NCCAT
NCCAT has two campuses at each end of the state: Cullowhee and Ocracoke. Each campus offers a wide variety of programs for teachers. Teachers must apply and be accepted to attend. The center provides housing and meals. The remaining expenses must be paid by the school district or the teacher.
I've attended two previous sessions at Cullowhee over the years. One session was for special projects. When I worked with Edenton-Chowan, our team of media coordinators went to work on digital resources many moons ago. The second session I attended was part of a granted project that required us to attend a session at NCCAT. Both sessions were phenomenal and provided us with the time and resources to meet our goals. It was an amazing experience, one all NC teachers should take advantage of.
Maker Mindset
Since this is my self-proclaimed summer of renewal, I decided to take a look that the programs NCCAT had to offer to see if there was anything I wanted to attend. The one that caught my eye was a Maker Mindset session August 6th - 9th. Today was August 1st. There are usually long waiting lists for all of the sessions, but I threw caution to the wind and sent in my application. Much to my surprise, I received an email the next day telling me I'd gotten in. I had to send in information immediately. What I didn't know at the time was this session had had an extremely long waiting list and had been filled months ago, with others being turned away. There had been a couple of cancellations the day I applied. So, BAM! I got in (on a wing and a prayer)! I told them it was shear divine intervention. I was meant to be at this session.
Early Monday morning, I make the trek by ferry to Ocracoke. I arrive at NCCAT, get settled into my room and make my way to our first session. Jason Lineberger from Cleveland County Schools is our trainer for the week.
We go through information on the Maker Mindset. Jason shares how he likes to set up makerspace activities as challenges for his students. The challenges provide a little background: the curriculum hook, the why or any information they need to get started. He provides the materials and basically says, "Go." So, we were off!
Challenge 1:
Make a windmill to hoist a treasure chest from deep underground.
Background: Students had been reading "The Cay". They were told that a chapter had been ripped from the book where the characters were digging a well and came across a buried treasure. The chest was so deep they couldn't just haul it out. Using items they had on the island, the characters built a windmill that would use a wench like action to lift the treasure up to the surface. Students would have to write the missing chapter. To help them write the missing chapter students had to build their own windmill that would lift the treasure (a marble in a cup) off the ground and to the edge of the table. We were supplied with a dowel rod, paper plate, cardstock, paperclip, table, rubber band, pipe cleaners, cup, masking tape, 2 marbles, thumbtack and string.
Task: Our team started with a pinwheel using the cardstock. We tried to used the thumbtack to take it to the end of the dowel, but it wouldn't hold tight enough. We noticed another group putting the dowel through the pinwheel so we did that. To allow the dowel rod to turn we used tape on tape to create a space that wasn't sticky where the dowel would go, but held the ends to the table. Trial and error showed us we needed several pieces to keep the windmill from flipping forward. We made our basket out of the cup and pipe cleaner and secured the string to the dowel rod and cup. The test came when we used a hair dryer to spin the windmill. Our string wound quickly and we removed the "treasure" from the ground - Success!
Challenge 1 Thoughts
I loved the tie in to Language Arts. Setting up challenges based upon a book or story that students have read makes the perfect tie in. I especially loved how this activity provided them with the background knowledge of how to build a windmill to complete their writing activity. I could also see this very same activity fitting with "The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind".
Challenge 2: Scraptown
Build any building you choose to place in scrap town. Follow the scale that a floor is 2". (Ex. a 3 story building would be 6 inches.
Task: Using the bevy of materials on hand, make a building. There was most any general craft supply you could imagine on hand.
Once we created our buildings we decided as a group where each should go. "The library should go near the school." "The fire department should go in the center of town." "The popsicle stand should go near the beach." We rationalized and moved things around as needed.
Challenge 2 Thoughts
While this exact activity may initially be better for elementary, there were a few things we could add to make it more middle school friendly. Here are some of the ideas:
1) Students would have to make buildings of a certain area or perimeter, or using specific geometric shapes.
2) Instead of a city, each section is a different biome with a river running through the center. Students set it up to match their biome. Then they provide a guided tour down the river of the as the character travels through.
3) Use a map of the city or area. Students recreate their house and place in the correct location on the map. They measure to see their closest and farthest away classmate.
That was Day 1 of Maker Mindset. In Day 2 we cover Scratch, Makey Makey, Microbits and Tinkercad.
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