CCS INVENTION CONVENTION!
B. Gasior, J. Galbreath, Gifted Resource Specialists
Information and Registration Materials
Invention Convention is open to ALL CCS Elementary and Middle Schools (K-8).
Note: Students must participate independently. There will not be teams this year.
School registration information will be distributed soon - watch your email. The registration deadline is typically in November. Once all schools are registered, information about the number of students each school can send will be provided to participating schools.Learning Standards Met Through Invention Convention
The Invention League website has many student, teacher and parent resources.
Any questions? Contact Lisha Perdue at lperdue@columbus.k12.oh.us or your Gifted Resource contact at your building.
Sample Invention Convention Resources
For those who are participating in the CCS Invention Convention here are a few sample resources.
Parent Letter and Intent to Invent Form - formatted for an "at home" project
Sample Project Student Timeline - Can be used with Student Resource Packet
Student Journal - this is REQUIRED. Must be in blue or black ink, can also be found on the Invention League website.
Organizing a School Invention Convention
- Set due date for inventions and the School Invention Convention (Prior to Feb. 16, 2018).
- Send a flier home announcing due date and judging day. It can be helpful to make the inventions due a few days before the scheduled Invention Convention and have the students practice presenting their inventions.
- Invite judges - friends, retired teachers, school support staff, other CCS personnel, etc...(the number of judges will depend on the number of participating students).
- Make an EXCEL list of all participants.
- Prepare certificates or awards of your choice.
- On Invention Convention day, students bring in their finished projects and set them up on tables in the gym or cafeteria.
- Have two copies of the judging rubric for each inventor.
- Each student gets judged two times. The students can be given two rubrics. Have the judges walk around and choose kids to judge until both forms are used. Or, students can have a name tag and each time they are judged, they put a sticker on their name tag.
- Enter the total score in the excel list and rank highest to lowest.
- Depending on how many participants, the school is allocated to send to the district, the top scoring students go. You will know that once all schools register.
- Submit winners to GT department by February 17 at 3:45.
- It's also nice to let classes view the inventions if you have a lot of them.
------------Getting Started---------------
Use Videos to Introduce Inventions!
MIT+K12 Project
MIT+K12
In December 2011, Ian Waitz, MIT’s Dean of Engineering, launched the MIT-K12 project, driven by a series of questions: How can we change the perception of the role of engineers and scientists in the world? What can MIT do, right now, to improve STEM education at the K12 level? Use these MIT student generated short-form videos to get students excited about science and inventing.
Invention Lessons and Resources
Do You Know How the Flexible Drinking Straw was Invented?
Invention Mini Lessons
These invention lessons from Scholastic are ready to go, easy to use and include additional invention links.
What is an Invention? - Science and Social Studies
Inventions All Around Us - Science and Art
Top Ten Inventions - Language Arts and Math
Inventions for the 21st Century - History and Language Arts
Start Thinking Like an Inventor
The US Patent and Trademark Website is a great place to let students explore the invention process, patents and creative thinking. There are lots of teacher resources that can help you engage students in discovery learning.
These Invention Convention Task Cards can be used to spur student thinking about inventing and can be used as a learning center.Library Resources
Places of Invention
What kind of place stimulates creative minds and sparks a surge of invention and innovation? To find out, students can click a pin on the map to start exploring. They can also add a new story for a place of invention that they know about. Visitors in the Places of Invention exhibition at the National Museum of American History will see their story on an interactive map.