"Can we just keep working on this through recess?" If you are a teacher who has integrated making into your instruction, hearing that phrase from students isn't rare at all.
Making (also known as "tinkering" and "hacking") has been a movement for many years, but one only recently embraced by the education community. Makers build something new, often out of repurposed materials, with the intention of solving problems or expressing themselves in a creative way. In education, giving students the opportunity to design and build something as an alternative to completing a worksheet or book report lights a fire within them, no matter their age.
Science Hacks
Recently, after teaching a lesson on Newton's laws of motion and basic forces, I challenged my 5th grade students to create a marble run using materials from our school makerspace. To engage them even more, I timed the students' marble runs. This time, the slowest moving marble run won the design competition. This twist—incorporating friction to slow down the marble—added an extra layer of challenge and engagement. After all, how often do we value being the slowest?
As students were planning their initial designs, most were counting on using cardboard tubes from paper towels and toilet paper rolls for the "track." Because our makerspace is mainly stocked by donations from students' families, we sometimes run short on materials. This was the case for the paper tubes—there were none in stock! My students had to come up with more creative ways to create a high friction track for their marbles. Many used bubble wrap, crumpled aluminum foil, or fabric. One group even used toothpicks as spikes to create friction.
After the students finished building their tracks and timing the runs, I asked them to reflect on the evolution of their designs. In most cases, the finished products bore very little resemblance to the original designs. As the students built, they tested, which allowed them to evaluate and redesign as they went. What better way to integrate physics content, collaboration, conservation (through upcycling materials), and the engineering design process than to make something in school?
Reading Hacks
Making in schools is by no means limited to science content. In fact, one of this year's most memorable uses of our school's makerspace was by my English language arts class. My students had just finished reading the novel Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. The story focuses on a 5th grade girl named Melody who has cerebral palsy. She cannot communicate for much of the story and is able to move only her thumbs. I assigned my students the task of designing and building some sort of assistive technology for Melody.
Most of the students did not have any background knowledge of cerebral palsy before reading Out of My Mind, so they spent some time researching the symptoms, causes, and treatment. Additionally, they learned about existing assistive technologies that people with physical disabilities use. From there, students set out to design something for Melody using the materials in the makerspace.
This activity opened the door for a discussion about prototypes. The assistive technology did not have to function; the students just had to explain how the real device would work. One group of students created a mechanical arm for Melody to reach and hold on to objects. Another group created an electric wheelchair that had many more features than the one Melody used in the book. Another group created a blender with easy-to-push buttons that would make her food smoother to swallow.
The final piece of the assistive technology project asked students to write a tweet about the device. I took photos of the students and their devices and posted their explanations on the classroom Twitter account. Some students were so proud of their constructions that it was challenging for them to stay within the 140-character limit of each tweet!
The tweets caught the attention of author Sharon Draper. In fact, she invited us to have a Twitter chat with her about the students' makerspace builds. They, in turn, were able to ask her about writing Out of My Mind and the craft of being a children's author. Clearly, no matter your content area and available materials, students can extend their learning with school-based makerspaces endlessly. And of course, learning and building in a makerspace is anything but boring!