Educator's View of Maker Faire
Inspiring ideas, good resources and fun projects at this year's Maker Faire Bay Area
I had the privilege of attending the Bay Area Maker Faire on Mare Island Oct 18-20, 2024. I want to share some of the wonderful resources I found there that are particularly relevant to educators. Some of these are immediately applicable and some are just fun ideas. All are inspiring. Let me know if you try any of them.
DIY Pinball Machine
Entry - DIY Pinball with Maker Tools
Link to MIT Edgerton Center
This wooden pinball machine comes from K-12 Maker Lab at the MIT Edgerton Center. This (link) contains all the files for laser cutting the base, 3D printing assorted parts, ordering screws and connectors and coding a Microbit to keep score. This project is a bit of a commitment to produce but once you have it, students will find endless ways to create their own designs for the playing board.
I will also give a shout out to Pinbox 3000. They produce a cardboard version similar to the wooden one K12 Maker MIT was showcasing. With the wooden model, you produce the entire project using makerspace tools. Pinbox 3000 is a cardboard pinball machine you can purchase and then customize. They were part of Maker Faire for many years but were not exhibiting this year.
Microblocks.fun
This is an interesting alternative to MakeCode for those of you who use Micro:bit or Arduino. It works with several other boards as well. It uses the standard drag and drop coding method AND shows your adjustments in real time. Instead of downloading the software to see it function, you link the board to the computer and it will respond as you write the code.
Peanut butter jar vacuum former
Entry - Coyote Grange School Maker Faire
Elsie Engelhardt of the Coyote Grange School Maker Faire was demonstrating how to turn a peanut butter jar into a vacuum former. Here is a link to a MakerCamp video showing the steps to make this project, which was originally published in MAKE Magazine. Th photo below shows a visitor heating up the plastic with a heat gun. Then the plastic is lowered onto the top of that jar. Then Elise turned on the vacuum near her left hand. The softened plastic sheet took the form of the object on top of the jar. It was science magic.
Cactus as solar panel
Entry - Living Solar Panels
If you have ever made a lemon or potato battery, you will understand the concept. It was amazing to see how much power you can get just from plugging into a plant. Those are LED light bars in front of the cacti were activated by the cacti.
The Cactus battery was a project from the LOIK LAB at UC Santa Cruz.
Sound Curtain
Julia Dvorin, an interactive artist, created an incredibly inviting house with walls made of hanging spoons. As you run your hand along the spoons it makes a very satisfying clinking sound. While you are unlikely to re-create this exact project, it did make me think that it might be fun to create a sound curtain in the classroom. Students can test the sounds different materials make when knocked together and then string their own version. It could just be a short curtain - it doesn’t have to be a full house. You might test large plastic or wooden beads, metal nuts or washers, plastic bottles or anything else you can string together. The Spoon House was so inspiring.
Books and Kits
Ryan Jenkins' new book The Tinkering Workshop is stunning and inspiring. The photos are bright and the ideas are clear. It is not exactly a “how to” book; it is more of a “what is possible” book. It shows clever yet accessible projects and is a delightful addition to any maker educators library. $20 on Amazon or wherever books are sold.
See also Dale’s interview with Ryan just before Maker Faire.
Joan Horvath & Rich Cameron have several books available about making 3D printed models to show math concepts. Their latest book is a teacher guide that includes assessments. Math Teacher’s Supplement and all their other books are available through MakerShed
Electronic Music
Entry - DIY Electronic Orchestra
Kirk Pearson of Dogbotic Labs built a great exhibit around his new book, MAKE: Electronic Music from Scratch, showing several projects from the book. Extremely clever with clear instructions and a lot of background information.
Compressed Air Rockets
Entry - Make and Launch a Rocket
Air Rocket Works
Rick Schertle runs the Maker Lab at a middle school in San Jose. He was on hand getting lots of kids building rockets using this fun, educational air rocket launch system. Students design their own paper rockets and use this simple, sturdy and powerful compressed air device to launch them. More details on Rick’s website or Maker Shed. ($129)
Shaper Tools
Entry - Shaper Tools
Shaper Tools Website.
Shaper Tools showcased their $99 Tracer product. It's a special temporary frame that helps you turn handmade drawings into digital files. Simply put the Tracer frame around the image, take a photo (then remove the frame) and the free software turns the image into an assortment of file types. You can then reproduce the image with a vinyl cutter, laser cutter or other devices. The Tracer frame costs $99 and is endlessly re-usable. As they say on their website, “from sketch to vector in seconds”.
Adam Savage on the Myth of Icarus
Adam Savage returned on Sunday morning to offer an inspirational message as part of his Sunday Sermon on the Foundry Stage.
So that's a list of some of the highlights at Bay Area Maker Faire. We know most of you could not make it to that event but we hope that you will find and attend Maker Faires in your area. Or organize a school Maker Faire. You can always see a list of upcoming Faires at the Maker Faire website.
 | A guest post by
|