Sunday Morning Science Lab: April Winner Christian Bell Is A Budding Engineer

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Christian Bell is a 10-year-old who has a knack for building things, and the project he entered is just one example of his interests in "DIY" projects and could very well lead to a future career.

A fourth-grader, who attends Gateway K-8 Environmental Learning Center in Homestead, has an interest in all kinds of hands-on activities.

The project he entered was a wooden lockbox.

He got the idea because he already owned a safe to store valuables in.

The one he owned was store-bought so he decided to take a crack at making his own.

He used a mail-order kit and assembled it at home.

"I made a mechanical lockbox. It's a box with a spiral open – it has three locks and a special key, and when you turn it the door spirally opens,"  said Christian.

These are detailed projects with a lot of pieces, that take a lot of patience.

He is patient and productive, too.

"I like to make art, music, science, I like engineering and building," said Christian.

He built a second functional lockbox this one with a numerical code to open.

"It's the same but it's a lot smaller. There's a different kind of lock, like a hook lock, so you have to twist and turn it to match the right numbers to get the right code."

Christian also likes computer games like Minecraft.

All things STEM appeal to him. Although he is very young to decide now, if you ask him, it seems these hobbies could become a career path.

"When I grow up I would like to be an engineer."