This year's Maker Challenge at the Campus Laboratory School focused on the problem of food security. We will be celebration your creativity from May 19-21, and kicking off the Kids Care event, supporting the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank on May 22.

Upcycled Containers

Upcycled foods

Home gardens

Share your upcycled foods or food related projects.
* What recipes or meals did you make with ingredients you have on hand?
* What foods can substitute for other foods in a recipe? Does your favorite food need special ingredients?
* Did you watch a cooking show to see how others have solved the problem, then try creating a dish or a meal of your own? 
* Did you upcycle food containers as garden containers, or to make a scarecrow, or to solve a food related problem?

Enter your creation here Upcycled Food Entry, or email to campusschool@carlow.edu

---- Learn by Watching ----

An easy point of entry to the maker world is to watch how people work with tools and materials to create objects, use tools and solve problems. There are often obstacles of limited materials or time constraints to overcome.

(These are commercial offerings. Preview for suitability for your students.)

NBC

Making it

FOX

Lego Masters

Netflix

The Repair Shop

Nailed It

Amazon Prime

Handcrafted America

James May’s Toy Stories

How Tech Works

Science Channel

How It’s Made

---- Learn by Doing ----

 ---- Learn by Watching AND Doing ----

Movies and activities, suggested by Chris Woods @DailySTEM

Click on the link for details. Each movie is accompanies by ideas for projects, top scenes, a "big question", and further study.

Super STEM Movies V 1

Big Hero 6

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Finding Dory

The Iron Giant

Wall-E

Maker Projects Week 9

House and Home

We have all been spending so much time IN our homes

that we thought it was a good time to think about some different ways to look at shelters.

Floor plans show the relationships of rooms and entrances, one floor at a time. Look here for plans of some famous homes that you might see through your screens. Imagine how the rooms would look if you could look down from the ceiling. What would the floor plan of your house look like? Could you sketch and measure a room?

Detailed Floor Plan Drawings of Popular TV and Film Homes

Construct Buildings of Your Own

Visit this site to download templates (patterns) to print and cut out. Print on plain or colored paper, then decorate and assemble one or a few buildings for a neighborhood or a town.

Create Paper Cities

Knit a Town

Knitting and crocheting use special loops that turn a line into a plane. These houses are created by following a series of patterns and color changes to "build" walls, windows and doors into street scenes. Learn to Knit or Learn to Crochet then try to knit or crochet a patch that represents your home. 

Knitted Houses

Counted Cross Stitch

Another form of hand work that uses a grid pattern to make a design is counted cross stitch. With a piece of Aida or other cloth and an assortment of threads called embroidery floss, you can stitch a picture of your home. Learn how here:  How to Cross Stitch

Maker Projects Week 8

Let's Make Instruments! 

Selected by guest maker, Vanessa Ceravolo

Create your choice of instrument from your favorite song!

You can use a song that you’ve heard on the radio or YouTube a favorite song.

Use materials from home to create and decorate an instrument.

Below are some ideas.

A student used different kinds of beans to make shakers.

Using his decorated instrument, he shook his instrument and we can hear all the sounds from the beans

Shaker with Beans

A group of students made their own band with their homemade instruments.

One student used a cup for a microphone and the other students made guitars.

Homemade Instrument Band

This guitar was made by a student using a tissue box, paint, rubber bands, and a ruler.

Another makerspace guitar using a paper plate, stickers and rubber bands.

Wooden spoons that a student painted and connected beads to make an instrument.

Makerspace drums using cans, rubber bands, and chopsticks.

See what happens when music teacher, Mrs. Sproul, works on her kitchen instruments.

Mrs. Sproul's Kitchen Music

'

Maker Projects Week 6 and 7

Earth Day Week Activities

“Grow It Yourself”

Get ready for spring gardening with these planting ideas that upcycle ordinary household materials.

Newspaper Plant Pots

Grab a few sections of newspaper out of the recycling bin, and in just a few minutes, you can turn them into perfect containers for starting seeds.

