KSULearningInnovationsMaker2022

Kent State held their latest Learning Innovations Conference Series on November 4th, 2022. The theme was Maker Education. John Spencer was the opening Keynote speaker.

John’s talks and books focus on Design Thinking , Project Based Learning (PBL through Design Thinking) … Creativity, Curiosity, Empowering students…Making.

He reminded us that “we are all “Under Construction” ” . One of his teachers when he was young, Mrs. Smoot, told him “when you hide your voice, you rob the world of your creativity”. I think this is very true. One of our roles as educators should be helping students find their voice to unleash their inner creativity. He likes to say “making is magic” and it is in the sense that it transforms things like learning and people. Technology does not transform learning, Technology becomes obsolete. The skills you learn and use (while making) don’t become obsolete.  These skills are “Timeless skills” essential skills that are not “soft” at all. They aren’t 2st century skills , they apply in all centuries.

He likes the term “Vintage Innovation” to talk about doing different AND better, overlap of the “tried and true” and the “never tried.”.  Mashing up lo fi and new tech, cutting edge tech with old skills. Students need to be curious and ask TONS of questions. I thin Curiosity is the first C in education that leads to all the rest (Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration). We need to develop the skill of “problem finder” not just “problem solver”. We also need to know the difference between “FAILure” and “FAILing” one is permanent, one is a stepping stone (temporary). Embrace failing…it happens all the time to everyone. What’s next mentality… Lots of “inventors” with great inventions have closets and rooms full of things that didnt work.

S3 technologies lead a session about Makerspace ideas. They shared the connection with Makerspace ideas and John Hattie research on affect. Some of the things that happen in a MakerSpace that have large affect numbers are:

Meta-cognition strategies (0.55)

Self-efficacy (0.65)

Creativity programs (0.70)

Feedback (0.72)

Reciprocal teaching (0.74)

Evaluation and reflection (0.75)

Planning and prediction (0.76)

Transfer strategies (0.86)

Cognitive task analysis (1.29)

They also shared the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) developed by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology. It helps educators intentionally and strategically use technology to enhance and propel student learning.

Vicki Turner shared about the “Nitty Gritty” of managing a Makerspace.

She reminded us that it will always be “you don’t quite know how to do it”. Admin needs to be involved as much as you can get them. I have spoken with Michael Triska at NORT2H along these lines. Many admin come to their building and he wants to have a Makerspace setup in the atrium so that admins see it and play with it. We need them to get their hands on. I think we need an admin Maker bootcamp in the summer. 

Makerspaces will always be a mess and will always have storage issues. You will have to repair and fix stuff, or call in the manufacturer to do so. They often need more electrical than the existing space has. Get mobile with stuff Husky too carts are good. Budge the kids and get student helpers. Display the student work EVERYWHERE, even central office. Train ALL your staff and admin on tools and skills. Accept ALL donations, even if you might not use it…you never know what idea or positive interactions it will generate. And get lots of books (I agree).

I presented about Maker Centered Learning across the curriculum. We talked about ideas in various classrooms. But the first thing we did was dump out a ziploc bag of stuff and built something. Maker needs to be experienced, not just seen and heard. Maker is good for our social and emotional health. Everyone said they felt good after making something. Here are my slides if you are interested (i have others also) https://bit.ly/mclksu2022 

Afterwards, I chatted with Erika Cousineau from the Girl Scouts, Colleen Cosgrove from the Boy Scouts and John Spencer. We had a nice chat, sometimes about maker ideas and questions, sometimes about personal stuff. Nice, casual learning and connections. We need more time like this. I shared my idea of an Oregon Maker Conference (John lives in Oregon). I want to do a 3 day conference. Maker tools and ideas in the morning. Lunch and afternoon visiting 2 wineries. Evening dinner together and a bonfire. Do that for 3 days. Lots of casual time where we can share and talk about things we learned/did in the morning and percolate ideas. John did bring up a great question/issue : how do we create access to Makerspaces OUTSIDE of school? for kids, for families... Why havent community/local Makerspaces thrived (there have been several national businesses that tried and failed)...

I think the next Learning Innovations needs to be hands on Maker.

Like PittFab & ChattFab and FabPlay.

