WHIZZZ! ZING! SMASH!

Whizzz! Zing! Smash! Excitement and interesting noises filled the gym as the Third Grade presented the Annual Invention Convention. Throughout December and January, Mr. Thurgood visited each third grade class during a science rotation and taught about simple machines. He focused on the wheel and axel, pulley, screw, wedge, inclined plane, and lever. The third graders and their parents took up the challenge to invent something that included a simple machine to solve a problem that they had noticed. 

The inventions were amazing and clever. If you were lucky enough to spend some time at the Convention, you would have seen a dog washer, bed makers, catapults in a variety of forms, improved animal cages, can smashers, and grabbers to clean window wells or reach those hard to get to places like high light bulbs. Some inventions made it possible to stay in bed to turn out lights,draw,read, or retrieve books. Other inventions made it possible to eat more conveniently including a food-passing table, mechanized chopsticks, candy dispensers, and a food fighter. Cleaning issues were solved with mop shoes, Lego picker-uppers, and lint screen brushes.The list of improvements goes on but the fact remains that Foothills has great students and parents who always rise to meet the challenge. Maybe we will see some of these ideas patented in the future!