulcanize rubber, making it stronger and less sticky.

Charles F. Kettering and Garrett Morgan are a bit tougher.

Kettering is credited with inventing the aerial torpedo, and Morgan invented that traffic control device that helps keep cars from running into one another — the stoplight.

gwin@vindy.com