Maker Movement
The maker movement is a contemporary STEAM culture that encourages invention and prototyping. It includes engineering activities such as electronics, robotics, and 3-D printing, as well as more traditional crafts such as metalworking, and woodworking. It stresses the creative use of DIY, technology, and learning In contrast to the scientific method, people build and test prototypes.
Book: Your Starter Guide to Makerspaces
Book K - 5: STEAM Kids: 50+ Science / Technology / Engineering / Art / Math Hands-On Projects for Kids
Book: Smithsonian Maker Lab: You can conduct some interesting science experiments with this book including how to make a jungle in a bottle and how to turn a lemon into a battery.
Book: Why Design? Activities and Projects From the National Building Museum by Anna Slafer which, though published in 1995 has a persistently relevant approach and format. It helps kids investigate existing designs and identify potential improvements, and also challenges them to identify problems that trouble them to inspire ground-up innovation.
Book: Amazing Rubber Band Cars: Easy-to-Build Wind-Up Racers, Models, and Toys
Book The Robot Book: Build & Control 20 Electric Gizmos, Moving Machines, and Hacked Toys (Science in Motion)
Book: Stomp Rockets, Catapults, and Kaleidoscopes: 30+ Amazing Science Projects You Can Build for Less than $1
Articles
Maker Space In Education Series… 10 Sites To Start Making In The Classroom
Maker Space In Education Series… 10 More Sites….Making With Technology
Cultivating Accountability and Motivation in the Makerspace
30 Ways to Create the Conditions to Inspire in a Makerspace
Maker Space In Education Series… Making It With Raspberry Pi
Five-step Engineering Design Process developed by the Museum of Science in Boston to guide most STEM lessons and activities
Projects for Makers provides a simple, enjoyable projects for students to get involved in making.
Maker Space Agreement rules and procedures for students
Maker Spaces in Action recorded webinar that features several teachers explaining the set up of their maker space, logistics, and issues.
Short maker challenge videos
Design Thinking Toolkit - includes maker challenge lessons, videos and slide shows
Design Education in all Disciplines The Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum offers several resources on how to integrate design-thinking connections into the K–12 classroom. Features more than 400 design-based lessons written by educators from all disciplines. In addition to the K–12 lessons, the website offers best practices, videos, and other design resources that allow educators to be fully equipped to implement design education across any subject. Three sample lessons illustrate how design thinking can be integrated into mathematics, science, and English language arts learning: “Using Design to Solve Math Problems in the Real World,” “Connecting the Scientific Method to Design,” and “Learning Paragraph Structure Through Design.
Ready, Set, Design is a quick group activity. It uses simple, inexpensive materials and is an effective tool for problem solving, creative thinking and team building. Ready, Set, Design is not just for designers but can be used by any audience as a way to engage in design thinking.
Design Challenge Learning? It’s a combination of project-based learning, design thinking and the engineering design process that develops the innovator’s mindset through iteration.
The lessons on this page, developed over the years by educators at The Tech, will help teachers lead their students through science and engineering challenges. They also make fun and effective team-building activities for groups of teachers.
Windmill Challenges gr 3 - 8
Apps
Websites
The maker movement is a contemporary STEAM culture that encourages invention and prototyping. It includes engineering activities such as electronics, robotics, and 3-D printing, as well as more traditional crafts such as metalworking, and woodworking. It stresses the creative use of DIY, technology, and learning In contrast to the scientific method, people build and test prototypes.
Book: Your Starter Guide to Makerspaces
Book K - 5: STEAM Kids: 50+ Science / Technology / Engineering / Art / Math Hands-On Projects for Kids
Book: Smithsonian Maker Lab: You can conduct some interesting science experiments with this book including how to make a jungle in a bottle and how to turn a lemon into a battery.
Book: Why Design? Activities and Projects From the National Building Museum by Anna Slafer which, though published in 1995 has a persistently relevant approach and format. It helps kids investigate existing designs and identify potential improvements, and also challenges them to identify problems that trouble them to inspire ground-up innovation.
