The Necessity Of Invention -- Students At Alcott Elementary Displayed Prototypes Of 85 Inventions, Created As Part Of The National ''Invent America'' Contest. What They Created Could Save The World - Or Maybe Not.

And the winners are...

Winners in the Invent America competition at Alcott Elementary School were: Sixth grade: Taylor Daynes, "X-Pack," a backpack designed for more room and comfort. Fifth grade: Zachary Fabish, "Enviocar," an engine fueled by a chemical called tritium hydrogen isotope, instead of gasoline. Fourth grade: Kelly McCormick, "Fishmask," a tankless diver's mask that functions like fish gills to filter oxygen from water. Third grade: Olivia Bennett, "The Bennett Wash," a system to wash overhead projector transparencies, modeled after a car wash. Second grade: Karita Belloni, "A Non Dog Biter," a plastic mouth guard to keep dogs from biting. First grade: Tylene Miller, "Magna-puzzle," magnetic strips attached to puzzle pieces and placed on a metal board to keep them in place.

Tambria McDaniel stared quizzically at the menacing-looking black wood rectangle with a pair of straps and hooks attached to one end and a two-inch dowel jutting from the middle.

"What is this for?" asked the fifth-grader at Alcott Elementary School.

Simple, said fourth-grader Anthony Salter, the inventor of the device. "It's a posture enforcer. You hang it on the back of a chair, and if you don't sit up straight, it pokes you."

"Here," he added helpfully. "I'll demonstrate."

Anthony dragged over a chair, adjusted the straps to the proper height, and hooked his invention on the back. Tambria sat down gingerly, back straight as a board. Slowly she slouched.

"It's cool," Tambria said. "If you sit up straight you cannot even tell."

The fourth-grader said he invented it because his mom always has to remind him about his bad posture. "I think it is very effective," Anthony added.

But reviews were mixed.

"It works but it sure does hurt," said fourth-grader Cassandra Boydston, frowning as she wiggled away from the Posture Enforcer.

Creativity was the order of the day last Friday, as students in the first through sixth grades at Alcott Elementary displayed prototypes of 85 inventions, created as part of the national "Invent America" contest.

The students, all part of the Lake Washington School District Quest gifted program, are among 400 students from 23 schools in four Eastside school districts who have entered the contest. The local school winners in kindergarten through eighth grade will advance to the state contest, and one state winner from each grade level will compete at the regional competition. The regional winners go on to the national competition in Washington, D.C.

And after that? Maybe the Johnny Carson Show. Last year, Sarah Racine, now a third-grader at Stillwater Elementary School in Carnation, appeared on the talk show to demonstrate her invention: tape dispensers that, instead of tape, dispense strips of fruit leather and dehydrated ketchup, mustard and cheese.

Sarah also claimed the $1,000 national prize for her grade level for that entry.

Innovation is what The Boeing Co. was attempting to foster last year when it began sponsoring 10 schools in the Puget Sound area in the Invent America competition, which is administered nationally by the nonprofit United States Patent Model Foundation.

Getting students interested in innovations - math, science or otherwise - is in the best interest of Boeing.

"In the area of math and science, you want to catch students as early as possible," said Joe Taller, Boeing corporate-education director. "We were spending a great deal of time on higher education, but we realized we have to be concerned about the feeders into higher education, kindergarten through 12th grade. They will be our employees in the future."

Fifth-grader Zachary Fabish could be one of those employees. Zachary dreamed up a solution to U.S. reliance on foreign oil with his new engine, fueled by tritium hydrogen isotope.

Yes, it's a real chemical. You may not have been aware of this, but tritium, combined with certain kinds of plastics, reacts to create energy that is focused onto a curved mirror, then beamed into a tank of water in the car's engine. Steam from the boiling water spins a turbine, creating an electrical current stored in a battery, which runs the engine and car accessories.

Or at least that's how Zachary explains it. It also saves those boring gas-station stops, Zachary added.

Making that chairlift ride a wee more comfortable was fifth-grader Jed Fowler's aim. Jed designed a shoulder-length, pyramid-shaped clear plastic tent to prop on your head while perched on the chairlift. Once you hop off, the tent folds inside a ski pole.

Teachers Beth Dobbs, Nancy Pfaff, Cathy Redman and Laura Seasholes had advised the Alcott students to invent solutions to real-life problems. Necessity - and comfort - after all, are the parents of invention.

The children came up with solutions to problems that may have been forgotten by many adults:

-- Hand blisters from hard-handled lawn mowers. Fifth-grader Scott Smith's solution: A handle grip made from pipe insulation. "If you sweat it will absorb that too," Smith offered.

-- Dented fingers from lots of scissor-cutting. Sixth-grader Ayumi Sugiyama's solution: A padding strip to wrap around any pair of scissors.

-- Those uncomfortable itchy moments. Tambria McDaniel invented a pocket back scratcher, just five 5 inches long, that unfolds to 12 inches for those hard-to-reach shoulder blades. Pretty straightforward, or backward.

-- Not knowing what to wear. Fourth-grader Keira Ferguson's solution: "Fergie's Fashion Builder," a computer program designed to ask the important questions like, "What is the weather?" and "Will you be playing in dirty areas?"

-- Younger brothers who constantly spill milk or dump puzzle pieces. Or younger brothers, period.

Fourth-grader Dave Robers designed the "Breakfast Buddy" to protect the breakfast-table environment from milk spills. The simple container has a tube that can be uncapped to pour a pre-measured amount of milk onto a bowl of cereal. No cartons. No spills.

"My brother is 5, and he spills a lot of things," Dave said. "I thought if I made this I could save myself a lot of spills on my clothes."

Tylene Milton concocted a way to protect the United States from her little brother.

"My brother kept knocking over the United States puzzle and I had to put it back together," Ty said. "While I was doing it one time, I decided I didn't want to do it anymore. So I thought about making a puzzle that the pieces wouldn't come out."

The first-grader attached magnetic strips to the puzzle pieces and placed the frame on a metal board. Now when her 2-year-old brother dumps the puzzle, the states stay in. As Ty held the prototype puzzle upside down, a smug smile settled on her face. Take that, little brother.

-- And then there are Scott Bradley's feet. They dangle above the floor when he sits in a chair. Scott hates it when that happens. He solved the problem by inventing an air-pump sole that attaches with metal clips on any pair of shoes.

"If you are sitting in a chair and your feet don't reach the floor you can pump it up and they will," Scott explained. Or, if you have the luxury of sitting in a chair with your feet squarely on the floor, the pump sole can also give you the edge needed to retrieve items from out-of-reach shelves.

Reebok, watch out.