Fall Tinkertime and a SUPER Opportunity

Fall has officially arrived! One look outside your window will be all the proof you need.

While the trees have changed to their beautiful autumnal colors outside, there have have been some fall changes inside the Library Makerspace, too! To celebrate the season, we have addded three tinkertime stations for our friends to explore.

At our Pumpkin Build center the students were asked to build a stucture as tall as they could using only mallowcreme pumpkins and toothpicks. They quickly discovered that in order to make the structure stable enough to add mulitple levels, they needed to add support in the middle. It was interesting to see how students designed their structures with the added support.

Miss Whorton's friends make pumpkin structures at the pumpkin build center

The second fall center was the Spinning Ghost center. At the center our friends were challenged to get their friendly ghost that they cut out to spin and twirl like a helicoptor propeller. They were given a paper clip to attach to the bottom, and then had to figure out how to bend the ghost's arms. It took some trial and error, and plenty of giggles to figure it out, but we soon had spinning ghosts twirling all over the Library Makerspace. 

One of Mrs.Folluo's friends shows off a spinning ghost ready for flight

The third autumn themed center was the Dancing Shapes activity. Students chose from different fall tissue paper shapes, and after they decorated them with markers, were instructed to tape the bottom of the shape to the table. From here, they got to begin exploring the magic of static electricity. Once they charged a balloon with static electricity, either by rubbing it on the carpet, with felt, on their shirt, or on their head, they held the balloon over their tissure paper shape and delightedly watched it "dance". There was even a QR code for them to scan with their device that linked to a video explaining the science behind static electricity. Our friends were amazed!

Miss Whorton's friends trying out the Dancing Shapes center

Finally, we wanted to share an amazing opportunity for students ages 9-12 and their parents. UMSL's College of Education is offering a robot programming class two Sundays in November and a second session two Sundays in December. 

During the class, participants will learn the programming required for at least two different kinds of robots. The best part is that the programming languages used to make your robots do tricks will give you a better understanding of computer programming in general. No experience is necessary, and it is a great way to try something new with your child! 

For more information contact Amber Bell-Christian at (314) 516-4813.

To register for the workshop contact Jennifer Clemente at (314) 516-5994 or to register online click here to register for Section A and click here to register for Section B.

Genius Hour in Ms. Krueger's Classroom

Many of our teachers are engaging in Genius Hour here at Sappington.  Genius Hour is a time where students are encouraged to explore topics of interest and create products to showcase their learning.  During Genius Hour, Ms. Krueger's class was interested in learning about how design an app.  Ms. Krueger hosted a video chat with Kristi, a former computer scientist at YouTube and Google.   Check out this Google Hangout to see how her students learned about designing apps and creating websites.

Museum of 3-D Curiousities

Over the past several weeks, our Museum of 3-D Curiousities has been filling up with some amazing designs!

The 1st graders have been able to choose a design from Thingiverse to print when their name is drawn. They have selected some awesome 3-D designs, and we look forward to printing one for each of our 1st grade and kindergarten friends throughout the school year.

Here are a few of the designs the 1st graders have picked to have printed from Thingiverse:

kitten in yellow by Sydney (1st grade, Porte), giraffe in red by Hailey (1st grade, Boughman), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in blue by Alex (1st grade, Altmann), Sappington Elementary Super S in green made for Dr.Hamby from all of the students

crown in yellow by Logan (1st grade, Porte), Clarus the Dog Cow in white by Kaylie (1st grade, Fritz), Minecraft pick axe in red by Connor (1st grade, Fritz), and Hello Kitty in purple by Claudia (1st grade, Fritz)

Our 2nd through 5th grade friends have been busy designing their very own 3-D creations on Tinkercad. Tinkercad is the program we are using in the Sappington Library Makerspace to learn the 3-D design process from start to finish. They begin their design from scratch with a blank work plane, and the sky is the limit to what they can create. Each design takes approximately 1 hour to print, so once a student has completed their design they must put their name on the waiting list to have it printed using our MakerBot Replicator 3-D Printer. Our friends who have completed their designs have been very patient waiting for their turn to print, and have enjoyed seeing what their fellow designers have created in the meantime!

Here are a few of the designs that the 2nd through 5th graders have made so far:

house in white by Mia (2nd grade, Hageman), greenhouse in green by Maddie (5th grade, Folluo), pyramid with initials in yellow by Micah (4th grade, Timmerman), lamp in blue by Tamish (5th grade, McArthur), star with initial in purple and blue by Dylan (5th grade, Krueger), nameplate in blue and purple by Elizabeth (3rd grade, Clancy)

 Enderman in yellow by Xander (5th grade, McArthur), Creeper in green by Will (5th grade, Krueger)

egg man in white by Chris (5th grade, Krueger), heart with initial in purple by Alison (2nd grade, Steeno), key chain in blue by Sarah Beth (3rd grade, Skouby), initial rings in purple by Amina (5th grade, McArthur), nameplate with shapes in blue by Gavin (5th grade, Wolf)

It takes some imagination and a lot of patience to complete a design, and we are very proud of our friends that have finished creating a 3-D object so far. We can't wait to see what the the rest of the students will create! 

"I like our Makerspace because there are lots of ways to show your creativity."

-Morgan (5th grade, Krueger)