Invention Camp: A test of ingenuity

Photo

Eagle Hgts studnets Jalyssa Stanford, 10, left, and Rayonna Booth, 10 roll pingpong ball in a pan of paint during Camp Invention program at the school 6-18-09. wdlewis

Photo

Eagle Hgts studnet Antwon Forest, 9, places a marble in a roller coaster he and other students made during Camp Invention program 6-18-09. wdlewis

Invention camp proves useful, fun for students

By Harold Gwin

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — “I’m tired of being late for school,” said Kevin Vaughn, explaining why he decided to invent the “A-Wake-A-Fire,” a device he said will help get him up in the morning.

Kevin, who will be a sixth-grader at Eagle Heights Academy this fall, said he has an alarm clock, but it’s not loud enough.

The “A-Wake-A-Fire” will shoot a paper cup of water into his face, he explained.

He demonstrated his invention, using the rubber-band-powered cup suspended by two pencils attached to a base to launch a test Cheerio rather than a cup of water.

Kevin is one of 28 children attending Eagle Heights’ Camp Invention this week, a summer science program designed to enhance creativity and innovative thinking skills.

Most of the children were involved in the school’s High Gears after-school program during the school year, said Mary Ann Tofil, director of Camp Invention and administrative assistant to the student services department.

“This is the first year for Camp Invention,” she said, adding, “We want to give kids something to work on that’s fun over the summer.”

The program is for children who have completed grades three, four and five.

“They want to come back every single day,” she said, judging the program to be a success. There is already talk of doing it again next summer, perhaps with more children, Tofil said.

“It’s a lot of activities,” said Jalyssa Stanford, who will enter fifth grade this fall, as she demonstrated her “Mint Shooter” invention, a spring-loaded device that will pop a mint into the air, “When you need a refresh-mint.”

“You always have something to do here, and we have nice snacks. And the teachers are nice, too,” she said.

Angela Johnson, who is entering sixth grade, offered an explanation of her fantasy invention of a “Wire/Tire Bracelet.”

“You see so many people stuck on the road with a flat tire,” she said.

Her invention couples a bracelet — “A lot of people wear jewelry,” she said — with a miniature tire attached that one can wear on the wrist.

The fantasy part comes in when you have to convert the miniature tire into a full-size tire to put on your car, she said.

Camp participants also built their versions of roller coasters, using foam-pipe insulation tubing cut in half to provide flexible track that could be easily twisted to provide loops and hills.

“We did it in two days,” said Sterling Henry, who will be a sixth-grader, as he and teammates Vaughn and Henry Ward and Dontae Harris, both entering fourth grade, demonstrated their “Monster Hoops” coaster, using a marble as the coaster car.

They built a model using bendable wire as track and short sections of straw as cars and transferred their design to foam tubing and a marble, getting it right on the first try, Vaughn said.

Some groups had to re-design their coasters. “But we didn’t,” he said.

Tofil said the camp will officially end with a field trip to the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland on Monday.

gwin@vindy.com