The Hornung Imagination Chapter
Buzzing with Creative Energy Through Play
Spring 2015
Creativity in Our Community: Photos Needed Soon! (Let's shoot for by Thursday)
Note: If your child would like to create and work on a project for the Science Fair during Imagination Chapter, that would be fine. For the next 3 sessions we will be working on circuitry. If they would be more interested on working on an individual project for the Science Fair, they can use their chapter time to focus on it.
March 26: Makey Makey/Little Bits Plans and Instant Challenge Fun!
The students that attended the MACUL MakerSpace enjoyed playing with the Makey Makey and were exposed to the many things that could be done with the device. We will begin brainstorming and thinking about what machines we could make that will interact with the Makey Makey.
Then, I will prepare Instant Challenges for teams of 4-6 to complete. Teams of students will rotate around to stations and work as a team to solve the challenges that take about 5-8 min. to complete. These challenges will be based on my Destination Imagination experience. (Side note: The DI State Finals will be on April 18 at CMU. My team from the school I teach at in Walled Lake placed 1st at our Regionals, so I will be there with them! If you would like to come to CMU as a family and check out some of the most creative minds in Michigan...it is a great event!) I linked a page of sample challenges above so you can get the idea! We will focus on working as a team to solve problems in a creative manner, generating a variety of ideas in a short amount of time, and the most difficult one of all...compromise!
April 2: No School...No Imagination Chapter
April 9: Spring Break...No Imagination Chapter
Note: Weather permitting, we are going to have time outside to explore creativity with nature at each of our meetings in the spring.
April 16: Makey Makey and Little Bits: We have been given a lot of awesome circuit materials from Spark Fun and Little Bits. We will begin playing with the "toys" and see if we can start making machines, robots, etc. To research some of the capabilities, check out: the Little Bits Maker Hub. Here is a neat project that I think could work out well! http://littlebits.cc/projects/snack-robot
April 23: Augmented Reality: My friend, Drew Minock, will come to our meeting to share how cool Augmented Reality is! He will be showcasing Crayola’s Color Alive, a product that DAQRI created. Continue working on Makey Makey/Little Bits Projects
April 30: Earth Day Upcycle Meeting: What can you do with old t-shirts, containers, K-Cups, and more? Think about an upcycled project you could do and bring in the materials. I have already started saving old t-shirts! There are great ideas on Pinterest!
Looking into May...I would love to join up with the Maltby Tech Club and try to collaborate on a project. I am also interested in perhaps having a Family Camp Night at Brighton State Rec. Area where we could join together for dinner and let the kids explore nature and create! If any parents would like to help coordinate this or have other ideas of some type of end of the season celebration, let me know!
We were given a shout out at the MACUL Conference Keynote by the keynote speaker, George Couros!
Having fun at the MakerSpace
Students Playing at MACUL
The Coolest MakerSpace Ever!
Hornung Imagination Chapter
Email: teamthirdgrade@gmail.com
Website: thebuzzoncreativeplay.com
Location: Hornung Elementary School, Bauer Road, Brighton, MI, United States