Countering the Pink Aisle With Engineering Toys for Girls
We need to up-end the pink toy aisles in our toystores, and get more STEM-related kits and toys on the shelves that will appeal to the girls who will be our leaders tomorrow.
Education
Maker Education is such a valuable role. These stories will bring you the latest information and tales of maker educators who area spreading the maker mindset. Help others learn how to make things or how to think like a maker at makerspaces, schools, universities, and local communities. The importance of maker education can not be understated. We appreciate our educators.
Baking with Geology!
The Earth’s crust is divided into four major layers: the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. The crust is approximately 5-30 miles thick, being the thinnest at the oceanic layer (up to 5 miles thick) and the thickest at the continental layer (up to 30 miles thick).
July Maker Training Camps Start TODAY
Our second month of Maker Training Camps starts today, July 1. This month, we will start new Camps for Introduction to Arduino, Introduction to Raspberry Pi and Design for 3-D Printing. In addition, we will be starting a free class called Making for Moms, which will encourage and inspire you to connect with your inner Rosie the Riveter to learn soldering, beginning circuitry and how to make a digital watch.
Check it out: Libraries Embracing Makerspaces
The American Library Association (ALA) is wrapping up its annual conference in Chicago tomorrow. Today was “Maker Monday,” a day that showcased the growing intersection of libraries and the maker movement.
Still Going ‘Round in Circles
Well, Math Mondays might as well just go ahead and admit it. It is incurably addicted to great circles. Inspired by the latest reader feedback on the topic, Math Mondays decided to team up with Grace Whitney of Stony Brook, NY to polish off the outstanding great circle challenge: the 25-circle arrangement beloved of Buckminster Fuller. The ingredients of today’s approach are simple: a big transparent inflatable ball and 18.4 meters of elastic sewn into 25 loops just the right size to stretch around a great circle of the ball.
Qtechknow: “My Open Source Education”
One of my favorite things about Maker Faire are the young makers. If you ever needed assurance that the next generation is up to the challenge that life presents, a visit to Maker Faire will put your mind at ease. Kids steeped in making bring a unique viewpoint and skill set to the world that says: “I can do this. And if I don’t know how I can figure it out.” One of the standouts is 12-year-old Quin, or Qtechknow as he goes by. I worked with Quin to get his FuzzBot project onto MAKE, but met him for the first time at Maker Faire Bay Area last month. He was there with his folks to show off some his projects and give a presentation on Maker Faire’s “meet the maker” stage.
A Real “Man of Steel”
Have you ever talked with someone and just gotten a sense that they were a really good person? I felt that way after speaking with Mark Haygood about his full scale humanoid robot, Hex. He has big plans to improve Hex and develop him into a kit that can be used by schools and youth programs to interest kids in technology.
