PNG Create-A-Ghost

It's the day before Halloween and we're going to make our own spooky looking ghost out of plastic wrap and packing tape!

TinkerCAD @ Elm Middle School

Today was the second class over at Elm Middle School.  We continued where we left off with the Elm Middle Art Club working on designs they'd already created and also creating some new ones.

Soldering: Day 4 - Cool It!

Today is the last day of Soldering!  Will the pianos be done in time?!

 

TinkerCAD @ St. Celestine

We visited St. Celestine today and taught a TinkerCAD lesson to approximately 41 students.  We brought the 3D printer and demonstrated how they work!

Soldering: Day 3 - Hot Vibes

We are entering into the homestretch for this soldering project.  Just one more day to go after today.

The students are getting close to being finished and hopefully we will continue our streak of no one getting burned!  No hot vibes today!

TinkerCAD @ Elm Middle

Today we had a special edition TinkerCAD class at Elm Middle School with Mrs. Korteling's Art Club!

We learned the basics of 3D printing and learned how 3D printers do what they do!  We started a quick design, but I'll be heading back there next week to pick up where we left off!

Soldering: Day 2 - The Heat Is On

We've learned our basic soldering concepts and safety now it's time to get busy!  Following the instructions, we add the components to the pcb (printed circuit board), solder them in place and snip off the excess leads.

We'll be done in no time!

TinkerCAD @ Trinity High School

Today, Ahren visited Trinity High School's Mrs. Siliunas' Sculpture class where students were creating 3D logos for fictional companies they had envisioned.

The challenge was to bring the design they had drawn on paper to life using the 3D tools in TinkerCAD.  It sounds a lot easier said than done, but the students figured it out in a short amount of time and created designs that looked strikingly similar to their drawings.

After that, the students exported their designs as .stl files to be printed on the school's Makerbot Replicator!

Soldering - Day 1: Hot Hot Hot!

Today was the first day of learning to solder electronic circuitry.  Since it was our first day and we have a group of students who have never soldered before it was very important to have a good old fashioned safety briefing.  Basically, the soldering iron is HOT and it will BURN you if you are CARELESS.  So be CAREFUL!  Our goal is to make it through all 4 classes this time around without a single burn!

We are going to be making little electronic pianos that can play "Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do".  We'll start with a plastic bag of parts and hopefully in the end have a working electronic device!

Vinyl Cutter - Day 2: Silhouewhaa?

Today was the last day of our Vinyl Cutting class!  We spent most of last class on the computer taking our profile portrait and turning it into a proper black silhouette.  Now we will run the image through the vinyl cutter, separate the vinyl material and apply it to our picture frames!

Vinyl Cutter - Day 1: Silhouette's are hard

Today we started creating what is going to be a very cool silhouette of our faces!  We began by taking a profile picture of ourselves and then using Adobe Photoshop to turn it into a proper silhouette!

Hour of Code - October

We hold and Hour of Code session once a month and October is no different.  We encourage students to come in and stretch their coding legs.  Whether a coding pro or a complete novice, it's a great time to hang out, have fun and bash out some code!

TinkerCAD - John Mills Class Visit - Special Edition

Ahren visited Ms. Mech's class at John Mills Elementary today!  The students learned about TinkerCAD.com and designed some simple nameplates and keychains.

Back the library both 3D printers are working hard to print out all of their designs so they can come pick them up when they're ready!

Robot Club

Another month, another Robot Club!

We're excited dust off our robot parts and pick up where we left off today.  Last time around we were still in the early stages of assembling our Clawbot.  Hopefully today we can get some motors and wheels attached!

TinkerCAD: Day 4 - The Last Final Piece

Today was the last day of TinkerCAD!  I can't wait to see what our final designs will look like printed out on the 3D printer!

TinkerCAD: Day 3 - Cateycorns, Unicutters, Wolf, Llama & Rockets

Today was the second to last day of TinkerCAD.  We are getting close to being done and finalizing our designs!  I can't wait to see how they all turn out!

TinkerCAD: Day 2 - ...but you still have to build it, otherwise they won't come.

Day 2 of TinkerCAD!  The introductory tutorials are over and now it's time to flex our creativity and start working on a project!  Students have until next Thursday to finalize their design.  So the pressure is on!  Time to stare at a blank screen, overwhelmed by the possibilities...

TinkerCAD: Day 1 - If You Build It, They Will Come...

Another TinkerCAD class started up today!  TinkerCAD is so much fun.  We went to TinkerCAD.com and learned how to use the web-based tool to design objects in 3D!  When the class is over Ahren will print all of our objects on the 3D printer!

Electric Origami: Day 2 - Light 'em Up!

Today was day two of Electric Origami.  The students learned how to fold a piece of paper into an inflatable cube and began working on drawing a circuit along the inside of their paper using special conductive pens from Circuitscibe.

Today we need to complete our circuits, attach our LEDs and batteries and hope that it all works!

Electric Origami: Day 1 - You Gotta Know When to Fold 'Em

Today was the first day of our Electric Origami class. We are attempting to make an LED Foldie as detailed over here.

Instead of using aluminum foil we are going to attempt to use Circuitscribe pens.

This is a hard one!  Getting the cube to light up after it's been folded and the battery attached is difficult and only the best of the best with patience and sharp folding skills will be able to make it happen!