A Sunday At Maker Faire Milwaukee!

Last Sunday, Mr. Gauthier took a trip down to Milwaukee for the annual Maker Faire Milwaukee, showcasing local hobbyists, libraries, and anyone else who has some type of making to share.  We can think about it like a gigantic room full of people passionate about creating things!

So what did he see? Well...

There were a few spaces full of just stuff for kids and adults to put things together.  Nothing too high tech - mostly straws and blocks and....

CARDBOARD! The cardboard city was a site to behold.  This gave Mr. Gauthier some ideas for his "Hour of Cardboard" event, happening at Foxview on Thursday, October 22nd right after school.

There was a dark room in the back with a lot of cool things going on. An act that called themselves "Audiobody" demonstrated the fusion of comedy, programming, and music in an incredibly entertaining show. Also, of course, we can't forget giant Tetris:

Yes, the old Game Boy game Tetris was projected on the wall, with the system that was running it connected to the exact layout of the Game Boy.  It required at least two people in constant communication to rotate the pieces and move them. What a sight to behold, and such a cool learning experience.

In addition to these, so many exhibitors were showing off their talents and passions in ways that boggle the mind.

There was the Arduino that drew...

And the guy that was woodcarving...

And the people that were building their own AIRPLANE!

The most important thing of all, however, was showing that making isn't limited to electronics. Making truly is the spirit of creation, of putting one piece together with another.  Many of the people there were selling jewelry, or soaps, or dog treats that they had made. Some of the interactive exhibits involved soldering and sewing.  Making is for EVERYONE, and our hope is that we can cultivate that spirit in our spaces here in De Pere.

Oh, and one last thing, a super cool portrait of Bob Uecker, made out of various tops and lids:

3D Printing Has Begun!

Even though our laptop hasn't arrived yet, Mr. Gauthier has been bringing his to school to tinker with the 3D printers in order to get them to work.  That way, once we have our equipment, we should be all set to get started figuring out how students can take advantage of this awesome technology.

Here is a quick video showing the 3D printer at work:

In case the video isn't clear, the 3D printer really amounts to a super sophisticated glue gun. It uses plastic, called filament, and melts it through a super hot extruder.  Software and hardware give the printer the instructions of where the filament goes on either an X, Y, or Z axis.  If you designed your model appropriately, and everything on the printer was set correctly, you might just get something like this:

It is still a work in progress. A couple of the prints so far look like this:

The plan is to get all of the kinks worked out so that when we have the equipment, students can design and print with a high chance of success. The opportunities to reinforce math concepts through 3D printing are really excited, and as you can see, we can't start using these soon enough!

Make your Own littleBits Car

A group of seventh graders was once again busy creating with the littleBits.  This time they figured out how to make a car.  Want to learn how to do it yourself?  Watch their video below to see how it is done.

Student Creativity Shines in the DPMS Makerspace

DPMS students have already taken our makerspace tools to the next level.  During the past few weeks, a group of seventh graders have been intrigued by the littleBits.  After some tinkering, they figured out a way to use some of the different bits to create a motorized Segway.  Want to see their process in action?  Watch this short video below to learn their steps to success.

Another group of seventh graders also had some fun playing with video in our makerspace.  Using Legos and iMovie, students learned how to create a stop motion animation video.  While the video is only 40 seconds long, it took this group over an hour to come up with their idea and take all of the pictures needed to complete their video.  View the premiere of Love Story below.  

Stay tuned for the next chapter in the Love Story saga as students continue to film part two.

A Makey Makey Science Experiment

A few of our 8th graders took advantage of our new makerspace tools to conduct their own science experiment.  After developing their hypothesis, they wanted to determine what types of materials were conductive enough to work with the Makey Makey.  Through a little trial and error, they discovered that some apples and a couple pairs of scissors would allow the Makey Makey piano and bongos to play.  They even learned that while holding the other end of the alligator clip attached to earth, they could include a few high fives and fist bumps into their performance.  Watch the results of their experiment in the video below. Their video is also a nice introduction to the Makey Makey for those who have never seen it in action.

Under Construction: The Makerspace Implementation Has Begun!

A blog is born!

Last spring, my Library Media Specialist co-worker Kira and I were fortunate and blessed to receive a School District of De Pere School Board Innovate Grant to create makerspaces at De Pere Middle School and Foxview Intermediate. After months of planning, purchasing, and pondering, the makerspaces are getting close to being fully "open for business"!

So why makerspaces?  The heavy influence for me included the great resources at the hashtag #makered on Twitter, as well as the lessons and knowledge about the Maker Movement in "Invent to Learn" by Gary Stager.  Essentially, the maker movement is taking advantage of the plethora of either low cost or lower cost electronics that allow students to engage in areas they may never have before, like 3D printing or programming. You can read more about the Maker Movement here.

I am extremely passionate about the Maker Movement and feel that offering opportunities for students to engage with modeling, prototyping, and programming will only serve to enrich the education they receive in De Pere.

Currently, we have a few different pieces of our space still in processing, and we hope to be officially set to go by October 1st with drop ins available during the day, as well as after school opportunities. So what will our students get to look forward to this year?

• 3D Printing
  
• Programming with the $35 Raspberry Pi computer
  
• Machine coding and circuitry prototyping with Arduino
  
• Electronics fun with littleBits
  
• Video editing and green screening
  
• Robotics programming with Sphero
  

In addition to these products, we will be looking forward to providing monthly events, such as the Global Cardboard challenge or a Scratch code-a-thon!

We are extremely excited about how this makerspace will grow this year and beyond. Stay tuned for more updates!