Who would have thought that a plastic cup, a squirt bottle, and a little musical knowhow would not only win the Sensational Sounds category of the Kids’ Science Challenge, but also a wonderful trip 3,000 miles away from home to Point Reyes Station, CA to work with scientist and award winning radio producer Jim Metzner as well as musician and musical instrument designer Bart Hopkin. For Merrie Benjamin, this was very much so her reality.
Unexpected Inspiration
Merrie Benjamin, a third grade student at Pine Cobble School in Williamstown, MA, found the inspiration for her prize winning musical instrument inside the cage of her pet hamster. With less than a week to go until the contest’s deadline, Merrie was routinely cleaning out the cage of her hamster. Squirt bottle in hand, she sprayed around the inside of the cage, cleaning all the soiled nooks and crannies, and like a bolt of lightning (in Merrie’s case a squirt of water), a wonderful sound resonated up into her ears. “An idea just kind of popped right into my head,” said Merrie at Bart Hopkin’s studio during our Skype interview. She ran down the stairs of her home in WIlliamstown and said, “Dad, I have an idea!” It was inspiration, it was a vision, it was the idea for The Spritzer Whizzer.
You Won, But...
Originally consisting of a single plastic cup, a squirt bottle, and some very stylish zebra duct tape, Merrie sent in her musical instrument idea to the Sensational Sounds category of the Kids’ Science Challenge. Patiently waiting for the results of the contest, Merrie hoped that she would win, however she knew the competition would be stiff. Finally, the day of the results came, and to Merrie’s pleasant surprise her musical instrument idea had won the contest. “I was really, really, really excited,” exclaimed Merrie, “but it was really hard because I couldn’t tell anybody.” For a month, Merrie had to keep the results of winning the Sensational Sounds contest a secret from all her friends at school. Eventually, Merrie’s teacher made the announcement to the whole school, and Merrie was free to tell the world about her wonderful achievement.
California Here I Come!
On May 6th, Merrie and her father made their way out to Point Reyes Station, CA via a flight out of Boston. In Merrie’s blog she remarked, “I went to sleep at about midnight Eastern time and woke up this morning at about 5:20am Pacific time. Oh, the time difference!” Merrie finally made it to California, and would get the chance to workshop her musical instrument idea with Pulse of the Planet host Jim Metzner and musical instrument maker extraordinaire Bart Hopkin.
The Spritzer Whizzer Takes Shape
With her musical instrument prototype in hand, Merrie, Jim, and Bart began to brainstorm all the possible ways to make Merrie’s idea even better. Deciding on attaching different sized tin cans to a frame made from PVC pipe, Merrie’s musical instrument vision started to take on a more defined shape and sound. Merrie explained, “That by spraying water into the tin can you get a sound, and depending on how stiff the bottom of the can is you get a different note.” By the end of the day, Merrie, Jim, and Bart had made The Spritzer Whizzer capable of playing a whole octave.
Advice From Merrie
With an intelligence and confidence beyond her years, Merrie strongly encourages all kids to go out and seek answers to musical and scientific questions they may have. If you want to make a new and innovative musical instrument “Be practical,” said Merrie, “if you want to make a musical instrument that can fly, it’s probably not going to work.” Openness to ideas from others is readily apparent in Merrie, and if you would like to pose some scientific and musical questions to her, you are more than welcome to contact her with your questions through her blog.
What Is the Kids’ Science Challenge?
The Kids’ Science Challenge is a U.S. nationwide yearly competition for students in third through sixth grade that gives those students the opportunity to pose scientific questions and experiments to actual working scientists and engineers. In its fourth year of existence, the Kids’ Science Challenge encourages students to come up with innovative and creative ways to answer scientific questions and solve scientific problems. The Kids’ Science Challenge is free to enter and participate in and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, however, this is the last year of their current grant, and the Kids’ Science Challenge is actively seeking funding for future competitions. Next year, the Kids’ Science challenge will be posing questions and problems about growing, transporting, and eating food in space, assessing the intelligence and enhancing the life of a particular animal through a toy or game, and how to make sustainable packaging that doesn’t end up in a landfill. The Kids’ Science Challenge would also like to start an exclusive San Francisco Bay Area competition that is specific to questions and problems that we face in the San Francisco Bay Area. If possibly providing funding to this competition is something you or your organization may be interested in, please contact Jim Metzner at Pulse of the Planet.
No comments:
Post a Comment