Paper Pots for Starting Seeds

Plant Once, Grow Forever

20 Vegetables You Can Regrow from Scraps

REgrowing Plants

Paper Seed Shapes

The basic idea is to turn old paper into paper shapes that are then combined with seeds.

Paper Seed Starters

Presented by Guest Maker, Vanessa Ceravolo.

a student in Carlow's Masters program in Early Childhood Pre-K through grade 4.

Create your choice of a character/object in a book

 You can use a book that you have at home or try searching a favorite book on YouTube for an audio/visual book.

Use materials from home to decorate a character OR object in the book of your choosing.

You will see below that I used three different books to give you an idea, you do not have to use these books- they are just some of my favorites, but you are welcome to use them if you would like!

BE CREATIVE

Here are some ideas:

The Rainbow Fish
By: Marcus Pfister

The Rainbow Fish (read-aloud)

You can use paint, makers, scraps of paper, any recycled materials at home for this one!

A Bad Case of Stripes
By: David Shannon

A Bad Case of Stripes (read aloud)

Instead of using colored paper, look around your house for these colors. Maybe you use cotton balls for white, you can use grass in your yard for green, you can use dandelions or flowers if you have any for the other colors (pink, purple, yellow), you can use yarn for one of the colors. Look around your house, use what you have!

How I Became a Pirate
By: Melinda Long

How I Became a Pirate (read aloud)

Cardboard boxes, egg cartons, or a shoebox, could be great for something like this activity.  

Maker Project Week 4

A Way with Window Art

This Easter, Miss Palermo and Ms. Dee shared the joy of the season by decorating their windows with stained glass patterns.

A Facebook group from the MidWest, called “Heart Hunters”, decorated windows with pictures of hearts in all sizes and colors, and groups around the country are reaching out to their neighbors with colorful window decorations.

Window decorations help connect people socially distancing because of COVID-19

People are decorating their windows with hearts and messages of hope right now

Use the technique of your choice to bring this activity to Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods,

or expand your creative horizons with one of these methods to create translucent works of window art.

Two Ways to Make Tissue Paper Stained Glass Art for Spring

Waxed Paper or Contact Paper

How to Make Paper Look Like Stained Glass

Oiled Paper (Vegetable Oil and Cotton Ball)

Maker Project Week 3

Going on a Bear Hunt

Place a teddy bear or other stuffed animal 

in your window or on your porch

to greet neighborhood walkers or riders:

See what people are doing in --

Western New York:

https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/featured/2020/04/02/140807/theres-bears-out-there-community-group-creates-stuffed-animal-scavenger-hunt  

Washington DC:

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/article/21125533/dc-neighborhood-organizes-stuffed-animal-scavenger-hunt-for-cooped-up-families  

Challenge your neighbors, or virtual neighbors, to spot your stuffed animal and, perhaps, share a photo. We'd love to see your experience. Send to srament@carlow.edu if you're willing to share.

A simple pattern for stitching (or gluing) your own bear -- or create your own animal using this idea.

http://mollymoocrafts.com/teddy-bear-pattern/ 

Here's a no-sew version (but you'll want a glue gun. or glue and patience!)

https://www.handmadecharlotte.com/diy-no-sew-stuffed-sock-animals/ 

Maker Project Week 2

Cheer Up with Chalk

“You’re gonna make it!” was the encouraging message someone chalked across the path In my local park. If you’re looking for an activity to inspire you to get outside, try one of these:

Share Messages of Cheer for your Neighborhood

https://www.fox13news.com/news/families-turn-to-sidewalk-chalk-to-spread-cheer-amid-coronavirus-shutdown

Create a Pavement Obstacle Course with Chalk 

https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article241422126.html

Make Your Own Chalk

With simple household ingredients --

https://www.hometalk.com/30028842/baking-soda-sidewalk-chalk?expand_all_questions=1

Maybe a little shopping required --

https://m.wikihow.com/Make-Homemade-Chalk

Maker Project Week 1

What is six feet?

