New Inventions

Young minds at Somers Intermediate School were working hard to solve decades-old problems by designing new inventions.

“People dump trash in the ocean because they think it gets rid of it forever, but it doesn’t, and it hurts the animals who live there,” said Violet Soto. “I chose ocean engineering and designed an ocean sweeper. It’s a robot that would pick up trash from the ocean.”

Mrs. King’s fourth-grade students have been learning about the different fields of engineering, studying the people and inventions that have made an impact on our world. After studying various aspects of engineering, students picked a field that was the most interesting to them to research further.

“I chose optical engineering because I’m super interested in the science of light and how light works,” said Molly Salman. “My invention is called a spherical operation straightener. It takes the light rays before they pass through the lens and straightens them so that pictures come out clear and not blurry.”

Once their research was complete, they developed an invention in their new field of expertise that would help to solve a problem or fill a need. Inventions could focus on any specialty within engineering, including civil, robotic, mechanical, optical, ocean, biomedical, and aerospace. Once the students had picked their focus, they began work on developing and creating a prototype of their invention.

“I picked robotics engineering because I think it’s cool and it’s what I want to do when I grow up,” said Sean Edmiston. “I made a smart book cover with everything you need when reading, like reading glasses, a highlighter, a virtual bookmark, and headphones.”

Every invention was creative, unique, and inspired by the student’s research and interests. Inventions included an artificial brain (biomedical engineering), a smart backpack (mechanical engineering), a solar-powered plane (aerospace engineering), and a materials sorter (civil engineering).

Students presented their prototypes and displays to fellow students in small groups, where they showed off their inventions and demonstrated how they would help solve different issues. After the presentations were completed, the students’ hard work was displayed outside of Mrs. King’s room for all to see.