Three teams of students in Eric Balak's gifted classes at Bear Creek School recently competed in the Pennsylvania Invention Convention state-level competition, which took place at the Hershey Lodge as part of the Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo & Conference. The Bear Creek teams, consisting of students in grades three and four, were among the 50 individuals and teams chosen from a pool of 150 statewide who applied to participate in the event. To apply, students created an invention intended to solve a real-world problem and submitted design logs, pitch videos, and pictures of their invention prototype by Dec. 1. Of the 50 individuals and teams selected to present and compete, 18 teams fell into the kindergarten through fourth-grade category.

During the state competition on Feb. 7, students presented their inventions to judges and spectators. Bear Creek's Recyclified Team, consisting of third-grade students Fianna Clark and Liesel Keller, earned first place for their invention, Recyclified, which involved gamifying the act of recycling. The invention was intended to promote better recycling habits at schools using a fun and engaging method, as well as to reduce the amount of food waste and trash going to landfills, with the goal of helping to mitigate climate change.

Fianna and Liesel's invention consisted of an electronic tablet connected to a Makey Makey switch/circuitboard featuring buttons the girls had added. The electronic tablet's display showed outer space, the Earth, and a scoreboard, including a score for each grade level. The girls programmed the tablet's display using Scratch.

If a student recycled the appropriate items - listed on the recycling bin - the student would click the button associated with his or her grade level and earn a point. When this occurred, the tablet showed the Earth moving to a different location, along with the message "3rd/4th/5th grade making the world a better place!" The sound of ocean waves was played, and after a quick background change, the screen reverted to the original scoreboard display, reflecting the newly added point.

Feedback from administrators led the team to also consider measuring the trash and recycling before and after implementation of their invention to analyze the effectiveness of their idea.

In recognition of their achievement, Fianna and Liesel received medals and a cash prize, and they were invited to attend the national event and compete against all other first-place state winners in kindergarten through fourth grade. The national competition will take place from Wednesday to Friday, June 5 to 7, at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Mich.