Do you enjoy solving problems?  Do you have a great idea for an invention?  If so, you have come to the right place!

If you are in grades K-8 and your school is a participating school in the Chicago Student Invention Convention program, you are eligible to participate!

Basic participant rules and requirements are as follows:

Teams

Students may compete as an individual or as part of a team of 2, but not both. There may not be teams of more than 2 people. Both team members must be from the same grade. Both team members must be present for the judging and awards for the team to participate.

Inventor Logbook:

The Logbook is a necessary step to document each participant’s creative process and is weighed heavily in the judges’ evaluation process; it must include the following:

• a description of the problem addressed by the invention
• a description of solution ideas
• a description of the invention
• a description of how the invention solves the problem
• a description of where the student researched the originality of their idea.

Students participating as part of a team may complete one Team Logbook.

Prototype:

The prototype does not have to work, but must have researched/illustrate how the invention would work if the model was operational. Prototypes must fit on a table top, and cannot be larger than 2 feet by 3 feet in size. Students participating as part of team may complete one model.

Pitch/Presentation:

Students should be prepared to give a presentation of 3-5 minutes to the judges and briefly explain the problem, the solution ideas (i.e. the process), and how the final invention works. All team members must be present and participate in the presentation. A presentation board, or video, is suggested to complement the presentation. Encyclopedia Britannica has provided access to LumieLabs Digital Storytelling software for all of the CSIC instructors.