Book: Amazing Rubber Band Cars: Easy-to-Build Wind-Up Racers, Models, and Toys
Book The Robot Book: Build & Control 20 Electric Gizmos, Moving Machines, and Hacked Toys (Science in Motion)
Book: Stomp Rockets, Catapults, and Kaleidoscopes: 30+ Amazing Science Projects You Can Build for Less than $1
Articles
Maker Space In Education Series… 10 Sites To Start Making In The Classroom
Maker Space In Education Series… 10 More Sites….Making With Technology
Cultivating Accountability and Motivation in the Makerspace
30 Ways to Create the Conditions to Inspire in a Makerspace
Maker Space In Education Series… Making It With Raspberry Pi
Five-step Engineering Design Process developed by the Museum of Science in Boston to guide most STEM lessons and activities
Projects for Makers provides a simple, enjoyable projects for students to get involved in making.
Maker Space Agreement rules and procedures for students
Maker Spaces in Action recorded webinar that features several teachers explaining the set up of their maker space, logistics, and issues.
Short maker challenge videos
Design Thinking Toolkit - includes maker challenge lessons, videos and slide shows
Design Education in all Disciplines The Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum offers several resources on how to integrate design-thinking connections into the K–12 classroom. Features more than 400 design-based lessons written by educators from all disciplines. In addition to the K–12 lessons, the website offers best practices, videos, and other design resources that allow educators to be fully equipped to implement design education across any subject. Three sample lessons illustrate how design thinking can be integrated into mathematics, science, and English language arts learning: “Using Design to Solve Math Problems in the Real World,” “Connecting the Scientific Method to Design,” and “Learning Paragraph Structure Through Design.
Ready, Set, Design is a quick group activity. It uses simple, inexpensive materials and is an effective tool for problem solving, creative thinking and team building. Ready, Set, Design is not just for designers but can be used by any audience as a way to engage in design thinking.
Design Challenge Learning? It’s a combination of project-based learning, design thinking and the engineering design process that develops the innovator’s mindset through iteration.
The lessons on this page, developed over the years by educators at The Tech, will help teachers lead their students through science and engineering challenges. They also make fun and effective team-building activities for groups of teachers.
Windmill Challenges gr 3 - 8
Apps
- Pixel Press Floors (iPad) allows anyone to use just pencil and paper to create her own video game level. Teachers use the app to teach design thinking to students. The app and lesson plans are available for free.
- Apparatus android is a game where you build simple mechanical structures to make a path for one or several marbles to the goal. Use the laws of classical mechanics to complete each level.
Build a space rocket, connect cables from batteries to motors, build bridges, set up teeter totters, swing with ropes, build vehicles, or just let the marble have a happy roller coaster ride to the goal! - Fix the Factory (android) develops problem solving skills, logics sequencing and programming abilities. Also play on the web
- Green Screen for creating green screen videos 2.99
- Every Circuit – (android) Circuit Builder
- Snapguide App easy way to create and share how-to guides. Discover new recipes, DIY projects, fashion ideas, make-up tricks, tech tips and lifehacks. Create your own guides and share what you love doing.
- 3DC.io is an iPad app that lets you easily build, share and 3D print various designs.’3DC uses basic shapes (cube, sphere, cylinder, cone etc.) to create any 3D models. From the simplest design to the most complex objects – you can build anything by simply moving, rotating and scaling primitive objects.'
- Makers Empire 3D - Easy 3D Modeling is a powerful but simple to use 3D modelling app that rewards you for creating! Level up as you design, socialize with other makers and complete daily design challenges. Unlock new design tools as you go…Makers Empire 3D is capable of incredibly detailed 3D designs yet is so simple anyone can use it! Pick a design module like BLOCKER, our feature rich voxel editor, CHARACTER, our avatar builder or SHAPER, our traditional free form 3D modelling module.
Websites
- Magazine for Makers Make: publishes tested projects, skill-building tutorials, in-depth reviews, and inspirational stories, accessible by all ages and skill ranges. Project categories include craft and design, digital fabrication, drones and vehicles, science, technology, and more. The Make: website provides an online 3D Printer Buyer’s Guide (updated for 2017), as well as an online Boards Guide and Drones Guide.
- Make: Maker Media is a global platform for connecting Makers with each other, with products and services, and with our partners. Make Projects can serve as a resource for science and mathematics teachers. Teachers can search for projects that support their curriculum standards.
- Ready, Set, Design is a quick group activity. It uses simple, inexpensive materials and is an effective tool for problem solving, creative thinking and team building. Ready, Set, Design is not just for designers but can be used by any audience as a way to engage in design thinking.
