Inventionland Course and Contest Leads to Product License for Middle School Students

Two eighth-grade students in the Grove City (PA) Middle School have garnered a product license for their invention following completion of Inventionland’s K–12 Innovation Curriculum course and winning both their middle school and regional contests. The course, which Inventionland describes as a “cross-discipline STEAM toolbox,” uses the same proprietary nine-step invention process the company follows in its own commercial applications.

The Innovation Curriculum is divided into elementary, middle, and high school sections, with age-appropriate activities for various grades. Students work in teams to develop a new product. Upon completion, teams can enter their inventions in local, regional, and national contests. Inventionland also helps schools to design and reconfigure classrooms and underutilized spaces into “innovation labs” that facilitate immersive learning.

In Inventionland’s nine-step process, steps 1 to 3 focus on discovering a problem and inventing ideas to solve it using STEAM skills. In steps 4 to 6, students sketch and create concept models of their invention. In steps 7 to 9, they make a working model, create packaging, and develop a marketing presentation.

They are then ready to enter their inventions in contests, starting at the local level, with winners moving on to regional and national levels, as the Grove City students did. Inventionland’s founder, George Davison, impressed with the two girls’ invention, contacted a product distribution company, who offered a licensing agreement.

Visit this page for more background on Inventionland’s history and its education curriculum. See a video about how Grove City Middle School implements the Innovation Curriculum.

About the Author

Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher and college English teacher.

Featured

  • young educators collaborate with AI tools on laptops and tablets

    Survey: Younger Educators More Likely to Embrace AI Tools

    While educators across the United States agree that AI has enhanced classroom engagement, enthusiasm for AI's benefits is strongest among young teachers, according to a recent survey from learning technology company D2L.

  • laptop displaying a phishing email icon inside a browser window on the screen

    ED Grant Portal Target of Phishing Campaign

    Threat researchers at BforeAI have identified a phishing campaign spoofing the U.S. Department of Education's G5 grant management portal.

  • open laptop with data streams

    OpenAI Launches AI-Powered Web Browser

    OpenAI has unveiled ChatGPT Atlas, a standalone browser that places ChatGPT at the heart of everyday web activity. This release represents a major expansion of the company's efforts to reshape how users search, browse, and complete tasks online.

  • laptop with AI symbol on screen

    Google Launches Lightweight Gemma 3n, Expanding Emphasis on Edge AI

    Google DeepMind has officially launched Gemma 3n, the latest version of its lightweight generative AI model designed specifically for mobile and edge devices — a move that reinforces the company's focus on on-device computing.