Cricket Media, in partnership with the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, opened the call for entries for the Spark!Lab Invent It Challenge.
The Challenge offers eligible children from around the world the
opportunity to showcase their creative thinking on a global stage, with
the opportunity to win exciting prizes such as a patent consultation
from Nelson Mullins, LEGO kit, books from Smithsonian, and subscriptions
to Cricket Media's Science Magazines. Individual students and entire
classrooms (K-12) serving children between the ages of 5-21 are
encouraged to participate.
This
year's Challenge invites kids to think about a real-world environmental
issue and design a planet-friendly solution. Kids are guided to look
at the world around them and think about the environmental challenges
facing people and their families, communities and the world.
Specifically, the Challenge encourages them to tackle issues such as
water scarcity, climate change, air or water pollution, endangered
species and natural resource loss.
"Every
year we are inspired by the innovation and creativity of kids worldwide
in tackling this increasingly important challenge," said Stephanie
Sharis, Chief Executive Officer, Cricket Media. "We are honored to once
again join with the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center and Spark!Lab to
engage kids to share their ideas and do good in the world, which
encourage us all to make a difference."
"The
Smithsonian's Lemelson Center believes that everyone is
inventive-particularly kids," said Tricia Edwards, Head of Education at
the Lemelson Center. "The Invent It Challenge is a great opportunity for
students to recognize their creative and problem-solving abilities."
The
Spark!Lab Invent It Challenge requires students to follow seven key
steps in the invention process, including identifying a problem,
conducting research, sketching their ideas, building a prototype,
testing the product, refining it, and marketing it to potential users.
The process helps to cultivate and reinforce 21st-century skills,
including the use of digital technologies, and also meets several
learning standards. A panel composed of Smithsonian and Cricket Media
judges will select winners. The deadline for submitting inventions to
the Spark!Lab Invent It Challenge is March 18, 2016. For complete entry
guidelines and Official Rules, visit http://challenges.epals.com/inventit2017.
ABOUT CRICKET MEDIA
Cricket
Media is an education media company that provides award-winning content
on a safe and secure learning network for children, families, and
teachers across the world. Cricket Media's 11 popular media brands for
toddlers to teens include Babybug, Ladybug, Cricket® and Cobblestone®.
The Company's innovative web-based K12 tools for school and home include
the ePals community and virtual classroom for global collaboration as
well as In2Books®, a Common Core eMentoring program that builds reading,
writing and critical thinking skills. Cricket Media serves millions of
teachers, students and parents in over 200 countries and territories
through its platform and NeuPals, its joint venture with China's leading
IT services company Neusoft. Cricket Media also licenses its content
and platform to top publishing and educational companies worldwide. For
more information, please visit http://www.cricketmedia.com.
ABOUT SPARK! LAB
Spark!Lab is a hands-on invention activity space operated by the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at
the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The Lemelson
Center engages, educates, and empowers the public to participate in
technological, economic, and social change. Through historical research,
educational initiatives, exhibitions, and public programming the Center
advances new perspectives on invention and innovation and fosters
interactions between the public and inventors.
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