We’ve used our part of our 11 – 12:15 whole-group time just about every day to give students time to design and build. The interest in and enthusiasm for the many available activities has been gratifying.
A group of girls decided to work on the “chaos machine” kit and got it assembled and running in just a couple of days. A combination of written directions and YouTube videos led them through the complicated steps. There was a lot of debate as they ran into problems — does it go together this way? Why is the marble falling out of the track? How much should we angle the trampoline so the marble bounces into the basket? They went back to the paper and internet many time, discussed options, and found solutions.
Other students worked in pairs or alone on a lot of other different things. One student is carefully following the directions to create a little book of circuits that use adhesive-backed copper tape and LED stickers. Several are assembling a walking robot from a kit. Two are using our MakeyMakey circuit board with a notebook computer and a lot of aluminum foil to create electronic drums, pianos, video game controllers, and more. Two have experimented with the powered propeller that makes a well-constructed paper airplane fly farther and faster. A couple of students are working with a “Snap Circuits” board and components to do small projects. The scroll saw is getting used mainly to cut cardboard-backed pictures to make jigsaw puzzles, but I think its use will expand into other cardboard and wood projects. When the weather improved a bit, several went out to use wood and tools at the workbench and have figured out how to take clementine boxes apart to use its thin wood parts for new purposes.
Will it fly?
Working on the robot.
Cutting cardboard (while wearing a cut-resistant glove)
- building at the workbench
Exploring the “Snap Circuits” kit.
Will the LED light up?
MakeyMakey becomes a game controller!
calendar page + cardboard + saw = jigsaw puzzle
Do kits get in the way of our students’ opportunity to create on their own? I don’t think so. There is a lot of good learning that goes on when the directions are followed carefully and they see how components can go together to build something that moves, makes noise, or lights up. There are always problems, no matter how carefully the directions are followed. Students then need to figure out why something is not working as expected and use that knowledge to fix it. My hope is that the various kits will inspire students to go beyond them and do new things with what they have learned.
Next week: What’s happening in math classes, our book project, and our chapter book (Lassie Come-Home).