A look at the future
<p>Darien Fuentes, 13, puts the finishing touches on a Nanomechanical Kinetic Microorganism science project Wednesday at Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy's during the Exploravision Showcase.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - That talking, robotic car of "Knight Rider" fame should move over, and so should those Jetsons and all their futuristic contraptions and holograms.
The kids in science teacher Jean Robinson's science classes at Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy are giving them all a run for their money.
The students showed off their personal ideas about future technological products Wednesday during an ExploraVision project showcase held at the school.
"It's a curling iron that spins on its own, with the press of a button," said Mary Nicklay, 13, as she held up the Twist 'n' Curl wand she and a teammate created and built.
As it spun, Nicklay said the product also, with the press of another button, sprays hairspray into the hair, inside the new curl.
"So it's crisp on the inside and nice and soft on the outside," Nicklay said.
ExploraVision, a national science contest sponsored by Toshiba Corp. and the National Science Teachers Association, challenges students to envision the future of a particular technology and show what it would look like in 20 years.
It's the second year Robinson has led her students to enter the ExploraVision national competition. This year's projects will also be entered in Invent Idaho, the state's student invention program.
When asked if they enjoyed working on their project, teammates Emily Torres, 13, and Marissa Koski, 13, grinned big.
The girls devised a camera with a revolving lens that creates 3D images. The idea for the product grew out of the girls' initial idea, to create an online shopping outlet with a virtual dressing room.
They needed a 3D image in order to try clothing on potential buyers.
Emily and Marissa said that through their research, they learned a lot about how cameras are made and how they operate.
The remainder of the 52 projects on display offered a broad array of innovative ideas.
An auto-refilling water bottle relies on a fan embedded in its base to bring air into a condensation chamber where droplets form and fill the bottle.
Some other enterprising students devised a home fish farm to address the problem of over-fishing and provide families with fresh, unpolluted, finned food items.
Then there's the Calfridge, a calorie counting refrigerator its inventor pitches in print with the line: "All you have to do is take your fingerprint, then eat!"
How about a Heat Aromacap? These hats include hidden inner pockets with eucalyptus ear warmers bearing natural essential oils that soothe the soul, while keeping heads from feeling chilled.
"The important thing is that they have fun while they're writing research papers and learning about science," Robinson said. "There's a lot of technical research. It's a tough project, and they work hard, and they smile while they do it."