- Making & Science website
- Eurekus STEAM Curriculum some units are free Others range from $10 - $25
- How strong is a piece of paper? K - 3
- Design thinking process During the school year we “grade” students based on their use of our design thinking process rather than grading students solely on their final products.
- Anthony's Kite Workshop for dozens of kite plans suitable for families and classroom projects, along with General Kite Hints and Tips.
- NASA Kites students to gain a feel for aerodynamic forces is to fly a kite. " This NASA site starts with a short history of kites, and then introduces the forces that act on kites.
- National Kite Month resources under the For Teachers link in the main horizontal menu. This page tells the history of kites, starting with the legend that a "Chinese farmer tied a string to his hat to keep it from blowing away in a strong wind." Other links include "Why Kites Fly", "How to Fly a Kite", and kite games and projects for use in a classroom.
- Professor Kite and the Secrets of Kites teaches us how to pick the right kite for different days. "Deltas, Diamonds and Dragon kites fly well in light to medium winds (approximately 6-15 mph) while Box Kites and stickless Parafoil kites fly better when the winds get a little stronger (approximately 8-25 mph)."
- Virtual Kite Zoo sketches and descriptions of kites of every shape and size, many of them also including historical, anecdotal, allegorical or aeronautical snippets of information."
- Green Screen Resources
- STEAM Makerspace - 114 tips, ideas, resources and even lesson ideas for creating your very own STEAM Makerspace.
- DIY is a place for kids to share what they do, meet others who love the same skills, and be awesome. The big idea is that anyone can become anything just by trying - we all learn by doing." Fashioned after scouting badges, skills are learned by completing challenges, and patches are earned along the way. For example, the Game Dev skill includes 7 challenges, the first of which is creating an image sprite.
- Howtoons - Learn how to build things, like pinewood derby race cars, with this detailed and engaging online comic book.
- Maker Education Initiative in Oakland, California, supports educators and communities—particularly those in underserved areas—to facilitate meaningful making and learning experiences with youth. The “Getting Started” section of the Maker Ed website provides a set of curated, introductory resources for those new to making or interested in learning more about making. It also provides practical, concrete ways for integrating making into educational settings. The “Tools & Materials” section contains lists and examples of useful tools and materials for making activities and makerspaces. This section also offers guidance or tutorials on specific tools or skills. The “Projects & Learning Approaches” section includes a wide variety of information to provide educators and facilitators with ideas for short-term activities, as well as open-ended, long-term projects, curriculum samples, examples of facilitation methods and practices, and the pedagogies and values aligned with making.
Click Here to Visit Website - Curriculum for makerspaces K-12 Microsoft Makerspaces has a great resource for Middle School/High School level. docs.com/MicrosoftinEducation/9289/
- 3D Printing Resources
- Lightworks free video editor with novice to advanced tools
- Makerbot in the Classroom: an introduction to 3D printing and Design Guide
- MakerBot Educators program aims to unite teachers who use 3D printing so they can share content and best practices and further the adoption of 3D printing in schools.
- Foldscope Instruments the Foldscope, an ultra-low-cost microscope made from common materials such as paper. It is designed to be produced affordably, to be durable, and to give optical quality similar to conventional research microscopes. Click Here to Visit Website
- Rube Goldberg Projects
- Simple Machine Challenge
- Engineering Kids includes video
- Goldburger To Go comes from PBS.
- How to Build a Homemade Rube Goldberg Machine
- Web-based Rube Goldberg Applications
- How to Make a pinball game from a cardboard box
- You can sort of build a Rube Goldberg-like machine at Tinker Ball.
- Make Your Own VR Headset: The Google Cardboard website has templates that you can print and follow to build your own virtual reality viewers (scroll past the items listed for sale). Instructables also offers a template and directions for making your own VR viewers. The following video covers the process from start to finish.
- 3D Printing getting started and projects and lessons
- Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Maker Show! has more than 20 free episodes in which Sylvia shows children—and adults—that making things can be fun, easy, and more rewarding than just buying something. During the episodes, Sylvia provides step-by-step instructions with detailed explanations as she makes and creates.
- Maker Education
Find resources and tools to help bring elements of maker culture into schools and classrooms, and encourage students to explore STEAM subjects within the context of maker projects.
- The Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed) The goal of “Educate to Innovate” is to move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade. By building a maker network dedicated to providing creative learning opportunities to youth nationwide. Note the Resource section.
