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.

Why Its Really, Really Hard to Make Light Bulb Filaments

Continuing his wonderful series of videos on the unappreciated wonders of engineering that surround us here’s Engineer Guy on the truly amazing process required to produce a common incandescent light-bulb filament. As always, Bill displays a fantastic ability to produce short, engaging, entertaining video segments that will appeal to and educate both the totally uninitiated and those who, like myself, are foolish enough to think we know a thing or two. [Thanks, Bill!]

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan14
Gadgeteer Testing Notes

Gadgeteer Testing Notes

Recently, I had an opportunity to get early access to a new hardware system from Microsoft. Gadgeteer is a way for people to rapidly build devices, program them and then even build enclosures around the projects they make. On Wednesday morning, almost none of my students had ever written a computer program, and by Friday afternoon, every one had the opportunity to write a program that would control output hardware based on the input of sensors that they had built.

Continue Reading Chris Connors8
Tin Cans + Bucket of Sand = New Science

Tin Cans + Bucket of Sand = New Science

If you take two empty cans, one closed on the bottom and the other open (i.e. a tube), and turn them upside down, which will be harder to push into a bucket of sand? If, reasoning by analogy to liquids, you (like most people), said the closed one…well, you can sort of guess where this is heading: A closed can is, in fact, easier to push into a bed of sand than an open tube. Given the usual fine print. Adrian Cho explains over at ScienceNOW:

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan10
Attack of the Cardboard Robo-Nauts!

Attack of the Cardboard Robo-Nauts!

Dale Dougherty tweeted this pic of a giant cardboard robo-naut bounding around at the Open MAKE/Young Makers Program at the Exploratorium today. This month’s theme was, you guessed it, cardboard. Next month is metal/wire. The Open MAKE event is held the third Saturday of every month. The next one is March 19, 2011, 10am-2pm. More […]

Continue Reading Gareth Branwyn