Thomas Edison Day at Morningside Elementary

The 4^th grade challenge students at Morningside Elementary were proud to present their own inventions to a panel of judges in an annual event called Thomas Edison Day. For the past 10 weeks, the students have been preparing for this event by learning about simple machines, Rube Goldberg, and even worked together to create inventions that solves problems for fairytale characters. Their next assignment was to create their own invention and an ad campaign. After submitting their ideas to their teachers, they underwent a patenting process, which included writing a paragraph and drawing diagrams of their invention. Once it was patented, they designed an ad campaign and presented their inventions to the class and received feedback from their classmates.

On Thomas Edison Day, the auditorium was filled with excitement and lines of tables with creative inventions. The judges walked around the tables as the students showcased their inventions and explained how it works. The panel of judges included several faculty members, as well as two Patent Attorneys and an Inventor himself.  They awarded students by categories such as Best All-Around Invention, Most Creative, Best Ad Campaign, Most Useful, and Best Presentation.

“I think this project is important because it raises their interest in technology, innovation, and may help them find hobbies.” – Josh Aronson, Patent Attorney.

“I think it’s really important to stimulate their curiosity and to understand what they are capable of doing.” – Kevin King, Patent Attorney.

“It was wonderful to see the students come alive and full of energy. They are so excited and proud to share their inventions with the school.” – Bianca Jones, Challenge teacher.

“What I found interesting about the kids is, that what they are finding are problems. The problems can turn into an opportunity, and an opportunity is a driver to make something that people want. That’s exciting and kids are actually really good at that.” – Steve Tischer, Inventor/Director of Innovation at AT&T.