- Maker Camp – This was created as a summer-time learning opportunity by Google. The units that are part of this program are awesome and can be brought into the educational curriculum. Take your time browsing because you are going to find some engaging possibilities
- Instructables Instructables is an educational website and mobile app where you can have access to a treasure trove of instructional videos and how-to guides covering a wide variety of topics from science experiments to amazing inventions. If you need some new ideas for your next classroom maker project, Instructables offers a library of over 100k of do-it-yourself projects
- The Invent To Learn Guide to 3D Printing in the Classroom: Recipes for Success
- Activities for Science Making The free Science Journal app for Android lets students use their smartphones or external sensors to conduct experiments and record findings.
- littleBits kits are at the intersection of STEM/STEAM and the Maker Movement. The kit includes easy-to-use electronic building blocks (or “Bits”) that empower youth to invent anything, from their own remote-controlled car to a smart home device. The Bits snap together with magnets, requiring no soldering, wiring, or programming.
- Design a Car
- Design Squad Nation
- Making in English Language Arts
- Making in Math
- Engaging Students in the STEM Classroom Through "Making"An engineering professor and former executive director of the Maker Education Initiative describes how the Maker Movement is engaging STEM students in new ways.
- Maker Movement: Bridging the Gap Between Girls and STEM
- SciGirls television show, website, and educational outreach program draws on research about what engages girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning and careers. . Each episode of SciGirls follows a group of middle school girls who are eager to find answers to their questions about science and technology. With the help of scientific mentors, the girls design their own investigations on topics ranging from the environment to engineering and nutrition. The show’s website is integrated into the episodes, with archived projects from the site being featured on the show.
Click Here to Visit Website
Click Here to View Program Videos - Engineer Girl Designed "to bring national attention to the exciting opportunities that engineering represents for girls and women," Engineer Girl features interviews, fun facts ("Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper in 1903, years before Henry Ford industrialized automobile production."), videos, quizzes, a scholarship section, and a look at some women who were engineering pioneers of the 20th century.
- Build Cardboard Toys with Kids
- Makered numerous maker resources curated by an educator. “Tools and Materials” section contains lists and examples of useful tools and resources in making activities and makerspaces, including suggestions for consumables, hardware, machines, open source software, and other technologies. This category also includes guidance or tutorials on specific tools or skills.
- Makedo cardboard construction
- Make: is a digital and paper magazine, the producer of Maker Faire, and a website. "The site features breaking DIY news and information, original content on building, repairing, and modifying the technology that surrounds us, and step-by-step project articles on a broad range of topics." Start your exploration with Projects (look for it on the secondary horizontal menu) for a "cookbook of DIY projects for the workshop, kitchen, garage, and backyard.
- SparkFun "We think everyone should have the hardware and resources to learn and play with cool electronic gadgetry." SparkFun supports their vision with online tutorials, curriculum for electronics classes, and a national bus tour "to spread innovation at schools, libraries, and hackerspaces throughout the country!" Tutorials cover concepts (polarity, electric power), skills (how to read a schematic), projects, and technology (GPS basics).
- Sylvia's Show Sylvia and her dad (producer) produce "Sylvia's Super-Awesome Maker Show!" about "everything cool and worth making". Recent videos include Lilypad Heartbeat Pendant (using an Arduino and a pulse sensor), and Sylvia's Squishy Circuits (a pliable dough you can make in your kitchen).
- PBS Learning Makers Party - Thus initiative encourages people around the world meet up, learn to make things, and share what they've made online. This wonderful collection is designed to support the Maker Party by providing a one-stop shop of STEM and digital making resources that focus on the problem, technology, or process behind object creation.
- Making Stuff
Grades 6-12 | Collection | Materials Science
Join technology columnist David Pogue as he delves hands-first into the field of materials science. Find out which materials he thinks will play a role in shaping the future.
- Playful Learning - We bring hands-on lessons to your fingertips, complete with inspiring videos and engaging printables. Try a free lesson on us, use code: FREE.
- Rugged Rovers is a free iPad app in which students can create simple designs for space rovers. Students draw a design for their rovers then add up eight wheels to it before taking it for a virtual test drive. Students test their rover designs by driving them across a Mars spacescape. To help their rovers over obstacles students can use a small power booster. The power booster must be used in moderation because it cannot instantly recharge. The object of the activity is to design a rover that can travel as far as possible. When students get their rovers stuck, they can go back and try a new design.