(addendum)

At the same time that I was presenting, there was a session/panel on creating a NEO Maker network (some thing I have been talking to people about for a couple of years). I am hopeful that we can create one because it can only help people... "the smartest person in the room is the room" applies to networks...also "I may be smart, but my network is genius" works also (thanks Kevin Honeycutt). I think we should have quarterly events at various spaces where we come together and make something. Maybe an annual Edcamp and a MakerFaire. I don't know if newsletters do any good -- I am trying a blog (and need people to be guest Bloggers to share their stories). The network should run the annual Summit-Portage FabPlay workshop ...and maybe some others, maybe a bunch of summer camps. Maybe we could work on that issue John brought up - getting out of school access to Makerspaces. (I want a Mobile Makerspace that can go anywhere anytime...that is a whole other blog)

#3DprintingToyAnimals

Want to put your 3D printer to good use. The Columbus based company IC3D has a crowdsourced project for people to print for the Toys for Tots collection https://www.ic3dprinters.com/2022-toys/ . They share files to you, you print them, then send them to a hub. Last year they did 69,000 toys. This year they hope for 75,000.

You don't HAVE to send them to Toys for Tots. You could find some files on Thingiverse to print, then give them to a local Christmas drive, like many of the food pantry's have.

Articulated animals are very fun to play with. Everybody loves a dinosaur or unicorn.

After you have done that, go ahead and print a bunch for your classroom. Have them in an accessible box. I think your kids will find many uses for them. Stop motion animation, props for pictures & videos.  Playful, creative scenes, things that open up the imagination and creativity.

CLEstemINtheCity

I participated in two days of CLE STEM in the City at two rec centers, Lonnie Burton & Michael J. Zone. This was a pilot project of “what could we do and how would it go over” between the City and NeoSTEM. We had 150 kids on day 1 and 100 on day two. 

We had learning experiences from : 

All American Soap Box Derby 

Center for Arts Inspired Learning 

Cleveland Water Department 

Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association 

Holden Forest & Gardens 

Nature Center at Shaker Lakes 

SYATT 

I didnt see what everyone had but I did see animal pelts and skulls, water meter to take apart, lily pad and pond aquatic ideas, mini soap box derby racer to experiment with weight distribution, STEM Olympics, scribble bots, build a cardboard chair, take apart station. I also heard some music creation and heard something about “radio on the lake” (radio theater). 

 I had 4 things for kids to do. One was building a geodesic dome from coffee stirrers and pipe cleaner pieces. Another was LED & battery, which I had hoped they would pair with the coloring station. The final one was binary bracelets, though they didnt seem interested in the binary part, so general bracelet making. 

 

Only one family did the geodesic dome station, and it was mostly the parents building the parts (10 triangles and 6 pentagons). Though the ~5 year old did make a few of the triangles, til she got bored. So I changed it to building 3D shapes for day 2. Still, only 2 kids built a shape. On both days, a decent number played with LED’s & battery, but only a few people combined the LED station with the coloring station. Bracelets were the most active station, it always had people at it. I talked about the binary idea with a few kids (and parents). 

 There are so many STEM Maker projects to choose from. It is hard to choose which #STEM activity to bring…what will they actually attempt, how much “learning” can you get in. The Michael J. Zone center has a great field that would be awesome for some pop bottle water rockets or trebuchets. I hope the City of Cleveland tries more of this, maybe even pushing to adult focused centers, maybe mixed aged with old & young together. 

(It would also be a great event to use a Mobile Makerspace, especially a laser cutter for some quick self designed trinkets…)

SoapBoxDerbySTEMfair

AASBD STEM Fair The Soap Box Derby held a STEM Fair at their race day July 23rd. Participating companies included FirstEnergy, Rockwell International, University of Akron Sports/STEM and robotics, Ellet Library, American Winds, Akron Fossils and Science Center, Rubber Division of American Chemical Society (ACS), Soap Box Derby, Derby historian Ron Reed, Props & Pistons, STEMSports, Skyhawks Sports Academy, and NEOStem…and me.

I loaded up my 2 cases and brought many ideas to share, but really focused on two. The main one was “build a car with stuff”. The “stuff” included cardboard, wood, pop bottles, straws, coffee stirrers, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, buttons, cardboard circles, bottle tops, and beads. Luckily one company didnt need two tables, so they gaveit to me to put all those materials on. “My” table had some hot glue guns and my other challenge.

The second challenge was “battery & bulb”. Light up an LED with one CR2032 battery. Then we could issue challenges like how many lights can you do on one battery, how many colors can you get on one battery, what colors work together. On this table I also had a microbit running an LED strip that was rolling through rainbow colors. A couple of kids asked about it.

