STEAMed Magazine January 2017 | Page 47

robotics to teach coding . My students have been using Ozobots to create drawings which illustrate their public transit ride to school everyday with colored markers . The different colored markers make the Ozozbot do different directional moves , such as spin , pause , and other cool commandments .
For my 9th graders , every Friday I do a Makers Challenge . I first start them on a design challenge I received from Cooper Hewitt , who CHAD has very close ties to their education department . Then I start them on LED Throwies , Bristlebots , Paper circuits , and lastly a conductive group Drawdio drawings . This helps them work as a community , with a partner , and alone , as well as encountering new media , some of which they might have never seen before in their K-8 schools . All of these projects , design challenges , etc , promote 21st Century skills and techniques , and learning in the classroom .
Of the projects in the 8 week quarters I have , the Maker Technologies students work on two projects : TurtleArt 3D printed designs , and MakeyMakey Musical Instruments . We start with MakeyMakey and design thinking and work on their hand building skills with simple cardboard and construction techniques , using the connectivity of the board with copper tape and aluminum foil . The students can create any musical instrument . One of the few requirements is that there has to be 8-11 keys on their project , and of course craftsmanship and construction of the design . This quarter , my students are pushing the envelope even further by incorporating 3D printing using Tinkercad designs they have created , and printing it on my Ultimaker printer . Cool things such as fret boards , knobs , and buttons will be designed and printed and used with their creations .
STEAMed Magazine
47
January 2017 Edition