My students need to learn about innovation, creativity, problem solving, collaboration, and other STEM skills by having these makerspace materials, including the Sphero robots and littlebits electronics kit, available in the library for all to experience.
We have 550 students, first through sixth grade, at our suburban Washington state elementary school. Our students and families are a diverse group, culturally and academically. We have a strong community around us, including parents and family members who support our school and students.
Our library has a variety of resources for our students and teachers to access while learning and growing.
Students have class in the library once a week for 45 minutes, and the library is open for students and staff all day long.
My Project
My students are preparing for a future that we can't even imagine yet. They will be expected to collaborate, be creative, and solve problems, while also being flexible and persistent, throughout their school years and careers. These skills can be practiced while also learning about science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) in a makerspace. A makerspace is a place where people with shared interests, often in STEM, can get together to work on projects and share ideas, materials, and knowledge.
Students will visit the library makerspace to work on STEAM inventions and projects with other students using robots, circuitry kits, K'NEX, and duct tape, among other materials.
Students will learn about robots and computer programming while using an app on the iPads to control the Sphero robots. Students will engineer their own creations with K'NEX's plastic connectors, rods, wheels and pulley pieces, or they will make duct tape creations like wallets and hats from patterns in the book we are purchasing. They will learn about circuits using littlebits and Chibitronics.
The easy-to-use magnetic electronic building blocks and batteries from littlebits allow them to create inventions with lights, sensors, buzzers, and alarms using the Student Invention Guide. Chibitronics lets them create paper circuits with lights and copper tape, putting lights in cards and posters with buttons to activate them. We will use The Big Book of Makerspace Projects to find even more exciting projects for students to create.
A makerspace makes sense in the library, a central learning space in the school, since every student has access to the library every day. The library's role is to make resources and materials accessible to all, whether the materials are books, databases, or technology. These materials are the first step in the creation of our library makerspace.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Freeman and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
