Friday, February 27, 2015

Iridescent 12/5/2014

For ACAS on 12/5 we hosted the organization Iridescent (iridescentlearning.org), Iridescent is a science education non profit. They organized a project making Cam mechanisms with the kids, a Cam mechanism is a mechanism that takes rotational movement and turns it into linear movement.


The kids worked inside cardboard boxes, to help stabilize their mechanisms. Once they got the basics working they could decide how they wanted to design around this motion.





Here is one kids "head bopper" when the handle on the side is turned, the head on the top pops up and down.


Our first ACAS was a huge hit!


Our first ACAS event was held on 11/7 and it was such a hit. We played with form and shape and thought about the structural integrity of various shapes when used in building.

Students started out making shapes from straws and pipe cleaners to test what shape was the strongest.

Then students were given PVC and connectors,  they were asked to work together to see what the largest structure was that they could build.


We were able to talk about the flaws in some of the structures they had built and what they had discovered through their experimentation with the straws and pipe cleaners.
 The students then built a geodesic dome together from PVC, we were able to talk about the strength of triangles and forms held together with tension.