Churchville Invention Convention Not Your Typical Science Fair

For about a month, all of the eighth-graders at put their time and talents into inventing various contraptions to solve the everyday problems of life. The day before winter break, they were able to put those great ideas on display at the school's Invention Convention.

It wasn't your typical science fair. Churchville science teacher Anthony Petersen, who came up with the idea for the project, took it a step further. Students would research and market their inventions, budget the cost to manufacture them, come with a retail cost, and develop an advertising campaign complete with a television commercial. It was a true cross-curricular endeavor that involved English, math and science classes.

Students worked in teams on their inventions. Then they walked around the room and checked out everyone else's projects and watched commercials about each invention. They wrote down their favorites and, with Charger Cash, were able to purchase their classmates' inventions.

The ideas students came up with included a glow-in-the-dark toilet seat, dual catapult, hand warmer, double-sided fork and toothbrush, flashlight slippers, iHat, healthy candy bar and a whole lot more—some 78 inventions in all.