Baby Beeper
Hyde Park Middle School
Las Vegas, NV
Problem: Nearly 600 babies were rescued by the Las Vegas Fire Department after being left alone in cars in 2000. Five of these babies died from the sweltering heat, which on a hot day can reach 125 degrees in just 20 minutes in an idle car.
Solution: A baby beeper. A transmitter pad sits under a child and sounds an alarm on the driver’s keychain if the driver gets more than 10 feet from the car without taking the child out of the seat.
At an awards ceremony held at Epcot at Walt Disney World, finalist teams receive $36,000 in savings bonds for their winning entries. The competition is geared toward middle school-age children, and gives kids experience in solving problems using the scientific process of exploring, analyzing and drawing conclusions.
