Fifth graders in Ms. Gardecki’s science classes recently completed a unit on engineering where they learned all the steps of the design process. Students were challenged to think of a problem they have either at home or at school, and how they could possibly solve that problem. In small groups they worked to come up with a design and build a prototype of their invention or innovation. Once all redesigns were completed they filmed persuasive videos explaining what their design was, how it worked, and why it was needed. All students were engaged and did an amazing job with this project.
One group of students, Grayson Cogan, Evan Murray and Cort Peifer, realized that a problem in all of their classes that they wanted to solve was how to help students sit properly in their chairs. Since kindergarten they have witnessed students falling off their chair as a result of leaning forward or back on it and they wanted to come up with a device that would prevent that from happening. Together, and through several redesigns, they built The Chair Lock – a chair that has a base which prevents it from tipping over and therefore keeping the student safe from falling!
Their design and initiative was so impressive that Ms. Gardecki approached them with the possibility of entering The Chair Lock in the PA Invention Convention competition. They worked after school to film an “elevator pitch” and write a detailed explanation of their invention and submitted all their documentation to be judged in the middle school category. They recently found out that their project was chosen as a finalist and they competed against fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders from all over Pennsylvania in the statewide competition.