Design a Pollinator (2nd Grade) Students design pollinating insects after learning about pollination during a series of lessons in the school's garden. Materials General makerspace supplies, including: corks Q-tips pipe cleaners straws assorted fabric hot glue guns and glue sticks Performance [...]
Make an Object that Uses a Light (1st) In this lesson, students use their understanding of LED lights from the LED Constellations Project to design and build an object that uses a light. The lesson is intended to be open-ended to allow students to express their creativity and problem solving skills. The activity [...]
LED Constellations (1st Grade) Students design and build their own constellations. In this lesson, we focus on observing patterns (like geometric shapes, animals, or everyday objects - a house, a flower, a slice of pizza). Students are not required to memorize the constellations, but instead, make their own and describe [...]
Map CA Regions Using Scratch 3.0 (4th) In this project, students use Scratch 3.0 to show their understanding of California's geographic regions. Students use a Map Template to build an interactive map with labels, images and descriptive text. The project can be extended in several ways: students can place dots for the major metropolitan [...]
Bee Waggle Dance with Hummingbird Bit In this five part unit, students use the Hummingbird Bit to program a styrofoam bee model to mimic the bee waggle dance found in nature. This unit is closely adapted from the video lessons found at Birdbrain Technologies. Below is a Google Site created to guide students through [...]
Scratch 3.0 Website / Native American Cultures Lessons for creating Scratch 3.0 websites can be adapted to replace Google Slides or other visual representations teachers might use for student presentations. In this type of lesson, computer science is integrated into content areas as students use Scratch 3.0 to program and build a website around specific [...]
The parts included in a makerspace (materials, tools, devices, software, apps, furniture, etc.) should follow from the program's purpose of the space (Making+Learning, 2014). Research from Parekh and Gee (2018) suggests that makerspaces using everyday materials can instill an atmosphere of playful making and tinkering for children. They also seem to suggest that advanced technologies [...]
The most important person in a makerspace in public schools is the maker educator. A makerspace needs a dedicated teacher assigned to manage the space, purchase and organize supplies, create lessons with staff, and facilitate classroom activities in the makerspace. The Making + Learning Framework promotes the use of volunteers to help manage makerspaces. However, [...]
The purpose of a makerspace in public schools cannot be separated from the demands of standardized testing. Therefore, the best approach for creating a sustainable makerspace is to integrate activities into core curriculum areas, like English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and Math. In the book, Maker-centered Learning, Clapp et al. describe primary and secondary [...]
Build a Paper Rocket (3rd) Students construct paper rockets to launch with air compressed in 2-liter soda bottles. Videos below show how to teach the lesson, build paper rockets, set up rocket launchers, and launch rockets Materials - Paper Rockets 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper 3x5 inch index cards Scotch tape Colored [...]