There. I said it. I never thought I would. Growing up, I had ZERO interest in Legos.
As an adult, I’ve continued to have ZERO interest in Legos.
Until a couple of years ago.
It turns out that Legos are a lot more versatile than I thought.
I briefly related my newfound respect for Legos in one of the posts I did for my Maker Space Essential Series. If you do a search on my blog, you will find plenty of other posts related to Legos.
Since this is the National Week of Making in the United States, I thought I would curate a few more resources for you that offer opportunities to use Legos for more than just following the instructions in the box.
Don’t have your own Legos? Well, you might have great success, as I did, just asking for donations. Or, you could always make your own, like this student did on his home 3D printer to make a gift for me. (He made the green ones.)
Yep. I used to think the only way Legos could make me cry would be to embed themselves in the bottom of my bare feet at inopportune moments.
Now they make a different kind of impression on me.
According to the White House, the United States is celebrating a “National Week of Making” from 6/12-6/18 this year. A National Maker Faire was held in Washington, D.C., on the 12th and 13th, and people all of the country are sharing ideas with the #nationofmakers hashtag. You can go to this link to get ideas on ways to engage in making.
As many of you know, I am a huge proponent of the “maker movement” – especially within our schools. It’s good to see it getting this kind of attention for the 2nd year in a row.
For a list of makers who participated in the National Maker Faire, check out this page. You will see new ideas and new people that you might want to reach out to for “maker” advice.
As usual, the project was harder than I anticipated. For some reason, I thought that there would be lots of simple instructions on the web; I knew I hadn’t just dreamed up the idea. But when it came down to it, most of the instructions looked a bit too complicated for our group of 24 second through fourth graders. You can judge for yourself:
We don’t have a soldering iron, and I didn’t like the look of binder clips on a greeting card, so I pulled together what I’d learned from the above resources, and came up with a variation that would work for us. First we made Mother’s Day cards. Next I came up with a prototype for Father’s Day cards that they can make at home using the supplies we have provided in a baggie.
The main items you need to make this work are:
Copper Tape (available on Amazon.com) – about 6-8 inches for each card
LED Stickers (available at Maker Shed or Chibitronics) NOTE: You can also use LED’s with resistors instead of the stickers. – 1 for each card
Coin Cell 3V batteries (available on Amazon.com) – 1 for each card
Chibitronics has a good Starter Kit that is available at several online stores. It includes a “Sketchbook” which you can also download for free here. We introduced the students to what we were going to be doing by having them do the simple circuit on page 20.
The hardest thing for the young ones is keeping the copper tape in one piece around the corners. Instead of cutting it for your corners, you need to fold it over itself to ensure conductivity continues.
Noticing their difficulty, and worried about time constraints for the Mother’s Day cards, I went ahead and applied the copper tape to the die-cut hearts ahead of time. The students added the rest. You can see some of the results below.
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Each student had 2 die-cut hearts – the bottom one with the circuit and a top one that they wrote on and I punched a hole in. To affix the battery to the bottom, they used glue dots (be careful that the dot is not too high or it will keep the battery from connecting with the tape). To affix the top heart to the bottom we used foam mounting squares similar to these.
I didn’t want to leave fathers out, but we only have one more Maker Club meeting. So, I made a new prototype and we will be giving the students these instructions along with the pieces for assembly. The basic circuit construction is the same as the Mother’s Day card. I plan to encourage the students to make their own design, but I know that many of the younger ones, in particular, will prefer having some guidelines.
If you are interested in the “Everything is Awesome” portion of the card, here is a free printable.
Congrats to Tom Kilgore (@Tom_Kilgore), winner of the Family 4-Pack to the Hill Country Science Mill! He and his family have an awesome experience in store for them!
Thanks to all who participated. I hope that you will still find the time to take your family to this fabulous interactive museum. It is well worth the trip!
Across from the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Johnson City, Texas, a mill that was built in 1880 closed its doors after one hundred years. It was briefly revived as entertainment complex, but then fell into disuse again for another 20 years.
Once again, however, the mill has been reincarnated. With the vision and determination of a unique team of scientist/educators, the mill has gained a new life as a venue for students to learn about and participate in science. While maintaining the integrity of the old building, including outfitting the original silos as exhibit spaces, the mill has now become a different kind of food provider. Instead of the flour and grain it once produced for the local community, the mill is now a source of food for curious and eager young minds.
