A SHOWCASE FOR YOUNG INVENTORS
Kids With Inventions Take Note--Here's a Contest That Can Bring You Recognition and Provide Money for Your Future.
By Mike Foley
As most of us in the invention world know, kids are some of the most innovative people around. And that innovation will have a chance to shine once again with the Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Awards Program. Co-sponsored by Sears and the National Science Teachers Association, the contest seeks viable solutions to everyday problems, while cultivating critical thinking in America's youngsters.
The annual competition, which offers prizes in grades 2-8 in the United States (and U.S. Territories), encourages students to work independently on the conception and design of tool inventions. A popular contest among school-age children, the program promotes tool design, while also encouraging science, math, mechanical ability, creativity and imagination in America's young people. And since participants must have an adult advisor (teacher, parent, etc), the competition fosters generational cooperation, as well.
Working independently with adult guidance, a child must design and build a tool that performs a practical function. The tool must must make life easier or safer in some way, while solving an everyday problem. For example, last year's fifth-grade winner, Tim Kenny of Bernardsville, New Jersey, invented a ladder increaser, a tool that allows a stepladder to stand safely on uneven surfaces.
Other inventions from last year's winning kids included tools, for planting bulbs, tying shoe laces, sweeping in unreachable places, watering plants, washing cars, lifting heavy bags, and rescuing people who have fallen through ice. Details on last year's winning inventions can be found at the NSTA web site (address below).
Although the contest focuses upon tool design, students should not submit the tool itself or a prototype with the contest entry. Entries will include an entry form (signed by parent, teacher/advisor and student), a 3-7 page Inventor's Log, a detailed diagram of the tool, and a photograph of the student using the tool. Teachers may encourage students to enter the contest, but students must work individually, rather than in groups or teams.
The contest deadline is March 14, 2002. All entries must be received at NSTA headquarters by 5 p.m. EST on that date. Two national award winners (one from grades 2-5 and one from grades 6-8) will each receive a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond. Ten national finalists will each receive a $5,000 U.S. Savings Bond. Second and Third place regional winners will also receive bonds, while winning teachers and schools will receive prizes from Sears, Roebuck, and Co.
Contest information, entry forms and a guide for teachers may be found at the NSTA web site:
http://www.nsta.org/programs/craftsman
You may also order entry materials by calling (toll-free) 1-888-494-4994 or writing to:
Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Awards Program National Science Teachers Association 1840 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, VA 22201-3000
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