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)

snowflakes

It is that time of year to make paper snowflakes. Here is a digital version of that exercise. 
(ht to @mrlosik and his instructable to 3D print snowflakes https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Holiday-Snowflakes/ ). 

http://rectangleworld.com/PaperSnowflake/ gives you a folded piece of paper that you draw polygons on to make cuts. {i wish they asked you how many folds you wanted}. The next step is to take a picture/screenshot of your snowflake. I used purple as a high contrast background to make it easier to remove later, there is not a choice for "no background". I imported the screenshot into my Cricut Design Space, then did some steps to remove the purple and saved the "new" image. [i completely missed the part where it gave an option to save as a "cut image" vs a "print & cut"]. Then I inserted the new image into a project and chose "no fill" under print, so it is just a cut image.

Now you are ready to cut this out of sticker material, heat transfer, window clings, cereal box...

Here is a quick video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DRZF_bUCYo

3DPrintingWorkshop

NORT2H / ESC of Lorain County is offering a 3D printing workshop, partnering with MakerGear and SOI. It is free for NORT2H members, and costs $125 for non-members. It will be December 11, from 8:30-2:30.
Here is a flyer for more information.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vsQcZAvasPk3kpO0Zo30Lq1eUkNfeZZ3zF0YdTLUF4Q/edit

OctoberVisits

I got to visit two local schools this week.

First, I went to Bolich MS to see Alex Oris ( @mrORIStech ) and his robotics club. They meet after school once a month. (he would love to meet more, but he has other buildings to work with and a family). This time they were working with Sphero (SPRK+ & mini) or Edison. They have enough of these three so that everyone could have their own to work with. Their challenge was to create code to have the “robot” trace various polygons, starting with a square. There were about three dozen excited and enthusiastic kids scattered around the library and hallway. If a student didn’t have their own device (tablet, phone, chromebook), Mr. Oris has some devices that he got from a GAR Foundation grant for VR/AR. Besides watching them work, I brought Marty the Robot, from Robotical, a company in Scotland.  Marty v1 is a humanoid robot that you can make walk, slide, dance… and is pretty nice, but I am hoping for better things in their v2 kickstarter .  I want to be able to make different things out of my robotics, like cars and elevators and … They seem to be working towards a bit of expandability and customizability. Check them out.

Later in the week I went to visit David Hall (email) the Tech & Maker Teacher at
Immaculate Heart of Mary (k-8). I graduated from IHM in 1979 and had not been back in a
long time. His room is one of my former 8th grade home rooms (they have shifted rooms
around as needed, even the library isn’t where it used to be).  He sees all kids at some time and
there is a great mix of “tool time” and projects. We forget that many kids have never held a tool,
let alone used one. Sometimes classes are just “pounding nails” or “drill a hole” or
“put in a screw”. Yes, they use hammers and screwdrivers,  cordless and corded drills,
palm sanders, pop riveter, chop saw, band saw, and other hand tools. He has a “flight” elective
course and they make all variety of flying things from wood and cardboard and foam. There
were the beginnings of boomerangs on a shelf. His room has some excellent examples of flying
things hanging from the ceiling. IHM participates in The American Rocketry Challenge and this
year has two teams (they have had up to 5 in the past). They 3D design & print some parts,
2D design and laser cut others.
The school has recently purchased Dash and Dot and some Cubelets, so he is anxious to get
those going with teachers.