Kindergarden Makes Snap Curcuit Flying Saucers

Students Engineer Sea Glide Submergible Device with Mike Kelly

7th Grade English Students Use Maker Space for Study of Symbols in Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit Symbols Project

Students in seventh grade English headed to the Beard Center for Innovation to create a three dimensional object using Makerbots and the laser cutter to create a physical rendering of symbols gleaned from a close reading of Fahrenheit 451. In making their designs students were asked to explain how the object connects to the big ideas in the novel.  Symbols were constructed from 3d printers and textual evidence was be etched on wooden boxes that were laser cut for component assembly..  

5th Grade Paper Circuit Design Challenge

Fifth grade students in Lauren Vanin's class learned about how electricity flows though a circuit by engineering circuits on their own.  Experimentation and self-direction were key elements to this unit as students were not told explicitly how to build the circuit.  Using a project specific design brief in their design thinking process, students had to strategically place a light in their construction that highlighted the achievements of the person they studied.  

AP Psychology Students Maker Space to Uderstand Brain Function

Middle School Engineers: Solar Ovens in 6th Grade Science

The Lower School Journal Engineering Project

Each year, 5th grade students create their own journals to take to outdoor school. This year, the 5th grade team used the resources in the BCI to engineer them.  Using a design brief to scaffold the design thinking process, students planned and designed original journals.  Some students chose to use the laser cutter to imprint designs on the front.  

Middle School Engineers

Sixth grade science teachers Jim DiFranco, Maura Saurman, and Kate Cassidy and their students have been engineering solar ovens in the Makerspace of The Beard Center for Innovation. In this project based unit, students learn about energy transformations and use of materials to harness sun energy to design and test solar ovens.