Mrs. Corbett’s class created stop motion videos to demonstrate their understanding of food chains and webs in various habitats/biomes. Check them out below!
Students also reflected on their creations and on the Breakout Edu game they played in class. Check it out here:
FlipGrid Reflections
These are just a few of the sayings second graders used on their light up Mother’s Day cards!
We used paper circuits from Chibitronics to create the circuits behind a shape in the inside of their cards.
Then they poked holes in the shape to help light shine through and came up with catchy sayings for Mother’s Day. I was so impressed with their creativity and they were so proud of their cards. Take a look at some of them below:
I just posted a lesson I’ve used with various 5th grade classes as they were studying fractions and decimals. We used the Lego EV3 robots, and were able to complete the activity in an hour.
Here’s how the activity works. Using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 robot and a touch sensor, each group of students inputs a fraction. Then they convert the fraction into a decimal and a percentage using hand calculations, and double check their work using the EV3 robot. They observe the robot moving forward and record the distance it moves. Students learn that the distance moved is a fraction of the full distance, based on the fraction that they input. For instance, if they input ½, the robot moves half of the original distance. Using this information, students work backwards to compute the full distance. Groups then are challenged to move the robot as close as possible to a target distance by inputting a fraction into the EV3 bot. Four different challenges of increasing difficulty are available in this lesson. Most students complete 2 within an hour, but the extra are included for students who master the concepts quickly.
The kids had a blast with this lesson and were fully engaged. I love how it really makes them think about fractions in a real sense, and that they have to draw on their understanding to figure out the challenges.
If you have access to EV3 robots and want to try the lesson, you can get it here:
Students in first grade at both Glenvar and Oak Grove used the Makerspace to build hands-on knowledge of force and motion. They rotated through six centers to investigate and understand Science SOL 1.2: The student will investigate and understand that moving objects exhibit different kinds of motion. Key concepts include a) objects may have straight, circular, and back-and-forth motions; b) objects may vibrate and produce sound; and c) pushes or pulls can change the movement of an object that moving objects exhibit different kinds of motion.
Maker Center Planning Sheet and Student Reflection
Center 1: Spinning Tops — Circular motion and elapsed time
Prompt: Make a spinning top. How long does it spin?
Center 2: Air Tube
Make something that will fly.
Center 3: Zipline – pushes and pulls/ straight and circular motion
Design a car that can carry a toy dragon across the room on a zipline. Explore ways to make the car move smoother and faster.
Center 4: Musical Instrument – Vibration
Create a musical instrument with rubber bands. Find ways to include higher and lower pitched notes on your instrument.
Center 5: Racetracks
Build a racetrack. Experiment with different types of cars, marbles, and balls. Which ones go faster? Slower? Why?
Center 6: Robots On the Move
Make Dash the Robot Move!
Cross Posted at the Learning Collaboratory.
I’ve been using prompt cards in my Makerspace for a bit now. I find that they help students, but they also help the teachers who bring the students into the Makerspace too. Even though teachers at my schools have been trained on how to use the equipment, they often need reminders…and it helps them feel like they have a way to answer student questions.
I prefer using them in Acrylic Sign Holders like these, but they are expensive. If you trim cards down a bit, they will work in the plastic 8×10 picture frames you can buy for pretty cheap. They don’t hold up as well, but if you are on a budget, they will work. Another option is to run the cards on tagboard and use sheet protectors.
This packet contains resources to create Makerspace Centers with the following materials:
Each center contains pictures, simple directions, and QR codes to scan for more info. You get them on Teachers Pay Teachers here.
Mrs. Weikle’s class, with the help of Mr. Clark, visited the Makerspace for a STEM activity. They created Mouse Traps that contained at least one simple machine and one 3D shapes. Then they used Pic Collage to display their creations. Take look below!
Take a look at a few of their traps in action!
Here’s our Special Education Makerspace Presentation for Virginia Children’s Engineering Conference 2015:
Download the Handouts here:
Presentation
STEM vs. Maker
Our Inventory List
Prompt Cards Used in Session
Cross posted at STEMCrazyTeachers.com with more info.
Third Graders used a green screen to record part of their performance for PTA. Students acted, filmed, and edited their own explorer videos (using the app Green Screen by Doink) in the Makerspace for this project. If you missed the performance, you can check them out below!
I’ve spent Winter Break devouring the book, The Art of Tinkering. It was created by Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The book description is this:
The Art of Tinkering is a celebration of a whole new way to learn by thinking with your hands, working with readily available materials, getting your hands dirty, and, yes, sometimes failing and bouncing back from getting stuck. The Art of Tinkering offers a fascinating portrait of today’s maker scene, as well as beginner activities for you to try on your own. Make circuits out of playdough, film a time-lapse movie, fuse plastics into beautiful fabric, and much, much more.
Even the book itself can be hacked!
I can’t wait to incorporate some of these activities into our Makerspace programs. If you are interesting in the Making/Tinkering movement, check it out!
