Our featured student inventor this time is Nora Redmond. Nora designed a cool board game along with her sister, at one of our camps held in collaboration with the Archimedes School. Their idea won a national level award as part of the “Student Ideas for a Better America” competition organized by the National Museum of Education.
Here is Nora talking about her idea in more detail.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Nora Redmond. I’m in 5th grade. My favorite subject in school is math. My favorite animal is called an Okapi.
What is your invention and how does it work?
Our invention is a board game. It can be played by 2 or more players. Each person uses a 3D printed game piece. First they roll the dice. Next the player will move their 3D printed game piece the number of spaces forward as the dice shows. After this, the player picks up a card. Each card has a picture of an endangered animal on it along with an action which states the animals names and tells the player another action to take. Some examples of what the cards say are: skip a turn, a giraffe ate your map, and on the bottom a fun fact such as: did you know a giraffe’s heart is 30 times the size of a human one. This helps teach players about endangered animals, and maybe help them to help the animals. The next player then follows the same steps.
What inspired you to develop this invention?
My favorite animal is Okapi: a type of endangered animal. Not many people know what an Okapi is. I thought we could raise awareness of Okapis and other endangered animals. We decided to have cards with actions, photo and facts about the endangered animal.
Did your prototype work? How was that experience?
Our prototype worked and was fun to play with, which was great.
What are some things you learned from your MindAntix camp that will help you in the future?
I learnt how to 3D print objects which might come in handy in the future. I learnt how to research and look up facts.
Who is your favorite inventor and why?
My favorite inventor is Jane Goodall. She discovered how alike chimpanzees are to humans.
What kind of problems do you want to solve in the future?
I want to work on environmental issues such as climate change and conservation.
How will you use your prize money?
I will save my prize money up for when I go to college.
Congratulations Nora for winning the award! We wish you the best in your future creative endeavors.