Inventors Club - Oct 30, 2013

Students demonstrating some solutions to a design problem.

Fall Inventors Club is underway, and we’ve been having a lot of fun getting back into our school year programs.  We have a full compliment of students this season, and already their creativity and enthusiasm is showing through.  Both the AM and PM groups have had activities these last two weeks to sharpen their making skills, and prepare them for building their own unique creation.

Can you draw the structure so that your partner can rebuild it?

We started by getting some practice with technical drawings, so we can be better equipped to communicate our plans to others.

One self-propelled physics cart.

The morning group also had some time to explore the materials and tools of the workshop.  They took simple carts with wheels, and devised their own unique ways to make them move without being pushed.  They’re now on track to being experts at hacking everyday objects to bend them to their will.

Student-built circuit with scrolling LEDs.

The afternoon students all got to learn how to use Arduino microcontrollers to control a string of LEDs, and even how to add user input to change the way they turn on and off.  This was the start of a 3-session plan to develop confidence in programming microcontrollers in order to expand the possibilities for our projects.

Now we’re ready to move on to the students making their own personal projects.  The volunteer mentors are all geared up and ready to help however they’re needed, and in four weeks we should have some impressive creations to show off.

Students work with mentors to bring their ideas to life.