Notes from the Class XI Mandarin shadow puppet project at @BrearleyNYC. #STEAM #MakerEd

Yue Tang is one of my amazing colleagues at The Brearley School. After we installed a Glowforge lasercutter in the CoLaboratory, I approached her about doing a shadow puppet project with her Mandarin class. I’d watched puppet performances during some of my travels, and it seemed like it would be such a fun and creative project to put on a show at school. This year, we collaborated on shadow puppet shows in two different grade levels, Class VIII and Class IX!

Before embarking on the project, I showed Yue’s students examples of shadow play using the following two links:

1. Wikipedia Shadow play  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_play
2. Three little pigs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCmFWJjc4RA

Separately, I had seen an ad to attend a Crankie Theater show in Coney Island. I wasn’t able to make the show, but I followed links to learn more about crankie theaters and located building plans to construct my own crankie theater. I loosely followed the plans shared on this site: http://www.thecrankiefactory.com/348971243. I also gleaned information from this blog post: http://williamtherebel.blogspot.com/2015/01/thoughts-on-making-crankie-box.html (Note the image in the gallery above showing a quick semicircular 3D piece that I designed and printed on one of our Ultimaker printers to hold the two main dowels upright in the puppet frame.)

Here is a snippet of the Class IX play: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fVEMs-ZR4UQwzQ2xwRcw0srMk6W80dUW/view?usp=share_link

Here is a snipped from the Class VIII project: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jGsC9-tolFgJgyko23VlKmaBZRz4uj02/view?usp=sharing

Prototyping a wall mount for alligator clips to hang in the @BrearleyNYC #CoLab. #MakerEd @ultimaker @thingiverse @tinkercad

In the CoLaboratory, we have a large bin marked ALLIGATOR CLIPS that was becoming a bit of an organizational nightmare with 5th graders struggling to free a wire from a tangle of metal-tipped tumbleweeds. I figured a wall-mounted solution might be helpful, and I asked my 5th graders for their opinions and suggestions.

My first physical prototype was a scrap of cardboard affixed to the side of a shelving unit with a large binder clip. Then, I mocked up a simple comb-inspired design with Tinkercad and later added perpendicular bits to the edges of the tines (like a rake) to keep the wires from slipping out. I belatedly noticed we have alligator clips of different thicknesses, so I also made another version with wider spaces between the tines.

I posted the STL files to the Thingiverse here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5547674

Hoping to prototype with bioplastics in @BrearleyNYC’s #IdeaKitchen this trimester! #STEAM #MakerEd #ArtEdTech #scichat #elemaker

Corrine Takara (@CorinneTakara) has been sharing her explorations with making materials rather than buying materials. She’s launched inspiring projects with mycelium, kombucha leather, and other bio materials. In late September, I took a workshop at the Textile Arts Center in New York City that sounded equally appealing and practical, Textile Futures: Bioplastics upcycled with Sheri Shih-Hui. You can follow Sheri on Instagram at @chi_Sheri.

Here are some photos from the workshop:

After, I considered ways of cooking and using bioplastics with children in different grade levels. Maybe students could make their own disc (with unique colors and/or bits embedded in the mold) and hang it from a class mobile? Or they could make jewelry (medallions or earrings)? Or maybe they could preserve an object or drawing in a sustainable mold – rather than use resin or plastic or something non-biodegradable? In turns out that the bioplastic will melt if exposed to heat or water, and there are ways of making it last longer. One trick is to rub it with beeswax to make it a little more water-repellent.

We just started a new trimester, so I have a great batch of girls signed up for our “Nailed It” afterschool class. We’re going to use our bio-plastic to mimic bits of glass and used in a modified version of a Tiffany lamp. The girls will design art for each side of a four-sided lantern (since it’s an easy shape to construct), then we’ll cut out their designs with our Cricut Maker, cook up bioplastics, and piece their “glass” into the walls of the lanterns. Possibly due to time constraints, we’ll just use a flameless LED tea light in the center of the their lantern… Stay tuned!

Thanks to @___pi for sharing a link to #Paperbits with @microbit_edu! Currently prototyping with @kstark013 and two #MakerCamp girls. #scichat #STEAM #STEMed #MakerEd #elemaker @BrearleyNYC

On Monday, I saw that Sylvia Martinez retweeted something from Per-Ivar Kloen about Paperbits:

#paperbits: A starting resource for @microbit_edu is now available in English! It’s an iteration on @ryanejenkins#scratchpaper idea. Designed as a non-linear resource which deals with a lot of questions starters have. #makered https://t.co/BVOb3ZGE4c pic.twitter.com/LSJm9gYZV0

— Per-Ivar Kloen (@___pi) June 17, 2018

Per-Ivar is a Fab Learn Fellow, and he graciously also shared with me a direct link to the the paper which describes his Paperbits (Paper Circuits with Microbits) project inspiration and process: http://fellows.fablearn.org/circuit-stickers-electronic-circuits-made-of-copper-tape/

I shared this link with Kasie Stark, one of the fabulous Science teachers at The Brearley School. Kasie is leading a MakerLab session during Brearley’s Summer Start program, and she suggested trying out Paperbits with her campers this week. On Monday, Kasie and I met to chat about micro:bits  and MakeCode (micro:bit’s JavaScript Blocks editor). We gathered copper tape, LED lights, alligator clips, and Piezo buzzers, and a few copies of Per-Ivar’s Paperbits lessons.

Today, I met Kasie and her campers and we explored together. The girls are both going into 4th grader and have had experiences with littleBits, LEGO WeDo, Scratch, JavaScript, and more. I love working with smart, fearless girls! We treated  Per-Ivar’s Paperbits PDF’s as a fun starting point, and then the girls further prototyped with different sequences of blinking lights and different tunes from the buzzers.  See images and videos below.