Teen Innovators: Nine Young People Engineering a Better World with Creative Inventions

by Fred Estes

Overview

A water purification system made of concrete and the same chemicals that block ultraviolet light in sunscreen. A robot made of PVC pipe that beat a shiny, eleven-thousand-dollar competitor in a robotics contest. An electricity-producing windmill built by a teen who taught himself physics by candlelight.

Teen Innovators: Nine Young People Engineering a Better World with Creative Inventions reveals how people of any age or experience level can create something that changes others' lives through nothing more than hard work, creativity, and inspiration. (Oh, and perhaps a bit of electrical wire, some plastic piping, and a couple tampons.) Utilizing the principles of design thinking, these inventors all tinkered, experimented, and failed—repeatedly—until their inventions worked. The windmill produced light. The water became safe to drink.

• Jack Andraka: improved pancreatic cancer test
• Gitanjali Rao: device to detect lead in drinking water
• William Kamkwamba: improvised electrical generator using windmill in Malawi
• Austen Veseliza: digital display glove to aid people with speech impairment
• Deepika Kurup: easier, cheaper method to remove toxins from drinking water
• Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Oscar Vasquez, Luis Aranda: underwater robot

Each of these stories offers inspiration to the next generation of teen innovators. You don't need a genius-level IQ or the latest and greatest technologies to create something that makes a difference. All you need is an idea and the determination to make it real.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728417189
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/06/2022
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Lexile:	990L (what's this?)
Age Range:	11 - 12 Years

About the Author

Fred Estes taught science for nearly two decades in a school near his home in San Francisco. He's written several articles about science teaching, including "Compost: The Rot Thing for Our Earth" and he is a peer reviewer for a National Science Teaching Association journal. Before that, he taught high school English, worked as a financial analyst, joined an AI startup, developed corporate training programs, and earned a doctorate in educational psychology and technology. Currently, he teaches graduate students and teachers about design thinking, innovation, creative teaching methods, and hands-on-STEM curriculum.

Table of Contents

Foreword 6

Introduction 8

Chapter 1 Jack Andraka and His Improved Cancer Test 19

Chapter 2 Gitanjali Rao and Tethys, Her Lead Detection Sensor 41

Chapter 3 William Kamkwamba and the Windmill 61

Chapter 4 Austin Veseliza and the Talking Glove 85

Chapter 5 Deepika Kurup and Purifying Water through Sunlight and Science 109

Chapter 6 Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Oscar Vasquez, Luis Aranda, and Stinky, Their Champion Robot 131

Conclusion 168

Glossary 174

Source Notes 182

Selected Bibliography 190

Further Information 195

Index 203

Editorial Reviews

"The rich variety of individuals and projects highlighted will encourage budding scientists. A compelling read for teens interested in the STEM fields and an inspirational resource for science classrooms."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-05-25
An underwater robot, a test to detect lead in water, a talking glove…would you believe all of these inventions were created by teenagers?

Estes highlights young people who have made great innovations, often spurred by circumstances. Jack Andraka, who lost a close family friend to pancreatic cancer, developed a test to detect the disease quicker by identifying a key biomarker. Born in Malawi, where 80% of the population live on what they can grow themselves, William Kamkwamba (whose family had neither running water nor electricity) recognized that windmills would mean both power and wisdom for his village, so he built one himself out of scrap parts. Estes includes a wide range of subjects, from the undocumented teens from Mexico living in the United States who built underwater robots to an Indian American teen who invented a method to purify water after visiting India with her family and observing children drinking from puddles, and explores the difficulties they have faced such as economic challenges, the fear of deportation, and bullying. The teens share wise words—on the importance of working hard and being willing to experiment, for instance. A list of next steps along with a glossary and website list for further research make this guide useful as well as inspiring. Sidebars delve deeper into scientific topics. The rich variety of individuals and projects highlighted will encourage budding scientists.

A compelling read for teens interested in the STEM fields and an inspirational resource for science classrooms. (Nonfiction. 10-15)

Kirkus Reviews