Recommendations for social (physical) distancing suggest that we stay at least 6 feet apart (or two meters, metric).

Building a sense of distance is a useful skill in general, and in particular, a safety feature in these challenging times. People in different regions develop benchmarks for estimating and comparing sizes based on objects in their environments. These memes illustrated six feet as imagined in different regions.

Six Feet by Alligator

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/04/us/social-distancing-florida-alligator-trnd/index.html

Six Feet by Sturgeon

https://katu.com/news/coronavirus/odfw-asks-anglers-to-stay-a-sturgeons-length-away-from-each-other

Six Feet by Hockey Stick

https://www.princegeorgematters.com/local-news/video-prince-georges-mayor-uses-hockey-stick-to-teach-social-distancing-during-covid-19-pandemic-2202885

This "six foot" challenge was suggested by Chris Wood at dailySTEM. 

Since six feet is the recommended “social distance”, measure six feet with items you find around the house. What can you find that lines up to reach six feet (or two meters)?

Send a photo to Mrs. Ament — srament@carlow.edu and we can share them on Twitter. 

As the success of activites encouraged by our Mobile Maker Spaces program became apparent, we were able to designate a physical space to centralize planning and sharing of maker and other technology resources.

During this school year, students in grades 1-4 visit once a week to participate in hands-on on construction challenges designed to support their daily curriculum. Physical skills such as cutting and fastening, procedural skills such as choosing materials and following steps, as well as the important social skills of sharing and taking turns can all be developed through maker activities.

Meaningful Maker Spaces

Scroll down to view representative activities of the Maker Hub:

Maker Journals

Record your ideas

Evaluate your projects

Pop-up Cards

Characteristics of papers

Following steps

Pop-up Cards 2

Create a scene

Add materials

Electric Circuits 1

Complete a circuit

Identify components

Electric Circuits 2

Complete a circuit

Design a context

All About Circles

Learn circle vocabulary

Create a “bubble book”

Building a Tool

Construct a Secchi disk

Gather data about water clarity

Six Squares

Design “nets” for cubes

Construct a cube from six squares

Square Collage

Practice cutting skills

Use three sizes and three colors

Square Collage 2

Practice cutting skills

Use three sizes and three colors

 Explore Cylinders

Roll and create tab fasteners

Support a weight

Explore Cylinders 2

Create a rotating structure

Use two fitted cylinders

Project Feederwatch

Research habits of local birds

Design a feeder of weather hardy materials

Build with Kits

Explore building sets

Share resources

Build with Kits

Apply geometric properties

Share resources

Welcome to the 7th grade Poetry in Motion presentations. Students presented dramatic readings of “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost, and “After the Winter” by Claude McKay, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, “ I, Too” by Langston Hughes, and an excerpt from John Milton’s Paradise Lost.  Each group presented a detailed explanation of their bot and a group reflection of the project.

In addition, students shared visual robotic representations of these poems. Our Poetry in Motion projects were created using the Hummingbird Robotics Kits, Snap programming, and various other materials. We have spent countless hours building, painting, gluing, and programming, so we are delighted to share all of our hard work. Sit back, relax, and enjoy watching poetry come to life.

Still I Rise, Maya Angelou

Read about Still I Rise

Watch Still I Rise

I, Too, Langston Hughes

Read about I, Too

Watch I, Too

Paradise Lost (excerpt), John Milton

Read about Paradise Lost Excerpt

Watch Paradise Lost Excerpt 

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, William Wordsworth

Read about I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Watch I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Fire and Ice, Robert Frost

Read about Fire and Ice

Watch Fire and Ice

After the Winter, Claude McKay

 Read about After the Winter

Watch After the Winter 

Nothing Gold Can Stay, Robert Frost

Read about Nothing Gold Can Stay

Watch Nothing Gold Can Stay

Campus Laboratory School's Third Annual

Maker Challenge

 

 

 

 

Live from the Red (really, more blue) Carpet

 

Inventive and articulate students who wanted to share more about their project’s concept and design headed to the “red carpet” room. There, they explained details of their designs from a set designed by art teacher, Leigh Roche.

