Inventor's Lab
*This course is intended for upper elementary students
Class Schedule
9:00-9:50 am PST
Monday, July 27th
Tuesday, July 28th
Wednesday, July 29th
Thursday, July 30th
Friday, July 31st
Note: Classes are listed in PST, click below to convert time to your time zone.
Workshop Overview
Around the world, scientists, engineers, and designers are creating innovative solutions to help protect our planet. In this hands-on summer course, students will explore inspiring examples of sustainability in action. For example, researchers have discovered that playing healthy reef sounds underwater can help attract fish back to damaged coral reefs, supporting the recovery of these fragile ecosystems.
Throughout the week, students will investigate real environmental challenges and learn how inventive thinking can lead to meaningful change. Using principles of design thinking and problem solving, students will brainstorm, sketch, and prototype their own sustainable solutions. Whether improving how we reduce waste, conserve resources, or support ecosystems, students will discover how creativity and innovation can help build a more sustainable future.
Student Outcomes:
- Explore real-world examples of sustainable innovation and understand how scientists and designers are working to address environmental challenges.
- Apply design thinking to develop an original sustainable invention that addresses a real-world problem related to the environment.
- Communicate their ideas through sketches, models, etc, explaining how their invention could help create a more sustainable future.
Student Experience
Design Thinker
Environmentalist
Inventor
Your Teachers: Sarah Merkt & Kathryn Bernhardt
Sarah Merkt has worked as a teacher and curriculum designer for over 12 years in gifted schools in both Asia and America. She holds her certification in Middle Childhood Education from Xavier University. Most recently, she worked for 4 years at The Nueva School in Hillsborough, CA. She is a passionate advocate for gifted students and their parents and strives to infuse best practices into her curriculum in the classroom. She currently serves as Program Manager and Learning Consultant at Cresconova.
Kathryn Bernhardt grew up in Novato, California and graduated from Chapman University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. She has spent the past four years teaching students from kindergarten through high school, though she feels especially at home working with young learners.Kathryn's love for storytelling fuels her passion for helping students discover their own voices. She strives to help students use their imaginations to stretch their knowledge, build new skills, and create work they can truly be proud of. In her free time,Kathrynloves to read, play board games, and travel the world. She is thrilled to share her joy for writing and learning with Cresconova students!
