#MarinersAre Makers: MCHS Maker Lab during Open House

As part of the digital billboard advertising our school

During Open House in previous years, the Library and Learning Commons has served as the venue for the Choral and Band performances, as well as speeches by our Principal and President.  But this year, because the Maker Lab has been featured prominently in our 50th Anniversary marketing and admissions efforts (including billboards, BART ads, and movie theater ads), the admissions team wanted to include a demo of all of our Maker Lab equipment.

Because the band needed to be up in our Maker Lab to perform, we ended up moving most of our equipment downstairs, including the 3D printers, Arduinos, Makey Makeys, LilyPads, LEGOS, Strawbees, Raspberry Pi, and Snap Circuits.

We even brought Sparki back out to highlight his ability to follow a black line (through programming the Arduino).

Our Raspberry Pi was running Raspbian, and we had Scratch and Minecraft open.  We felt were some of the more well-known and user-friendly of all the applications.

 We had Connie, our resident-crochet expert and LLC team member, set up all the yarn and crochet hooks to show that making isn't always about gadgets.  

We also thought Strawbees and LEGOs would be fun for kids to play with.  The Makey Makeys were all set up and we even got bananas (no pictures unfortunately). 

 Our attempt to follow the Makey Makey Floor Piano instructions we found in a blog did not work out as planned, but was left up to show the progress of making.  Hitting the foam pads did not always make the keys play, so we up to fix it and revamp it in time for our MCHS Maker Faire next year. 

 The 3D printers were placed prominently, and as expected were the reason a lot of parents and students wanted to see the maker lab.  We demoed a long print on the one in the lab area, and then did a shorter 30 minute print of the Maker Faire robot
 during our presentation.  

We placed signs encouraging parents and students to "play," "make," "build," and "explore" everything.  We really wanted them to feel comfortable touching and using our equipment right then and there.
 
The highlight of the presentation was our Maker Lab student representatives and speakers Kadija and Charul, who talked about what the Maker Lab has meant to them with such eloquence that parents came up asking about them after the presentation was done.  Their presence and knowledge was invaluable to our efforts to promote the Maker Lab, and we are fortunate to have them.

Happy Making!

Teaching 3D Design and Printing

It was just a week after our new MakerBot Replicators arrived that teachers started bringing their classes in for 3D design instruction and printing projects.  In particular, our Theology Department has been quick to jump on board with this new technology and incorporate it into their classes.  

We decided to use Tinkercad, because it was the easiest application to use for those new to 3D design.  Over the summer, I tried out a variety of Autodesk applications, but found that while many offered more features than Tinkercad, they required a significant amount more time to learn how to use them well enough to make a final product.  In Tinkercad, you make your design using geometric shapes, lettering/numbers, and objects uploaded by other Tinkercad users.  It's easy to grab a shape, drag it on to the workplane, and adjust the size and position. 

Tinkercad

After a short intro showing them various features, students were encouraged to spend the time playing with it. 

Tinkercad instruction

The ease of use and colorful features encouraged them to be creative, and most of the students seemed to enjoy designing their objects.   The results were impressive:

Student designs

After seeing the success of the Theology classes, other teachers are starting to incorporate the 3D printer into their class.  Students in Spanish were given the opportunity to 3D print their sugar skulls.  While most students downloaded a file off of Thingiverse, one actually designed hers in Tinkercad, shown here:

In our Chinese classes, students will be using Tinkercad to design their Chinese name, and then given the option to print them.

Sample to show students

Because we only have two printers, we have run into logistical issues meeting the demand to 3D print objects by faculty and students (not that it's a bad problem to have).   In order to meet due dates, we have teachers schedule students over a period of days ahead of time to print.  We also have given them strict guidelines related to the size of their objects due to the amount of time it takes to print.  All students and faculty must be certified before they can print their own objects, and it's especially helpful when teachers give us a class period to get kids certified.  We are definitely learning as we move forward with integrating 3D design/printing into individual classes.

Happy Making!