Hill Country Science Mill, Johnson City, Texas (image courtesy of HCSM)
The Hill Country Science Mill opened its doors in February of 2015. My 3rd-5th GT classes were fortunate to visit the complex in April. After spending a school day at the Mill, they were all eager for even more time to explore its many interactive exhibits and amazing BioLab.
A couple of weeks after our trip, the 5th graders got the chance to Skype with one of the founders of the Hill Country Science Mill, Dr. Bonnie Baskin. She graciously answered their questions, and gave them insight into the design and carefully-selected exhibits.
Dr. Bonnie Baskin, one of the founders of the Hill Country Science Mill
One student asked Dr. Baskin about the motivation behind the digital avatars each visitor can personalize when he or she arrives. (Using a “Passport” with a QR code, patrons can scan the code and create their own avatar at the entrance on one of the many iPad mini’s. Once the avatar is created, there are many opportunities throughout the Mill to scan your passport, and you can learn from your avatar the science behind particular exhibits. You can also “favorite” exhibits and follow up on your visit using the QR code once you get home.)
When asked why the staff chose to include the avatars in the experience, Dr. Baskin replied that they really wanted to appeal to an older group of students. Many interactive museums are aimed at the toddler/pre-school set, but the Mill targets middle and high-school students. This is not to say younger ones won’t appreciate the experience, but that there is a great interest on the part of the staff to keep the attention of older students.
A guest creates an avatar (image courtesy of Hill Country Science Mill)
My students were fascinated with one of the silo exhibits – the Fractalarium (designed by two San Antonio artists), and asked Dr. Baskin about this inclusion of an artistic work. She confirmed what my 4th and 5th graders had already observed, that math, art, and science often converge in amazing ways. This piece of scientific art, based on the design of the broccoli, is a perfect example.
Fractalarium (image taken by one of my students)
Many of the students told Dr. Baskin that the BioLab was their favorite room. Dr. Baskin agreed that this exhibit has a special place in heart due to a background in biology, and told the students they specifically designed this room with its zebrafish, mud battery, and microscopes, to resemble a real research lab.
BioLab picture taken by one of my students
Another field trip favorite was the Augmented Reality Sandbox. The sandbox has a projector above it that shows the contour lines of the “mountains” and “valleys” in the box. It also simulates rain when you hold your hands over the sand. Dr. Baskin shared that this is one of the harder exhibits to keep in working order because so many students enjoy it that the calibration gets off on the projector. However, she said that, like all of the exhibits, the staff finds that the maintenance is well worth it to provide so many interactive experiences for visitors.
Augmented Reality Sandbox (image courtesy of the Hill Country Science Mill)
The only complaint that I heard from my students about this trip was that there wasn’t enough time to do everything. That’s a good problem!
Many of my students said that the field trip to the Hill Country Science Mill inspired them to seriously consider a career in one of the STEM fields, and most of them definitely intend to return to the Mill for a visit.
You can see a gallery of some of the other pictures my students took below. Of course, if you are planning a visit to the Hill Country Science Mill, you should definitely get more information from their website.
Congrats to Tom Kilgore, winner of the Family 4-Pack to the Hill Country Science Mill! He and his family headed for an awesome experience!
Okay. Full Disclosure – George Clooney is one of my favorite actors. But I promise that is not the reason I chose to mention the “Create Tomorrowland XPrize Challenge” on this blog even though George Clooney happens to be the star of the movie this contest is promoting.
I haven’t seen the movie, and I don’t know a lot about the contest, other than what can be read on the website. However, if you know a child between 8 and 17 years of age who has an inventive imagination, you may want to investigate this opportunity. The contest asks for videos, images, or stories that envision a beneficial invention that might exist in our future.
You can see specific entry guidelines here. Don’t forget to visit the “Idea Portal” for some real-world examples of people who are working to shape a better future for all of us.
Submissions are due by 5/17/15 – so don’t procrastinate! Who knows what life-saving ideas might be hibernating in the mind of a student, just waiting for the right circumstances to be revealed?
