Have you ever met a child that did not like taking toys and gadgets apart? Probably not, we are all curious beings wondering what’s inside that household gadget or toy that makes it work. November 15th is America Recycles Day, take apart projects and challenges, reverse engineering and tinkering are perfect for introducing students of all ages to recycling, mechanical engineering, making, the repair culture, 21st century skills and more. During my STEM, STEAM and MakerEd professional staff development trainings I introduce teachers to incorporating tinkering, reverse engineering and deconstruction challenges. The teachers truly enjoy analyzing a gadget and then taking it all apart, they all agree that incorporating tinkering and a take-apart center within their K-12 classroom or library makerspace is totally doable with little effort. During the STEM, STEAM and MakerED trainings I have teachers analyze the gadgets thoroughly before deconstructing the gadget. They must also label all the parts, and figure out what the parts do. If they have no clue as to what the parts are and what their functions are, they are encouraged to use books such as How Things Work etc. and then proceed to conducting internet searches. The teachers are asked to affix the components onto poster board, cardboard etc. Each group is asked to share what they learned about the gadget with their peers. An extension to the challenge is to design and create a new gadget using components of the deconstructed gadget and/or make art pieces from the components. Introducing students of all ages to the practice of taking apart a broken or out-dated gadget will help students to understand many aspects of engineering, improving technology, materials science, science and engineering practices and more. Of course what excites teachers is that incorporating reverse engineering, i.e., take apart challenges and centers within the classroom and or library makerspace is relatively cheap or free aside from the initial investment of small hand tools and safety goggles etc. required to take apart object. The following photos were taken during STEM classes I’ve conducted for VPK students as well as teachers undertaking reverse engineering and maker challenges during STEM, STEAM and MakerEd professional staff development trainings I’ve conducted. For more information about America Recycles Day check out the following website https://americarecyclesday.org/ . For more information about the STEM, STEAM, MakerEd and Next Generation Science Standards professional staff development trainings I offer worldwide, year-round check out the description pages found on this website.
Tag: Maker
Washington Teachers Explore STEM and MakerEd Challenges During Teacher Training Workshop
I recently had the pleasure of sharing my knowledge and expertise of STEM and MakerEd strategies with elementary and middle school teachers in Washington. During the two day training teachers were introduced to the engineering design process, incorporating lessons that develop and strengthen 21st century skills, the design cycle, and methods/strategies to incorporate Makerspaces within their school library and classrooms. During the two-day training teachers were given the engineering design challenge of designing a roller coaster marble run using recycled materials, designing and creating a vehicle that was powered by air, using recycled materials, as well as designing and building a Vibrobot. Teachers were introduced to strategies on incorporating a Makerspace within their library, as well as ideas for Maker Centers within their classrooms. Teachers were introduced to a wide-array of technology, tools and kits that are commonly used in school library and classroom Makerspaces such as: Makey Makey, Snap Circuits, LittleBits, Makedo, Ozobot, Fisher Price Code-A-Pillar, Squishy Circuits and more. Additionally, teachers were introduced to incorporating tinkering/ take-apart centers within their Makerspaces. Teachers were given the task of analyzing a toy or household gadget with their group, they were then asked to take the gadget apart. They were to identify and label the parts etc. The components from the deconstructed broken gadgets can be used to create new gadgets and inventions, or used to repair similar gadgets. Students of all ages love to tinker, and I find that adults love to tinker and take part in deconstructing gadgets as well. The process of tinkering, and deconstructing gadgets indeed develops and strengthens 21st century skills, and incorporates science and engineering practices. The following photos are a sample of the STEM and Maker Explorations that were conducted during the two day STEM and MakerEd teacher training workshop. To schedule a STEM, MakerEd, or NGSS teacher training workshop complete the contact form found on the contact page.
Afterschool Staff Attend STEM Professional Staff Development
I recently had the pleasure of meeting and working with sixty afterschool staff of Canyon Independent School District. Debbie Collier, Director of Afterschool Programs has incorporated a STEM component within all Canyon ISD afterschool programs. During the day long STEM-based professional staff development session afterschool staff were introduced to the foundational principles of STEM, inquiry-based teaching and learning, journaling, engineering design process, incorporating STEM-based children’s literature and more. We started off the session by conducting hands-on-minds-on investigations to explore materials science. Participants used affordable technology and digital tools to analyze building and packaging materials as well as super absorbing polymers. We then went on to discover how geometry and architecture are connected via building 3 dimensional geometric structures. Further into the session participants were given the challenge of designing, building and testing a roller coaster like structure that would move a marble from point A to B, having loops, jumps, and twists. The roller coasters were built using readily available materials as well as recycled materials. The end of the training was spent on introducing afterschool staff to incorporating tinkering and take apart centers within their afterschool programs. Participants were given the task of taking apart broken household gadgets, toys, and out-dated electronics. Participants were also taught how to incorporate components within the disassembled gadgets to make new gadgets, sculptures and more. Participants kept journals throughout the training, and also had the opportunity to read numerous children’s STEM-themed books. This was such a highly motivated group, they truly embraced the importance of incorporating STEM practices and content within afterschool programs. I have been told by the district administration as well as many of the afterschool staff that incorporating STEM explorations within their afterschool programs has been extremely successful. The children really enjoy the daily STEM challenges as well as visiting the STEM exploratory centers such as the “Take – Apart Gadget Center” etc.. The following photos are a sampling of some of the STEM investigations the afterschool staff conducted during the day long STEM-based professional staff development designed for afterschool staff.