Youngsters' Inventions are a Breath of Fresh Air

Young inventors from schools across South Tyneside are powering forward ideas to make the most of renewable energy.

As part of the Powering the Future: South Tyneside and Beyond! Programme, children took part in an ‘invention challenge’, focusing on the role and uses of wind power.

Delivered by Little Inventors on behalf of South Tyneside Council and Dogger Bank Wind Farm, the challenge encouraged children to expand their skills in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) by broadening their knowledge of renewable energy and how it can be used to bring about positive change for the planet.

Year Four pupils were asked to use wind to solve a problem, make something better or create something just for fun. Year Five pupils were tasked with inventing something that creates renewable energy by harnessing power from movement.

The best ideas have been transformed into prototypes by industry partners and are now on display at The Word in South Shields. The winning entry was nine-year-old Cleadon Academy pupil Isaac Usher’s design of ‘wind mirrors’ which uses propellors on car wing mirrors to capture enough energy to power the radio and sat nav.

Other winning ideas were a ‘turtle motorway’ by Alice from St Aloysius School which supports turtles making the crossing from the nesting site to the ocean, an ‘auto shivering device’ created by Bo from Sea View School and a ‘toilet turbine’ which was the brainchild of Joey from Hedworth Lane School.

Now other budding inventors have the opportunity to join the winning entries and submit their own creation powered by wind or movement. The challenge will run until the end of August and the winning entry will be brought to life and join the exhibition at The Word later this year.

Councillor Jane Carter, Lead Member for Education and Skills, said: “Our young inventors have shown themselves to be incredibly creative and talented.

“This programme is about encouraging our young people to use their imagination to solve some of the planet’s problems but it’s also about raising their awareness of the skills needed for the jobs of the future. I am absolutely thrilled with their response and I look forward to seeing the next winning invention from the public challenge.”

The current exhibition is on at The Word until Sunday, 3 December. To find out more about the public challenge or to submit an entry visit https://southtyneside.littleinventors.org/