It was a fun day of watching and building. It was a little breezy most of the day then around 1 p.m. a storm started coming in and things really started blowing around, so we had to pack up a little early (supposed to go til 2 p.m.), but most everybody was heading for cover anyways.

Books

Reading is very important.
It greatly bothers me the number of students who say "I hate to read".
In addition to having a great library with a full time librarian in every school (and I know many that do not), I think books should be all around the school. Book shelves in every classroom. Teachers can have some more content specific items, as well as things that they like/have read. I was lucky to have a Principal that also bought 2 rolling magazine racks for me to put outside my classroom. There are many Science and Maker magazines to share. If it is important, we should also make time for it during the. school day.

Here is a list of #MakerSpace books to check out. Some are projects, some are story books, some are #Maker philosophy...

{ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/195AiQqtUZwlMuTolePU08L8jbr12hjIoHQW1WqjuODM/edit?usp=sharing }

Building a Little Free Library could be another good way to promote reading. 

#MakersGonnaMake

 

What are you making this summer? It doesn’t have to be for school next year.

One of the great things about MakerEd is the vast variety of mediums to explore.

Are you cooking or baking or barbecuing?

Gardening?

Jams & Jellies?

Candles?

Knitting, sewing, crocheting?

Making jewelry?

Painting? 

Redoing shelves or cabinets (or rooms)?

Woodworking of some kind?

Do you have a local Farmers Market to visit?

That is all #MakerMindset. Have fun with it.

Now, many of those could be utilized in school. Math and Science are easy connections. But what about other subjects? History, Geography, Languages, Government...

Schools should have gardens. What can be grown in the country you are studying or what was grown in the time you are studying? Can you do some baking/cooking and talk about countries and their foods, their spices, the Spice Trade, trade in general? Candle making is good for scents and spices that are found in certain areas of the world. What are the clothes in the country or time or book you are studying, how did they make them, what material, where did it come from? So many questions that can be asked. Once you start asking, the students will naturally pick up the questioning. 

Remember, it is about using the artefact as a jumping off point for a variety of discussions. 

(deck chair I made...and I don't have a deck)

Make Education Forum

Make (the people of Make magazine, Maker Faire, Maker Camp...and others) are holding a virtual Education Forum August 3rd - 5th, from 10 am- 2 pm PST. Registration is $175.

(from their website)

Among the how-to sessions:

• Incorporate making into existing learning frameworks and subject matter
• Explore resources and opportunities for educational makerspaces
• Technical making skill tutorials and trainings
• Help students find and scope local problems that they can work on
• Produce a School Maker Faire
• Low-budget, low-tech making
• Incorporating and fostering the maker mindset in your school community
• Expand your libraries engagement with making activities and programs

 

What is included:

• Three half-day summer virtual gathering to explore topics, share ideas, exchange tips and tricks and learn from one another
• One year membership in MAKE: Community/member that includes monthly conversations, access to discussion forums, and a print and digital subscription to Make: magazine
• Make: exclusive promotions and savings

VirtualMathConference

Math is a part of everything, we all know that.
Conferences are a great way to learn from each other.
Conferences are expensive.

Howie Hua is organizing a free Virtual Math Conference, July 10-11.

Here are the sessions that people will be sharing via Zoom. 

Links to presenters Zoom will be shared to those who sign up to "attend"

#VirtualMath21

ProcessOverProduct

 MakerEd / MakerSpace / MakerCenteredLearning is not about the end product as much as it is about the process and the discussions you can have during the process. Let us chat about some “English classroom” ideas. Students could use a vinyl cutter / Cricut / Cameo, iron-on vinyl and a heat press or iron to put their own poetry on a t-shirt. They could use a laser cutter to engrave it on a cutting board or plaque. They could use ____ to make _____… The product is just the entry step. The conversations that you can have while they are doing this are the more important journey.

Font choice? 

Dimensions & measuring? 

Design & layout?  

Word choice so it fits better?

Color scheme? 

Is it the best vehicle for publishing? 

What is a better one? 

How did poets & authors publish in the past? 

What could partner with the poem to help get the meaning or feeling across?

Is there a similar poem from other authors?

By posing these questions/discussions, seemingly unrelated to content, learners feel that they can ask any type of question. I think that often students don’t know what questions to ask or what questions that they can ask in content areas. “I dont know enough to ask a question without looking foolish.” Questions are what drive learning. It is then up to the “expert” to weave the content ideas in with the answers or show the connections. Those “experts” can be young or old. That is a great happenstance of MakerEd, distributed teaching and learning - everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner. Sometimes questions have no relation to the topics at hand. And that is okay.

