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From Science News:
With a great idea, even a kid can be an inventor, according to this book. This educational paperback claims to provide all the know-how needed to bring an idea to fruition and offers dozens of examples of kids who have already done just that. Casey, an English teacher and author, begins with advice for developing ideas for new inventions. Casey's tips include keeping an inventor's log and writing reports, making models of ideas, and participating in competitions and science fairs. For kids with solid ideas for inventions, the book describes how anyone can search for patents on similar items, apply for a patent, and register for a trademark. Each chapter ends with activities to help kids put the tips into action. Throughout the book are profiles of young people who earned scholarships, recognition, and even wealth for their inventions, including a brake for runaway shopping carts, a spill-proof bowl, and a robot that can aid rescue teams.
Some of the inventors featured in Kids Inventing!
At age 9, Chris Haas put hands on a basketball so that other kids would know where to put their hands in order to shoot a basket. He and his dad, a coach, sold the idea of Hands-On Basketball to Sportime. The company has been selling the colorful basketball for years.
When Ryan Patterson saw some deaf kids asking a hearing friend to order a burger for them at a fast food restaurant, he got the idea for The Sign Translator. It’s a golf glove that translates American Sign Language into regular letters that can appear on a small screen a deaf person could hold in their hand. (He wired the golf glove with sensors and attached a computer and a wireless relay device. When he spells out a food order or anything else using sign language, the glove translates and sends the message to the screen.)
Kevin Sellars, of Huntington Beach, California, was a seventh grader when he created the Retractable Bicycle Fender. He would push it in if he wanted to do tricks on his bike. He’d pull it out if he wanted to prevent ground water from splashing off the tire and onto him.
Ariel Krasik-Geiger invented the Calibrated Angle and Depth Scissors for kids doing math or geometry. With them it’s easy to cut into a piece of paper at a certain depth (one, two, three inches) at a certain angle. He gained Patent No. 6,513, 247 for it.
