Students Invent Fun At Eugene Field Wax Museum
A revolution of ideas and imagination was celebrated at Rock Island’s Eugene Field elementary school this week, as the Wax Museum Science Fair featured sixth graders giving creative and elaborate presentations on a variety of impactful inventors who changed our world.
Parents, teachers and fellow students packed the hallways moving from vibrant display to display, placing quarters in tins at each station (with proceeds going towards school activities) to start each minute-long presentation and igniting their intellects with fascinating facts about the amazing inventors.
A stunning array of brilliant minds from Nikola Tesla (inventor of the radio and remote control) to Samuel O’ Reilly (inventor of the tattoo gun) to Wilhelm Roentgen (x-ray) to Almroth Wright (typhoid vaccine) were showcased, along with inventions from potato chips to Kool-Aid to bifocal glasses and more. It was a cool panorama of information and entertainment, presented by a talented group of students having fun and showing off their hard work of research and development over the past six weeks.
“It’s enticing, captivating, engaging, and fun,” said Lisa Maxwell, one of the two sixth grade teachers who led the project with her cohort and fellow sixth grade teacher Tyler Allison. “They learned so much, and it’s such a great project for them. They put so much work into this, and learned so much, it’s very motivating and rewarding. And to see them present it to the younger kids, they all look up to the sixth graders, and they look forward to doing this project themselves. And to see parents and families come out, it’s quality time and increases the level of community of the children and the school.”
“It’s great to see kids who sometimes don’t have the opportunity to express themselves in public speaking like this come alive and do things they never thought they could accomplish,” Mr. Allison said. “It’s priceless to see them exhibit such a genuine love for learning.”
The students learn on many levels and in many dimensions, the teachers said.
“It gives them so much to be a part of this project,” Mrs. Maxwell said. “They learn so much in researching and putting everything together. But they also help each other out and learn that cooperation and teamwork, and the courage and self-esteem to communicate their projects to the public, it enhances their communication and public speaking skills. It really is a fantastic project.”
Many of the children felt likewise.
“I think it’s cool,” said Matthew Roessler, who presented on Wilhelm Roentgen, inventor of the x-ray. “I’ve had x-rays before and I thought they were interesting and I liked finding out more about them.”
“I always thought tattoos were kinda cool and funky and weird,” said Olivia Seidlitz, whose presentation was on Samuel O’ Reilly, inventor of the tattoo gun, and featured her festooned with a number of sharpie tats including the infamous “No Ragrets” ink across her neck, as well as a fake mustache and other odd images. “I researched them and found out that they went all the way back to BC era, but the tattoo gun was a recent invention. It was just kinda fun and I thought it was fun to be able to draw a bunch of weird tattoos all over me.”
“I always liked Monopoly, my family has played it a bunch of times, and it was really fun to learn more about where it came from and how it started,” said Noah Johnson, who looked into Charles Darrow, creator of the famous game.
“I’m really into medical stuff and I think vaccines and pretty cool,” said Taylor Pedigo, who presented on Almroth Wright, inventor of the typhoid vaccine. “It’s really interesting and it’s been cool to see how important they’ve been to people and how many lives they’ve saved.”
Kaden Allen had one of the most popular exhibits, of Kool Aid, featuring him dressed as the Kool Aid Man and jumping through a cardboard brick wall. He smiled as he talked about the origins of the beverage and the fun he’s had at the fair. “It’s been really cool, people love the Kool Aid Man and everyone thought it was funny to see me jumping through the wall and saying ‘OH YEAH!,’” he said. “He’s a really iconic figure, and everyone loves Kool Aid, so it’s been really fun.”
It was likewise fun for the younger students and teachers at the school to check out the hard work of the sixth graders.
“The little ones just love it,” said Kara Thomas, second grade teacher, as she shepherded a group of her students around to look in wonder at the exhibits. “It’s neat for them to learn about the inventors and the exhibits are all so good, they get really excited for it, and they’re really looking forward to when they’ll get the chance to do it when they’re in sixth grade.”
Overall, it seems like the school and the students have invented a great tradition for fun and learning.
“There’s nothing like this,” Mr. Allison added. “It’s so cool for all the kids, and to see them have so much fun. This is the most rewarding project of the year for me.”