This works with any maker centered project in any subject area. It also helps to break down the silos of those areas. And think of all the “life skills” that are being practiced.

Some other English ideas :

- Design, make, build something to represent the theme of a novel/story

- Create an object from a novel and explain its significance to the story. Like the Capulets crest. Be the Prop Department for a movie

- hack a poem with makey-makey (make it come to life with sounds and lights and motion)

- design an obstacle course/maze with plot points as key locations. Code robot (the character) to go through it

- design a theme park based on story

- make a mobile based on things in the story

- green screen video a short piece of the story

- create a miniature version of a “set” for part of the story, by drawing, painting, cardboard construction…

- create a “tik tok feed” for a main character

Again, with all of these, it is the conversations that you can have around them, the explanations that the learners give, the questions that they ask and answer, that are most important. 

{ idea help from Emily Burk @tech_edu_burk ; Elizabeth Lloyd @lloydcrew ; Nicole F @mzfawstah ; Sandy Roberts @KaleidoscopeSci ; Dr. Kelly Jurkowski @kellyjurkowski ; and others}

MakerEdTheWhy

There are a myriad of reasons to implement
                    Maker Centered Learning - MakerEd - MakerSpaces.
Different reasons speak to different people.
Here are some...though I might need a part 2.

It is not a new thing that you are going to add to what you are currently doing. It is a shift in how you are doing things. It is an approach to learning, with making at the focus and lots of discussions around it. These discussions allow the student to come at it from their perspective, so it is naturally student centered. It allows them opportunities for voice & choice, since there are so many materials and tools that can be utilized and integrated. Making and the discussions around it help us get to know each other better, our passions and talents and wishes.

It also easily lends itself to PBL and being trans-curricular, a mashing up of the disciplines so you dont know where one starts and the other leaves off (we need to get rid of silos). It very easily weaves ideas together in real life context. Measurement never really means much until you have to build something that has to go/stay together or fit somewhere. When they master something, they want to share that new found skill. In a Maker Centered environment, everyone is a learner and everyone is a teacher. Kids love creating things to help others and make the world better. 

MakerEd is a mashup of ideas from some education icons :
-Montessori : Child-centered, Individualized learning, Integrated curriculum, Hands on learning, Multi age groupings
-Dewey : classroom democracy, learning relevant to lives , learning by doing, practical life skills
-Vygotsky : collaborative nature of learning, social interaction
-Papert : using computers (technology/tools) as instruments for learning and for enhancing creativity and innovation , constructionist theories
-Piaget : children build their own knowledge, mistakes are used by children to discover errors and self correct

And skills that we want kids to have to thrive in life...Maker Centered Learning helps those :

Curiosity

Critical thinking

Collaboration

Communication

Creativity

Community

Innovation

Entrepreneurship

Persistence in problem solving

Personal Agency

Flexibility & Adaptability

Productivity & Accountability

We are all born makers.

MakerLearningEcosystemCohort

Digital Promise wants to help K12's and community organizations form a tighter Maker Learning Ecosystem. They are starting a 6-month collaborative learning and regional development experience in order to create and support opportunities for maker educators and learners 

https://digitalpromise.org/initiative/maker-learning/establishing-maker-learning-ecosystems-cohort/ 

Application deadline is June 30th.

Virtual Information Session is Wednesday June 16 form 7-8 pm EDT. 

FabPlay21

FabPlay is back in person for 2021. 
https://sites.google.com/view/fab-play-institute 

FabPlay is a Northeast Ohio Maker Educator workshop/conference/networking opportunity.
It is 4 days of expanding ideas about Maker Centered Learning and FabLabs/MakerSpaces.
There will be many opportunities for hands on making with the whole gamut of tools and materials.
There will be lots of networking and social time.
And food, there will be food

It will be held at Hawken Schools in Gates Mills from August 3rd through the 6th.

The cost is $400.

OLED

I bought a 0.96", 128x64, OLED for $7  to use with my micro:bit (price ranges from ~$4-10 based on quantity). It is tiny, the display is about 2.5 cm x 1.25 cm. It is an I2C device that needs 3.3-5 V. You connect it to the micro:bit via pins 19 (SCL) & 20 (SDA). Some extension boards have grove port connectors (white 4 pin jacks) already set up for this to make it easier to connect (1 cable 4 wires)

There are a couple of options for makecode extensions. The first and third by Tinkeracademy, with the third seeming to be an older version. The second is by "author: shaoziyang" and gives you  more control over what and where things go.

