Young inventors set out to solve old problems

Nerinx Hall High School, Webster Groves, Mo.
Portable water filtration system

Every year, a group from this Catholic school for young women takes a service trip to Mexico. The InvenTeam decided to help friends there, especially women and girls, with a tedious chore: hauling water.

A giant blue barrel is cradled in a metal frame on wheels, which can be made out of recycled bicycle parts. Nicki Shamel knows it's easy to push because her friends tried it – loaded with 180 pounds of water, plus Nicki sitting on top.

The filter consists of a layer of sand, a layer of activated carbon, and a layer of porous clay. The filtered water is 95 percent pure, but they're working to reach the required 99 percent. They know of ingredients that would bring the purity level up, but "we want to achieve it in a way that won't be expensive, so they can do it themselves," says student Lydia Caldwell.

This spring, a student and teacher took a prototype to Mexico to test. "People were in disbelief – they thought we dyed the water," Nicki says, pointing to photos of the water before (a mustard color) and after (crystal clear).

Physics teacher Julie Sutfin says the students learned so many skills that will come in handy in life, such as how to change the blade of a utility knife and how to build a fire. But the biggest revelation was the "nonlinear cycle" of inventing. At first, it wasn't easy for these high achievers to realize that great ideas can grow out of failures, she says. Over time, "they became much more persistent and determined, and took those pitfalls in stride."

John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, Boston
Portable automatic blackboard eraser

Twelve seniors at the O'Bryant School picked a problem that fellow students and teachers could relate to – erasing chalkboards eight or more times a day. The dust aggravates health problems, they say, and some teachers have trouble reaching the top of the board.

Their solution: A tall yellow contraption that attaches to the top and bottom of a blackboard and has a motor that rolls it one way and then back again. The yellow cotton cloth that catches the chalk dust can be easily removed and washed.

Their workshop houses a collection of earlier models that flopped.

"We'd think, 'This is such a great design,' but when you'd actually do it, there was always something wrong," says Lidza Louina, who plans to study computer engineering. Once they got it working and realized it would cost $250, they surveyed teachers and found many were willing to buy it.

"It's not bad to be stubborn," team member Frank Cao says. "I call it perseverance. There are times when you're really frustrated ... but if you go around it, you find a better way."

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