Summit's Maker Space: Toys and STEAM

Balancing Whales

Our first big design project with the third and fourth graders has wrapped up, and it was so much fun! I was inspired for this project when I was cleaning out our basement this summer and I came across a toy I had been given years and years ago by a student called "balancing whales"

I realized how much science went into the design of that toy and wanted to try to come up with a way to integrate it into the classroom somehow. Then I started thinking about some of the other toys I was picking up - ball poppers, tops, snap bracelets, light up toys. . . as I looked at each one, even the super cheap Happy Meal/carnival prize type toys, I saw so many uses of math and science in their design. I decided that would be a fun springboard for a design project, and off we went.

First we did some review of the design process (after all it was the first month back at school!!)

What Makes a Top Spin?

Then we our research. The kids studied and analyzed the toys, looked up various forces, simple machines, and other science concepts to see what made the toys work. I loved seeing them really look at the toys differently than they normally would. Many of them even brought in toys from home, as they started looking for the science there as well.

3D Printed Marble Hand Maze

After they'd looked at a few toys, they were ready to come up with a plan to create a toy inspired by one of the toys we looked at. Their ideas were so creative and fun! Many of them decided they wanted to use the 3D printer to help them generate parts that they didn't have. Great to see us at that level of integration for that equipment as well!

After weeks of designing, testing, and improving, they shared their creations with the group and posted videos of themselves explaining them to their Seesaw accounts for their parents to enjoy as well.

The final step of this project was a self-evaluation. I'm really working on including more of this into their work this year, so that they're thinking about what they want to accomplish in a project and how to assess whether or not they have achieved it. The rubric I created was adapted from several examples I found on line, tailored to fit this particular project.

Enjoy some of the pictures of their fun and creative projects!