 

 

Click on links below the photos to hear student inventors describe their work.

 Water Shoes

 

 

 

 

Ant Protector

 

 

 

Pollinator  

 

 

 

Reusable Shopping Bag

 

 

Today was the day students shared solutions designed to

 Protect our Species, in response to the

Earth Day Challenge

CLS classes partnered up to participate in a variety of activities integrating the STEAM fields. Some students shared their inventions with the group, some wrote about their ideas, and some teamed up to create a solution on the spot.

Walking the Walk to Talk the Talk

Inventive and Articulate Students Talk about their Solutions

Problem Solving on the Spot

Live from the Red (really, more blue) Carpet

Students who wanted to share more about their project’s concept and design headed to the “red carpet” room. There, they explained details of their designs from a set designed by art teacher, Leigh Roche.

“In nature, nothing exists alone.”
Rachel Carson, 1962

Nature’s gift to our planet are the millions of species that we know and love, and many more that we have still to discover. Unfortunately, human beings have irrevocably altered the balance of nature and the world is facing a mass extinction of species at the greatest rate of extinction since we lost the dinosaurs more than 60 million years ago. But unlike the fate of the dinosaurs, the rapid extinction of species in our world is the result of human development. The causes are many: climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, pollution, unsustainable agriculture, and pesticides to name a few, and the impacts are far reaching. If we do not act now, extinction may be our most enduring legacy.

The good news is that if we take action, we can stop extinction.

This year, Earth Day Network is asking that we join together to protect our species.

Earth Day: Protect Our Species

This year, CLS students will apply their maker skills to create a solution to a problem of an endangered species. Students "shopped" for recycled materials during the week of Earth Day. Projects will be shared during Remake Learning Days in May.

• Design a project based on this year’s Earth Day theme: “Protect Our Species”, using simple, earth-friendly materials.
• Collect materials at the Maker Market April 26

• Families can shop for free, choosing materials for use in creating a solution or activity on the Earth Day theme: “Protect Our Species”. Creations will be shared at the  Maker Challenge event in May.

• Construct your entry as a family. Write about your topic or your solution. .
• Share your project at the Maker Challenge on May 10

Maker Challenge Brochure 2019

The Campus School Mobile Maker Space was envisioned as a way provide accessible resources for implementing important “maker” activities into daily classroom instruction. Research recommends that resources for “making” should be distributed throughout the students’ environment so that they provide a logical recourse for problem solving challenges. The Engineering and Technology strands of the curriculum are particularly valuable in engaging students who are not drawn to traditional school subjects and provide an attractive entry point for their studies. Classes incorporate the engineering design cycle (building on successive iterations) and CREATE Lab technologies, which provide a model for developing persistence in the face of difficulty. We propose to increase utilization of maker projects by providing each department of The Campus School with Mobile Maker resources.

Teacher "sponsors" designed Mobile Makers Spaces with developmentally appropriate materials and tools to best suport student learning at each age level.

Making begins early -- PreK3 student explores materials.

Materials from the maker totes in Trinity Hall.

Mini maker space for Kindergarten.

The mobile maker space for students on the first floor.

Repurposed and donated furnishings host the Intermediate Department Maker Space. This set up will be next in line for a more permanent home.

The middle school maker space hosts Hummingbird and Microbit technologies in addition to more traditional maker materials.

Follow the links below to read about Campus School applications of products from CREATE Lab:

Circuit Blocks Get Gritty

A Home for Speck

Stay Calm and Eat Apples: GigaPan in World Language

Do > Happen: Language Arts in STEAM

When Nothing IS Something: exploring Global Refugee Flow