This week we entertained the notion of students as Makers! The students were allowed to explore a wide variety of maker stations, from Low-Tech to Hi-Tech. The day began with the students refreshing their memories on the 4 Pillars of STEAM- The 4C’s, the Design Thinking Process, Reflections and Personalized Learning.
The first activity was the weekly Design Challenge. The students were provided with popsicle sticks, straws, elastic bands, paper cups, and mailing labels (or in some cases, tape). 
They had to design a bridge that would roll a ping pong ball from a table or chair to another table or chair. The students started by coming up with an individual design. They were randomly put into groups and had to decide on a final design. Their collaboration and communication skills were challenged as they were working with students they did not know.
After the challenge, we read the book Iggy Peck, Architect and discussed some famous buildings such as the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, or the Burj Khalifa. The afternoon had many different tasks. The students had the option of creating a structure out of clay or building an iPad tower from K’Nex. Using Lego Story Starter, the students constructed a setting and filmed a short movie using Smoovie
. Their take on reality was tested with VR goggles. At one station they were challenged to recreate a famous structure using KEVA planks…but there was a catch. 
One student had to view an image of the structure through the VR goggles and communicate instructions how to build it to the others in their group. At another VR station, students used Cospaces.io to create a building and view their work through the VR goggles
. 
Finally, the students had a chance to work in 3D by creating a structure in Tinkercad and printing it on the 3D printer!
Next week is Art Week!