The first block that has to be used is an "initialize"or "init". I tend to put this block in "on start", but it just has to come before using other blocks. The default address for the device is 60. 

The next thing that is good to know is that there is a zoom mode which enlarges things to make it easier to read, but also shifts this to a 64x32 pixel resolution (zoom=true in the code ; tinkeacademy defaults to this). This means that with zoom=true, you have 4 lines of text (vs 8) and 12 columns of text (vs 24). You need to know this because you can choose where to start text. Likewise, if you are drawing lines or pixels, you have 64 (0-63) for x position and 32 (0-31) for y position

The third thing is color. Some blocks allow you to pick color, with your choices being 0 or 1. 1 is "normal", black screen with color text (mine is yellow on top line and blue on other 3 in zoom = true mode...double that for zoom=false). Color 0 is inverted, black text with color highlighting it.

The obvious use for this device is to display sensor or variable data. This can be easily done with the makecode blocks (example code) 

Here is me using the BitBooster from lectrify to make connections to pin 19 & 20 via their designated I2C grove port.

I believe graphing and displaying images/icons/bitmaps is possible, but you will have to use micropython to accomplish this. The blocks are just too limited. More exploration is needed
Some possible places to read further
https://www.littlebird.com.au/a/how-to/81/0-96-oled-screen-with-micro-bit
and
http://www.suppertime.co.uk/blogmywiki/2019/11/microbit-oled-display/

upcomingNEOMakerEduEvents

There are several events in the next half year that you might want to plan for. 
I am sure there are more, and if you let me know I will pass the info on as best I can. 
(paul@paulshircliff.org)

NEOTech March 16 & 17 John S Knight Center
16th is more for admin/leaders
17th for in the classroom people, implementers

Remake Learning Days May 4-17 all around NEO
Events and activities at various places, like libraries and science centers. You could hold/sponsor an event. They are about showing how learning CAN & SHOULD be (hands on, interactive, creative, fostering curiosity...)

Akron 3T : Teach Tech Transform June 16 & 17, Firestone CLC
An Akron area educators conference.

ChatFab20 June 15-17 , Chattanooga Tennessee
Excellent FabLab MakerSpace workshop. 3 days of designing & building projects with all of the tools at Chattanooga area school FabLabs. Lots of collaboration.

FabPlay20 June 23-26 Hawken School
Awesome 3 days of making and learning about making utilizing the FabLab at Hawken. Excellent collaboration time.

Maker BootCamp Akron ???? early planning stages
Trying to get this together for Summit County people to start networking better.
Get hands on with FabLab/MakerSpace tools and talk about making across the curriculum

MakerFaire Detroit July25 &26 at the Henry Ford Museum
go see Makers of all ages and all kinds.

SPARCC Tech Conference August 7 at Stark State College
Nice conference for Summit & Stark & Portage County (they do let others come also)

Teach Better Conference October 2 & 3 , NIHF STEM Middle School
I know it is early, but better to plan ahead




Yes, I am still contemplating how to do a Mobile Maker Space (Maker Van) for Summit County. We will help teachers incorporate more curiosity, creativity and innovation into lessons, as well as get access to some tools and try out some tools before purchasing. All ideas and input is welcome...
{paul@paulshircliff.org} even if it is to tell me "we dont need it".

LearningPython

Are you thinking about learning or teaching #python coding along with physical computing and/or robotics? The people at Firia Labs have a couple of things that you should look at.

First is their Jumpstart Python curriculum along with a micro:bit kit ($500 for 10 people). It includes a micro:bit, batteries, USB, some alligator clips, buzzer, thermistor, photoresistor. The curriculum is browser based. Connecting with the micro:bit is plug & play. After you type in a program in the CodeSpace editor, you press play and it downloads directly to the micro:bit. The lessons do a good job of walking you through the basics of computational thinking and coding. As you progress, you  unlock tools & hints. If you already have micro:bit 's, you can purchase the curriculum separately.

Second is CodeBot, an all in one robotics board with two motors/wheels, 8 LED's, 5 line sensors (& LED's), 2 IR proximity sensors (&LED's), a buzzer, 2 buttons, accelerometer, an attached 4 AA battery pack, toggle switch to go between computer USB power and battery. You utilize CodeSpace, but they have a different curriculum specific to these components. A CodeBot with curriculum costs $150.

