The Factory at Mount Madonna School (MMS) is a recently re-designated classroom space on the upper campus that students are utilizing for an array of creative projects. Resources include a state-of-the-art 3D printer, Arduino input/output sensors, LilyPad sewable circuits, a full complement of Snap Circuits education kits, soldering irons, ample motors, LEDs, switches and power supplies.
The room is setup for work in a mode called “tinkering” that was pioneered by the High-Low Tech Group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, and is also utilized by the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Students work on open-ended projects around a single table with common supplies. The concept is to facilitate individual learning with lots of idea sharing.
Currently there is an elementary specialty class (rotating third, fourth and fifth grades in 10-week sessions) and the high school Engineering Club utilizing the space. Some initial projects underway are flat and sculptural art that moves and lights up, programmed zoetropes and crystal balls utilizing input and output sensors, light-sensitive robotic weevils, pushcarts and automata and simple “Scribblebots,” or vibrating machines that scribble.
Next semester, a 10-week after school session will be offered, and the annual eighth grade model solar car activity will utilize this space, giving students the benefit of additional design tools including soldering irons and the 3D printer. A 2015 summer program offering is also in the works.
“Be on the lookout for a Light Up Your Costume sewn circuits workshop in October,” said science teacher Lisa Catterall. “It will be open to parents and students.”
Last year, MMS faculty reviewed the upper school science curriculum and as a result decided to add more technology and engineering activities to its program; Catterall led this effort in planning and coordinating of The Factory.
“The combination of free-form creativity with understanding technology and electrical engineering is a great fit for MMS in general,” Catterall said. “The activities are aligned with Next Generation Science Standards for the grades they will be used in, but they are open-ended and free-form. The artistic side of these activities should appeal to the students we have at MMS, who seem to love to build things out of whatever materials they have.”
An additional effort underway is MMS’ connection with the Center for Research on Creativity at the University of California, Los Angeles. The CROC educational staff has agreed to evaluate the MMS 10-week sessions for their capacity to increase creativity and confidence in engineering skills for students. More information on this program can be found at croc-lab.org.
