Inventors' Club - Winter 2011

Our young inventors have been at it again. All of the hard work is paying off. Come see what they have made. On Saturday, May 14th join us for the Big Show from 11:30 to 12:00 and 2:30 to 3:00 our students will be demonstrating the fruits of their labor over the last six weeks in the workshop and with LEGO Mindstorm robots. It is sure to be awesome!



Here are some of the highlights from the last session.

Big Show - Saturday 11:30 to 12:00 & 2:30 to 3:00. Be there!

They're Here!

The order arrived. I have an Arduino, cables, and some basic parts waiting for you. Those of you on the Passport owe $35 for the the board and cables. I made up bags of basic parts. You are welcome to take them and use them over the next couple of weeks, or if you want to start your own home workshop and want to build up some basic supplies it can be yours to keep for just $10. We are meeting on Saturday from 1-3pm, otherwise let me know when you can come in to collect your board.

Microcontroller Experiment Group is happening!!!

It's Alive!!!

The wheels are turning and balls are rollings, the Microcontroller Experiment Group is going to be a reality. I have confirmed with three students, who are planning on attending Saturday, so we are going for it.

I have ordered some Arduino boards and cables from Sparkfun. Hopefully they will arrive by Saturday, but if not we will play with Basic Stamp boards and the 2 Arduino boards I already have.

The Plan for Saturday 1/8

• Introduction to programming.
• Work through some tutorials (I like this one at Adafruit.)
• Challenge: Timer

Using a 7 segment display to make a countdown timer that starts displaying 9 and when a button is pressed, counts down to zero.

What you need to do before 1pm Saturday January 8th:

• Get your Passport - purchase a single just for Saturday, or get a 3 or 6 pack for the next couple of weeks. (You can do this Saturday when you arrive.)
• Check in with the front desk on Saturday @ 1:00pm
• If you plan on coming every week, sign up for the Inventor's Club.

(If you sign up for Inventor's Club we will include the price of the board, no additional cost to you, if you get the Passport the materials cost will be ~$40. I will know exactly when we get the invoice.)

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

email: spencer@thebakken.org or phone: 612-926-3878

This is going to be awesome!

-Justin

Open Workshop Tonight

Tonight is the last chance to come in and work on your projects before the our last day, this Saturday.

If you want some extra time swing by anytime between 4 pm and 7 pm this evening. It's free for any and all students currently enrolled in the program and only $10 if you are not. I hope to see you there.

Earl Bakken Science Program - Day 4 - Make It

Our inventors are hard at working on there projects. Check out some of their project in the works.

Earl Bakken Science Program - Day 3

Invention Time!

Morning
Now that we have finished our safety training, we are ready to begin the first stage of the The Bakken Invention process, Think It. We began brainstorming, planning, and designing our projects.


Afternoon
We continued to work on automating our elevators in the afternoon. After some experimentation, most students begin or resumed working on their own projects.

Still not sure what to make? Check out the some of the projects of past students.

EcoVention!

Earth Day is coming up this weekend and The Bakken is ready to celebrate. On Saturday April 21st The Bakken is hosting EcoVention. Discover how easy it is to be green during The Bakken Museum's Earth Day extravaganza! Join our friends from the community as we reduce, reuse and ride The Bakken Bicycle, build a garden-to-go, make your hair stand on end and more.

We will have a number of activities for you to try including:

• Book SmART - Join staff from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and make your own book out of recycled materials.
  
• Paint-a-Plant - Make a leaf rubbing or drawing with the Minnesota School of Botanical Art, then see how the pros draw and paint botanical art.
  
• Water Ways - Collect beads to complete a bracelet while learning about the water cycle from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
  
• Creation Station - Put on your thinking cap and build your latest idea at the Ax-Man inventors table.
• Re"muse" - See artwork created from "found" materials by Allen Christian, owner of the House of Balls sculpture gallery.
  
• Future City Demos - Enjoy demonstrations by teenage Future City Competition contestants.

Earl Bakken Science Program - Day 2

Today we worked in the workshop on new challenges and tool training.

Morning
We started the day with a new challenge. Last week we worked on using levers as balances, exploring the dynamics of the relationship between weight and distance to the fulcrum. This week we used those levers to send small weights flying through the air as we turned our levers into catapults. Not only did we launch things into the air, but we used them to complete a circuit as they landed.

After much fun and success. We took time to learn how to properly use the tools in the workshop. We had training on how to solder, use saws, and proper drilling procedure. We finished two of the three, one more next week and we will be ready to start on our projects.


Afternoon
The Inventors and Investigators spent their afternoon figuring out how to hook up and control an elevator. The challenge was to hooked up the given elevators so that they could be turn on and could move both up and down with only two switches. Once they got that working, they then tried to sense the elevator with switches that were connect the Basic Stamp microcontroller.

Web Wanderings: Simple Machines

Here are some interesting links I came across when learning more about simple machines.


Simple Machines Web Quest

Simple Machines Learning Site

Ed's Head - Simple Machines






Check them out!
If you find any other interesting sites about simple machines leave the address in the comments.

Balance Beam Challenges

Last week we experimented with levers. If you had fun with that one or did not get to try it, here is another similar challenge you can try.

Materials you will need:

• Lever (a ruler works well for this)
• Fulcrum (we used large eraser)
• 20 Weights (we used washers, but coins would work great too)

Challenges

1. Balance an equal number of weights on each side.
2. Balance it with 5 on one side and 15 on the other.
3. Balance it with all the weights on one side.
   

Does it matter where you put the weights? What happens when you move the fulcrum?
Can you find more than one solution for any of the challenges? Try making a graph of your results. Put the number of weights on one side on one axis and the distance from the fulcrum on the other. Is there any pattern?

Try it!