Airdrie students invention added to Nose Creek Park

45 Grade One and Grade Two students from A.E. Bowers Elementary School have created a picnic table garbage attachment device and have installed one of them at Nose Creek Park.

This device was created hoping people would clean up after themselves instead of littering and leaving their garbage in parks.

Caitlin Cornell and Elyse Schlichter, both teachers at A.E Bowers talked about how excited the students were to set up their device at Nose Creek Park.

"They're all excited to see it throughout the summer. We even have some families that will commute from Calgary so they can have a picnic with it," stated Cornell.

The device was placed on a picnic table near the pickleball courts.

"At six, seven and eight, you can make a big difference. Adults will listen if you have good ideas, you just have to have a voice to share them," mentioned Schlichter.

Photo of three students at Nose Creek Park with their invention. Photo provided by Caitlin Cornell.

Cornell talked about why and how the idea came about to make these garbage attachments earlier this month.

"As part of the new curriculum, we talk about how humans can positively and negatively affect the environment. We discussed with the students, how we help limit litter and garbage in our parks and picnic areas around us. That's where we came up with the idea to create a picnic table garbage attachment device."

With assistance from Grade Nine students at George McDougall, the students developed prototypes for their project, ultimately deciding on a final design featuring hinges, a lid, and a clip to keep it closed.

The students showed a keen interest in the functionality of 3D printing technology, asking about the x, y, and z axes. They took measurements to ensure the device would fit picnic tables, demonstrating their reasoning and mathematical skills.

Earlier this month the students took a trip to Banff National Park and installed one of their garbage attachment devices to a picnic table at Cascade Ponds. Below is a video of how to use the device.

A grant from the Bow Habitat Station helped make this all possible.

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