On Day 2 of STEAMmaker Camp we were very excited to learn more about creating objects for the 3D printer to create. We learned in the software "Sketchup" and were able to manipulate basic shapes. Several of the students were able to print their designs to take home!
The Aerospace station was a big hit and really kept us busy. The object was not only to create an object that could be lifted, but there was a challenge to see how much weight our aircraft could carry. What a fun challenge! Even when we were successful, the challenge pushed us to make modifications and continuously try to better our designs.
We ended the day at the music station. Some students chose to make musical instruments with recycled materials while others chose to be composers of their own music. I think we laughed at this station the most :) Looking forward to our last day tomorrow! Can't wait to see what else we will learn about!
Mrs. Henley used her first year running the district GATE program to create a career mindset in her classes. Students were exposed to technology, robotics, computer programing, graphic design, 3d printing, and pre-engineering along with many options that the area's local Tricounty Technology Center offers. With the career mindset in place, Mrs. Henley's focus for her second year is to create a STEAMmaker classroom and the plans are already in the works! STEAMmaker combines science, tinkering, engineering, aesthetics and
mathematics with the education maker movement. The Maker Movement is
a project-based learning environment where kids learn through the process of making, researching, collaborating, and building. This is exactly what students who qualify for GATE will be doing next year in class which is why she chose to send students to the camp even though it fell in that hectic finals week/ last week of school.
Oklahoma CareerTech teamed up with ESSDACK, an educational
service agency with headquarters in Hutchinson, Kan., to conduct
STEAMmaker camps. Dewey GATE students applied and were accepted along with a handful of other participants to
attend this STEAMmaker camp conducted by the Oklahoma Department of
Career and Technology Education where they had a chance to think, build
and learn. Dewey brought a team of two teachers (Mrs. Henley and Mrs. Sloan) and five 7th grade students to come up with answers to challenges, build prototypes and
test them.
On Day 1 students were immediately challenged with the "amazing rubber band car." (Click here).
Teams of students were given limited quantities of odds and ends to create a car that not only moves forward, but also moves backward. Teams drew out their ideas and collaborated using the process of trial and error, created their prototypes to the best of their ability, and then presented their projects to an expert panel. Amazingly enough... our team created a successful model of the car! We were all a little shocked and very proud of our creation! After lunch, we were assigned to the Circuitry station where we learned about "Little Bits", "Makey Makey's" and circuitry in general…. The boys used the Little Bits to create a model of a chair that uses a pressure sensor. When a person sits on it, a fan blows on them, a reading light turns on and it vibrates for their relaxation! (View it in our video above!)
Tomorrow... 3D printing! We are so excited to take a step in our 3D know-how!
Thanks to the DEWEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION, students dove into the
world of marketing and began learning all about branding and logo design.
Students were challenged to take their new knowledge of branding and logo
creation and apply it to themselves. We discussed how each of us is a brand. Every
day we have conversations, behave, and make choices that either work for or
against the brand we want to establish. We learned that as the designer of our
brand, we can have the power to persuade others through the marketing of our
brand. In class one, students had to "dig deep" and decide who
they were and what their brand should project. They explored fonts and how
their names looked in each font. They used the emotion tied to fonts to decide
if it was best portraying “who” their brand represented. Students learned that
their signature "speaks" for them on formal documents and that they can
affect whether it “speaks” in the same language of their brand they are
creating.
Students learned about color psychology and how brands use colors
to influence consumers. Students studied 10 major colors and made notes about
if it fit their brand or not. Students studied popular company logos to decide
why they picked the colors they did and what they were trying to push as their
brand. Students explored their goals by making a list of jobs, purposes, and visions
for their brand. Some classroom brands focused on short term goals (being a
good student) while others felt they already knew their purpose (work in
education, etc.)
Students studied the use of symbols in branding a company. We
explored symbols of current logos and brainstormed symbols that they might
want to consider that supported the goals they previously outlined.
To help us get started, we then logged intohttp://www.designmantic.com/where students can type their name, set
filters, and manipulate objects and colors. Students sketched ideas down and
used the site for inspiration.
Students then worked to design the logo of their brand using their
name. They reviewed their research on designmantic and worked to merge their
ideas into a cohesive logo and their brand.
Once students understood the concepts of graphic design, they were
introduced to Wyla at Dewey’s local Backyard Shirts and Designs. They were
given a challenge to create a t-shirt that would be profitable for her
business. Students collaborated in teams, discussed target audiences, fonts,
symbols, and color psychology to create their best attempt of what they hoped
would become a popular t-shirt design. Wyla served as the project manager as
she provided constructive criticism and feedback to groups as they worked
allowing them to make changes and submit their final designs. It was an amazing process and there were so
many creative ideas; however, Wyla chose 1 elementary and 1 middle school shirt
design to sell in her business. The elementary’s design was created by 4th
graders who turned the Superman Logo into a Dewey Theme. 7th graders
won the middle school contest and designed a sports tee-shirt that played off
the OKC thunder logo, but also changed it to a Dewey shirt. A percentage of future sales of these shirts will benefit the GATE program! The generous DEF grant allowed the winning
teams to receive their very own tee-shirt that they worked so hard to create!
To complete the unit, all GATE students learned about graphic
design at a local higher-ed, Tricounty Tech. Students sat in on a 2 hour class
and worked with high school and college aged students to learn about graphic
communications technology and what careers are available in the field. Students
were able to create and print spiral notepads and notebooks as well as work
with several printing presses.
We genuinely thank the Dewey Education Foundation for being such a big part of our year and solidifying
this unit to make it meaningful as well as help tie our curriculum to real
world connections for 1st through 8th grade GATE
students.
GATE students finished their graphic design curriculum by working for a local business, Backyard Shirts and Designs. Their assignment was to create a marketable t-shirt design that the business could profit from. Teams of classes collaborated about t-shirt ideas, who their targeted audience should be, they debated color choices (many discussing their new knowledge of color psychology) and presented their final t-shirt designs for judging. Wyla Wilson, owner of Backyard Shirts and Designs, not only collaborated with groups giving them feedback throughout their creation process, but also served as a judge for the challenge. There were two divisions in the challenge: The elementary division and the middle school division.
Even more exciting, the winners of the t-shirt challenge were given the t-shirt that they designed thanks to the Dewey Education Foundation. The Dewey Education Foundation financially supported our graphic design unit by providing much needed graphic design supplies and the money to buy our winners the very own tee-shirt that they created! Special thanks to the Dewey Education Foundation for making this year's curriculum so meaningful!
Winner of the Elementary Division: Mrs. Baughn and Dye's students, 4th grade
(pics of t-shirts will be added when we receive the final product)
Winner of the Middle School Division: 7th grade Monday class
(pic of t-shirt will be added when we receive the final product)
4th and 6th grade GATE students went to Tricounty Technology Center to learn about Graphic Communications skills and careers. Students worked on Illustrator and Photoshop on iMacs to began designing a front cover that will later become their own spiral notebook. They then learned the entire printing process of creating lined paper, cutting, folding, and punching holes along with other mechanical printing processes as well as working with vinyl. Students were able to bind their spiral notebooks and create Dewey themed note pads they could take back with them.
Students also toured the facility and learned about the Pre-Engineering, Welding, and Mechanical classes that Tri-county has to offer.
Overall, it was a really great day! One 4th grader said "this place is like technology heaven" where another excitedly boasted "I want to take classes here!" We are proud of the resources our local community offers! Thank you Tricounty Technology for hosting our fieldtrip and letting our students see what a day in the life of graphic design might look like.
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