The existence of leaves and other waste on the floor of the school playground led to the design of the "Limpa Recreio" (Recess Cleaner) blower, created by the students of class C5 of the 3rd year of Delães Basic School. The idea was materialized after the students of Delães Basic School had alerted for this need of cleanness and the result will be shown in the exhibition "My Machine" that will be inaugurated on next May 25, Wednesday, at 14h00, in the Lusíada University of Famalicão.
The invention works with solar energy and the students pedal to reach every corner of the playground, where, through the hoover, placed in the trailer, they suck the leaves in the school playground.
The municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão was one of the pioneers in the implementation, in Portugal, of "My Machine", an educational programme that challenges primary school students to develop an idea that solves problems of their daily life, through the creation of a machine that solves those problems. From the primary schools students' theory, the discussion moves on to professional schools and to the future engineers of Lusíada University, who are responsible for transferring the ideas of the younger ones into practice.
"It is a challenging and interesting educational project, as it allows children to be stimulated from an early age to scientific and technological areas", points out the Mayor, Mário Passos. "I welcome this involvement of various levels of education, from primary school pupils to vocational and university students, in a project that challenges them to find solutions to everyday problems and open up creative horizons", he adds.
It should be noted that "My Machine" is a project that was born in Kortrijk (Belgium), through the University of Howest, and that, in Vila Nova de Famalicão, the project has been developed in schools since 2017.
Despite the pandemic, the projects developed under the scope of "My Machine" were achieved and the 12 machines built over the last two school years will be presented at the Lusíada University, in the session on 25 May. On this day will also be presented the technical sketches of the machines to be built in 2022/2023, mostly related to environmental issues and noise control in classrooms. "Fun Train" or "Water Reutilizer" are two examples of the new machines that will be built by the Schools Groupings Padre Benjamim Salgado and Camilo Castelo Branco in the next school year.