Both are nicely done. There are a few places in the coding exercises that could use a little more commenting (why a name is picked, what each & every line is doing), but other than that, they do a good job explaining things.

I wish they included some neopixels with both kits, but that is just a personal preference of mine.

ZeroLandfill

Zero Landfill Cleveland is holding a repurposing / upcycling event February 22 from 9 am to 12 pm and February 28 from 3 pm to 6 pm. It is at the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District HQ 4750 East 131 Street, Garfield Heights. They call these "Harvest Days". People can come and take away donated items to use for themselves. The materials tend to be interior design samples (carpet, tile, wall coverings, flooring) which are dropped off on a Pollinator Day (February 21, from 12 pm -3 pm). The aim is to redirect these materials to local artists, teachers, and the general public instead of the landfill. In the past they have gotten 20-30 van loads of materials from design businesses around NE Ohio. It is random, but that is the creative fun.
The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District gives them a space to use for the event.
This would be a great time for local Makers to get some materials to experiment with.
There will be another event in July.
#MakerSpace
#MakerEd

ElementaryTinkerSpaces

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to tour 3 Elementary Media Centers who have incorporated TinkerSpaces : Eastview ES, Goldwood Primary, Copopa ES. All three had some similarities, and obviously some differences.

First, they all had to "weed" out some books to make space for materials. I know that is difficult, I still have textbooks from college. All added lots of different building materials to give students many choices. All talked about having structure for the students to follow. They still had reading time, still checked books in and out. They would love to see their students for more time than they currently do ; the students would love more tinkering time. They all used a variety of funding/sources for materials (donations, grants, district funds). One has a 3D printer that has been working hard, most recently printing snowflake designs. They vary in what tech tools they have for students. They work with teachers the teachers to varying degrees on lessons.

1) Totes. LOTTA TOTES!!! Storage
2) anything to build with... paper, Lego's, Lincoln Logs, blocks , keva planks, straws, magna tiles...so many things available (just check out Amazon)

Some pictures might help :

MakingWithWax

#MakerEd #MakerCenteredLearning is more about process than product, though having a viable, usable product at the end is a plus. Making fosters the C’s (creativity, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, community…) & the P’s (peers, passions, play, projects). Making teaches many life/21st cent/soft skills. But most importantly, making gives every person their own on ramp to the content. An in from their own point of view. It also opens up avenues for discussions.

There are two simple and useful products to make that use wax : candles and lip balm. You will also want to use essential oils with these. You can make candles simply from soy wax or by mixing beeswax with coconut oil. {i have not made beeswax candles yet, but several recipes call for 1/2 pound beeswax + 1/4 cup coconut oil}. The recipe I used for lip balm was 1:1:1 of beeswax : coconut oil : shea butter. I did 1/4 cup each, added 1.5 mL of essential oil and that filled 25, 5 mL containers, plus some extra.

There are a myriad of topics that you can discuss while you make these things :

Melting points

Vaporization points

Diffusion

Measurements

Color mixing

Environmental sustainability of ingredients

Global origins of ingredients

Trade

Cultural meaning of oils/scents

Cultural uses of candles

Time period switching from candle use in homes to next source

Instruction writing

Marketing plans

Cost analysis

Label  design

Geometry of packages

Surface area & volume

The 5 senses

Differing effects of different scents

Pollution (petroleum based vs soy or beeswax)

Conversion between units (such a mix of mL, mg, ounce, cup…)

Books/short stories that have candles as props.

You will need a "double boiler" setup, a pan within a pan. I used a pyrex measuring cup in a pan of water. I heated the water to just below boiling. You will also want popsicle/craft sticks. I used them to stir as well as hold my wicks in place. Soy wax & wicks. That package only gave two wick holders, which is why i used craft sticks. I got about 24, 4 ounce candles out of 5 pounds of soy wax, so I bought some more (without the wicks). Beeswax (you can get yellow if you want, products will have a slight yellow tint to them), coconut oil, shea butter. Containers for candles (i went with 4 oz metal) and lip balm (I used 5 mL). Essential oils are your final purchase. if you are doing lip balm, the smaller, 10 mL , jars are fine (I used 1.5 mL with 3/4 cup of balm and got 25 containers+extra). The candles require more. I did around 10% by liquid volume (300 mL melted wax got 30 mL oil), so you want the 4 oz bottles. There are many brands and I have a couple, but do not notice a difference yet.

Melt the wax, pull off the heat, stir in oil, pour into containers, let solidify. 

Clean up mess. You know you spilled some.

Candle Making video link (jic)