MakerSpace is making progress at Sherburne-Earlville Elementary School.
After drawing some interest in its inaugural academic year (2017-18), every student in grades 3-5 has made it to Robert Fenton’s MakerSpace room on the second level of the SEES building this year.
Defined by a green wall that doubles as a green screen for video creations, the MakerSpace room encourages exploration, creation and sharing through STEM projects (Science, Technology, Engineering Math). Students are encouraged to add personality and color to their creations, such as the one in this YouTube video (https://youtu.be/sruqmOvgIhQ).
Students have participated in several other projects during the 2018-2019 academic year, exploring kinetic/potential energy with rubber-band race cars; airplane flight and lift with stunt/long-distance airplanes made of paper; and thrust, trajectory and angles with homemade catapults.
Thanks to Chromebooks distributed by the district this year, MakerSpace doubled as the Coding Café from time to time. Students had a chance to use a coding program called Scratch to create video games and screensavers to share with the class.
Kids also worked with LittleBits, which are small, magnetic, connectable circuit boards, to discover how circuits work. They made digital thermometers, LEGO houses with working lights/doorbells and bubble blowers, among other items that feature circuit boards.
SEES also complemented its Science unit on structures with a Platform Competition. Students received $15 to purchase specific supplies needed to make a weight-bearing platform. Using only craft sticks, masking tape, clips and rubber bands, our kids designed some amazing platforms; one even held more than 6,000 grams!
We can’t wait to see what comes next!
