BOISE, Idaho — Students cranked their creative gears during JUMP's 'Innovation Day' on Saturday.
About 150 young inventions from first through 12th grade showcased their ideas as part of an invention convention.
The convention is one of three regional events hosted by Invent Idaho, a competition that inspires students to get creative and come up with ideas and solutions to solve problems.
"What's most heartwarming about it is usually the story behind why they chose their problem," co-founder and state director for Invent Idaho Beth Brubaker said. "Why did they pick to choose a real-world problem and try to solve it? Usually, it's something in their lives - their young lives if they're first and second graders - like they hate to make their bed, they hate to brush their teeth. Clear up to environmental issues. But they choose a real-world problem that's important to them. So it's often very heartwarming hearing their stories."
One real-world problem that was close to sixth graders Cole, Corbyn and Brendan was protecting turtles. The trio demonstrated a design of 'The Turtle Box', an idea to help save baby sea turtles.
"The turtles will walk onto the beach, and they'll lay their eggs. We'll find where that nest is laid, we'll place this box on top of the nest," Cole said. "Once the turtles hatch, they're going to crawl out of the sand. And then they're gonna go through the tube, since they're attracted to sunlight. They'll go through the tube, and some will get picked off due to population reasons. Some of them can get picked off, we don't want them overpopulating, and then the rest will safely get to the water and live a happy life."
Inventions were placed into five categories: working models, nonworking models, gadgets and games, adaptations, and the Jules Verne category.
10th graders Sebastion and Jolie came up with 'Lunar Tech' - a cost-effective way to keep streetlights on - after their friend was attacked on a dark street.
"It is a streetlamp that harvests solar and lunar power. We came up with the technology to harvest and use solar and lunar power on a streetlight," Jolie said. "So, when the moon comes out, it harvests the lunar power and uses it to light up the streets. This means that instead of the government paying for the streetlights, which is currently one of its largest expenditures, it would use this solution, and they could put that money toward more important things like schools or programs.”
"We kind of came up with the idea that if we can find the energy source or just a way to make streetlights more accessible, we could stop this from happening and make the streets brighter," Sebastian said.
11th grader Ariel showcased a working model of 'Fozzio Music Healing', a fully-automated device that combines music and frequency healing. Her presentation showed how the ear interprets sound waves, generating a nerve signal that is sent to the brain.
"Whatever you hear actually affects your organs. So, what we do is every bodily function - your body has a certain vibrational frequency. So, we can measure it in hertz. Your heart for example, vibrates at 26.82 hertz. If your heart goes out of adjustment, let's say it's now at 15 hertz because you have a heart disease. We do something that's called resonance. We then apply 26 hertz back to the heart, and remind it where it's supposed to be vibrating. It's called resonance," Ariel said. "So, after we do that, the heart starts going, 'Oh, that's what I'm supposed to be vibrating at'. And it then takes itself and starts the healing process. So, the problem with pure tones, if you've ever heard them before, is that they sound really nasty. What I've done is I've layered the healing frequency with specifically chosen classical music on top of it. Based on the key, the tone, the rhythm of the piece, and it all contributes to the overall healing effect."
Students were scored and judged in grade level divisions. There were also special 'Best of Category' awards given out for the five invention categories. 'Best of Show' awards were given out to the best inventions out of the entire event.
The winners from Saturday's invention convection are invited to the Invent Idaho State Finals at the University of Idaho. Selected inventions from the state finals will represent Idaho at the National Invention Convection at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
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