The Maker MovementOur Makerspace is now in its second year! This year, we are focusing on building collaborations with classrooms across a variety of grades and subjects. We are also working to better explain to teachers, students, and parents what a makerspace is, how it is used, and why it is a great addition to our community. The articles below are some of the top resources we've found to help explain the maker movement in schools.
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Our GMS Makerspace
We combine low and hi tech. We can build with cardboard and then use the greenscreen to insert these creations into movies and slideshows.
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We use kits such as SnapCircuits, K'Nex, Lego Gears, Spheros, and Makey Makeys to learn about electronics, programming, mechanics, and more.
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We upcycle and reuse donated items from the community and turn them into new creations.
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Makerspace 2018-2019
Fifth grade classes worked with Mrs. Williams to create chromakey (green screen) videos showing their research of science careers, ecosystems, and western expansion. In addition to enhancing classroom learning, these projects taught students digital literacy skills as students chose and manipulated image files for their background pictures. Students also practiced their presentation and writing skills. Ms. Bishop's students combined time in the TV studio with time in the Makerspace where they made props for their western expansion skits. The sewing machine was a giant hit.
Classes visited the Makerspace for help with many projects. Students in Ms. Higgins' class used the Makerspace and its endless supply of cardboard to build kinetic energy toys. The STEM Innovations classes used the Makerspace to add creative flair to their VEX robotics parade floats. Ms. Guilmette's students used our portable Makerspace to build their math board games. (Saved Chromebook boxes made great game boxes!) Ms. Langlois' students tried brainstorming for science fiction stories by building...whatever they imagined.
One of our biggest projects this year was a collaboration with the 8th grade social studies classes as small groups worked on newscasts. Green screens were put up on the walls of the 8th grade hallways. Students used lapel mics borrowed from the Learning Commons to film with their own devices. For their anchor spots, groups visited the TV studio for filming with video cameras. We piloted the use of Makerspace passes that allowed small groups of students to visit the Makerspace in order to build props for their videos.
This year saw the addition of our new friend Cosmos, a humanoid robot. We have worked on getting Cosmos to respond correctly to what we say. We can use timelines to make Cosmos move and dance. Cosmos can recognize us and greet us. We are working on trivia games.