Has ImageImagine if . . .

Imagine if, with the push of a button, you could converse with anyone in the world without learning another language. Or if pressing a button meant you could change your running shoes into custom ski boots. Or if you could find your keys by pushing a button on your cell phone - or find your lost phone by pushing a button on your key ring.

These were just a few of the possibilities fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade Russell Elementary students dreamed up for the school's recent Invention Convention.

Gifted and Talented Program director Barb Andersen facilitates Invention Conventions at elementary schools throughout School District 5. Students participate on a voluntary basis; those who enter are issued patents good at their respective schools.

"For 17 years, no one can copy your invention at Russell School," Andersen told the students.

Each of the 21 inventions fell into one of five categories. In the Nonworking Model division, students created inventions but did not have to build them. Those who wanted to make physical models of their inventions did so in the Working Model category.

Children entered an invention as an Adaptation if they tweaked or improved an existing product. Games went under a category by the same name. And if a student's invention was "so far out there, it doesn't fit" in any other group, it was entered in the Jules Verne division, Andersen said.

Only two inventions were sufficiently "out there" for Russell's Jules Verne category this year. One was fourth-grader Kade Deleray's "Shoe Supporter Unlimited."

"My sister has foot problems," Deleray said, "so I decided to do something to help that."

He designed a shoe support that would alleviate foot pain and prevent other injuries, such as shin splints. Then he decided his shoes should be able to adapt to a variety of situations, including running, street shoes, and "custom" - a mode in which shoes could change into hiking shoes, ski boots, or whatever the wearer needed them to be, by connecting the shoes to a computer.

Deleray's shoe design finished second in the category to "Pena Dough," invented by Hope Harold and Brianne Amon. Composed mostly of peanut butter, powdered milk and honey, the creation doubled as modeling clay and a tasty snack.

"It's just like Play-Doh, except you eat it, and it doesn't dry out," Amon said, adding that the dough tastes much better than it looks.

The honey in the tan-colored gunk acts as a preservative to keep the dough pliable for hours of modeling fun, Amon said. But "Pena Dough" is more than just fun to play with, Amon said.

"There are times when you're not able to get your little cousins or something to eat," she said. "But they'll always eat Play-Doh."

Although entered as an Adaptation, the convention's grand-prize winner was also a game. Sixth-grader Dalton Damm's "Swift Paint 5550," also known as "Organic Waterworks," was an eco-friendly alternative to paintball.

Four players load squirt guns with the natural dyes he created from organic pigments. Spinach, cilantro or other plants created green dye. Hibiscus made red; turmeric and coffee resulted in yellow and brown.

"Because it's organic, it doesn't harm the environment as much as paint," Damm said. "And it's not as much a pain in the butt to pick up after."

Goggles are a must for the game - shooting someone in the face is grounds for disqualification - as is protective clothing to prevent stains.

Damm tried all the products himself. He shot himself in the face to test the goggles, which protected his eyes perfectly, and sacrificed a once-white T-shirt, now a dingy brownish-gray in front, experimenting with the dyes. His squirt guns, though cheap, could hit a 5-inch patch of fabric 20 feet away, he said.

Other students' projects were purely practical. Sixth-grader Kylee Gibson designed the "Pet Finder," which would flash different colors and make a noise when activated. It's a device she would find useful with her pet, Rocky, she said.

"My cat's gone a lot," she said, "or hiding under the bed."

When activated, "Pet Finder" would beep to help owners find their missing animals. But not all owners can hear, and pets sometimes get lost at night, so "Pet Finder" also would flash in red, blue, orange or green.

"If you can't see blue as well as red, you could use red instead," Gibson said, explaining why she designed the device to flash in different hues. "Different people see different colors."

Fourth-graders Alianna Holst and Hailey Pederson created plans for their own locator device for cell phones and keys, two items parents seem to misplace most often.

When pushed, their device - a button on the bottom of a cell phone - would make a missing set of keys beep. A similar button on the key ring would allow a searcher to find a lost phone. The alarm would work even if a phone were turned off or had a dead battery.

Another fourth-grader, Indigo Montgomery, drew up plans for the "Interpreter," which would allow anyone to speak to and understand anyone in any language around the world. Microphones would pick up the sound of a speaker's voice and send it to a translator, where it would be deciphered into the desired language.

"People come to America and don't know how to speak the language," she said. With the "Interpreter," "they would be able to speak a language they didn't know and go anywhere."

Dalton Meredith and Tanner Diede opted to create a game for the convention. "Advanced Questions" featured strange-but-true multiple-choice questions, most taken from the Internet. The fifth-grade boys made the game board and created question cards, with a little help from Diede's mother, they typed directions.

Students checking out their peers' projects were invited to play for seven minutes each. During that time, they were queried about such things as the definition of hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words) or what kills more people: sharks, drowning or coconuts (the latter).

The game, which included "ask a friend" and "50-50" options, was good enough for first place in its category.

As she is at nearly every student event, Andersen was impressed with the Russell students' creativity.

"Last year was a good Invention Convention," she said. "This year was an awesome Invention Convention."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.