My project was part of a multi-disciplinary STEM unit that was primarily implemented in my classroom and that of my fifth grade colleague, Sammy Maynard. The unit was designed to provide our students with the background knowledge and requisite skills necessary to complete a project-based learning activity, designing original inventions to assist individuals with disabilities or physical limitations in completing everyday tasks.
In my classroom, students utilized available technology and appropriate communication skills to devise an online survey seeking the community’s assistance in identifying areas of need or concern for individuals with disabilities or physical limitations. The students also participated in a presentation delivered by an occupational therapist. After the survey process and presentation, cooperative groups established their invention production timelines, based on the step-by-step process presented in a chosen nonfiction text, The Kids’ Invention Book, by Arlene Erlbach.
Students utilized iPad apps to plan their inventions, develop a video presentation of their device, and employ available materials, including the 3-D printer or robotic kit, purchased by my colleague Sammy Maynard’s grant funds, to create prototypes. The goal of the project was to spark the students’ ingenuity through the use of engineering skills and inspire empathy for others through the creation of their inventions.
As the culminating event, our students presented their prototypes and accompanying timelines and commercials as part of an inventions expo. Students were very excited to share their ideas and products. The community members who attended were very impressed by the inventions the students created.