STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A device to help you take out the trash; a cup holder guaranteed not to spill your drinks, and an all purpose backpack designed to keep you dry in the rain were just a few of the creative ideas from fifth and sixth-graders at Blessed Sacrament School, West Brighton
Students were asked to put on their "thinking caps" and come up with solutions to simple, everyday problems using principles of science and math.
The results were showcased for parents and friends during Blessed Sacrament's second annual "Invention Convention"
Science teacher Joanne Laub said the idea came about when her class started learning about famous inventors and their inventions.
"My students were especially motivated when we started talking about children as young as 5 years old inventing things that we still use today. This sparked an interest in all my students and got them thinking 'this could be me'," she said.
The project also fit handily into the state Common Core Standards curriculum, with students having to apply their skills in social studies, science, math and language arts.
"It's a constructive way to incorporate the core curriculum subjects -- math, reading, language arts, science and social studies -- into one project.,"Mrs. Laub said.
"Students have been learning about inventors so asking them to create something that makes their life easier or their family's life easier really gave them an opportunity to be creative and reinforce the curriculum."
The first step was to read and study, and discuss what motivated inventors to come up with their products. "They were asked to come up with something that you or someone you know needed to fix a problem. Most of all they were told not to give up and keep trying," Mrs. Laub said.
After four months of research, they created their own very special invention entry for the "BSS Invention Convention".
Some of the inventions are not just creative, but practical, as well.
Sixth-grader Ryan Chambers' "Garbage Can Rover" for example, is geared toward making the chore of taking out the trash easier
"My device is geared toward individuals who, because of health reasons or physical disabilities, have trouble putting out their garbage," he explained. "It's a garbage-accepting receptacle that travels like a remote car would, and can go directly to your front step for easy pick up by sanitation. It is designed for recyclable garbage."
How to make food and beverage consumption easier was on the minds of several fifth-graders.
"Kate's Commuter Cup" -- invented by Kate Mahoney -- suctions to the window of the express bus to make drinking that morning cup of coffee that much easier for harried commuters.
For her invention she adapted a water bottle bracket from a bike and attached suctions to the bracket. The suctions allow for the bracket to stick to a bus window. Then the commuter slips in their hot drink into the bracket when they need to put it down for a moment while traveling on the bus.
"I believe it's something that would be very helpful for a commuter who likes to carry their tea or coffee from home in a travel mug," Kate explained.
Her classmate, Dillon Falcone, also came up with an idea for a non-spill cup holder for video gamers.
"The Xbox non -spill cup holder is a self- contained unit in which your game remote and drink are contained together in this device. You never have to pause a game and leave to get a drink. No more losing momentum -- drink and play all at the same time, no need to reach for your drink and risk spilling it," Dillon explained.
Another fifth-grader, Joseph Marani, came up with a football device that holds snacks.
"With the 'Foodball' you don't need to go back inside the house to grab your favorite snack. Simply put your snack in your 'Foodball' and when you're ready, open up your foodball where your snack is waiting," he said.
Waiting for the school bus in snow and rain was on the mind of sixth-grader Nicholas Rubano, who came up with "The Ready Pack".
"The Ready Pack is a backpack that has a heater to keep you warm when the backpack is on your back, a retractable phone wire for your cell phone so the wire doesn't get tangled, a sound- proof phone case so your phone will not be heard when you don't want it to be heard -- like in school," he said -- "and it has a waterproof hood affixed to the backpack to pull out and use during rain to cover your head to keep you dry."
Somewhere, Thomas Edison must be smiling.