Camp Invention Inspires Innovation

Kids may not show much interest in math and science in a traditional setting, but Camp Invention puts a whole new spin on the idea. The camp was created to help inspire children to open their minds and become innovators, reports Bonner County Daily Bee.

“The main mission here is to get kids interested in science,” said Bob Parker, inventor of the digital thermometer, battery charge tester and other thermal-oriented technologies.

It’s a good thing, then, that about 80 first through sixth-graders get plenty of education amidst all the fun. The kids had opportunities to play games, plan inventions and undertake entertaining lessons of science in action. For example, at the “work for food” booth, campers could charge a generator with kinetic energy by pedaling a stationary bicycle. Volunteers then used the energy to power blenders, whipping up a tasty smoothy for the camper.

Kids also got to see camp co-founder and famed inventor Forrest Bird’s medical respirator work its magic on a pair of pig lungs. The display provides an informative and entertainingly gross lesson in science and anatomy. It also demonstrates the difference in effectiveness between a pink, healthy lung and a brown, damaged smoker’s lung.

Parker himself had the chance to school kids on imagination, persistence and creativity — all necessary traits for the would-be inventor.

“One idea can be used to change the world around you,” he said.

Image from Camp Invention

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