Student Designs Unique Musical Instrument
November 7, 2017
Kennerly Elementary School fifth-grade student Liam Mueller recently won a 2016-17 SOLID Award for designing a unique new instrument, “The Cymbal Strum.” Liam, who is a student in Lindbergh’s Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students, designed the instrument last year as a fourth-grader at Concord Elementary School. He was honored during a gallery opening at The Sheldon on Oct. 9, during which he demonstrated how to play his stringed-percussion instrument for those in attendance. Liam’s entry, created with a can, plastic, paper, rubber bands, yarn and clothespins, was selected from hundreds of entries throughout the St. Louis area.
Last year, Concord fourth-graders participated in the SOLID STEAM project sponsored by The Sheldon, St. Louis Science Center, and Boeing. They learned about the science and sound of music through classroom experiments, research, and field trips to hear presentations at the Science Center and Sheldon. Liam and his classmates followed the engineering cycle to design and create a percussion, string or wind instrument. They then tested the instruments and refined their designs many times to meet their goals.