The Tinkering Workshop Explore, Invent & Build with Everyday Materials; 100 Hands-On STEAM Projects

by Jenkins, Ryan

• ISBN13: 9781635867510
• ISBN10: 1635867517
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2024-10-15
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

Encourage youngsters to get creative with this activity book that illustrates the principles of science–full of fun projects!

Gather some basic tools and supplies from a hardware store, garage, basement, woodshop, or recycling bin. Now get ready to tinker, explore, and engineer with screws, bendy wire, metal washers, plastic pipes, dowels, electronics, LED lights, and more! Makerspace educator Ryan Jenkins inspires kids aged 8 to 12 to look at familiar supplies in new and unexpected ways, to think with their hands, troubleshoot tricky constructions, and sharpen their problem-solving skills. Kids are invited to imagine how to use the supplies on hand with projects, such as building Flexible Forts with cardboard and screws, making Art Robots with hobby motors, constructing a Water Factory with plastic pipes, balancing Sky Trams on strings, and engineering Surprising Switches with wire and foil. As they build, they'll learn about balance, center of gravity, comparative measuring, electricity, and more. Engaging photography jump-starts hours of curiosity and creativity. Start with a string, PVC pipe, cardboard ramp, or flexible tube—and see where it leads!

Author Biography

Ryan Jenkins is the co-founder of Wonderful Idea Co., a design studio that creates resources to support STEAM education and the development of 21st century skills. He’s a leader in the field of making and tinkering education and partners with children’s museums, schools, universities, professional organizations, companies, and funders. He’s a former tinkerer and educator at the Exploratorium in San Francisco and developed summer curriculum for kids at the Tinkering School that blended large scale construction with learner-centric investigations of electronics, robotics, and programming. He has written for Make Magazine and is a regular contributor to the Tinkering Studio Blog at the Exploratorium. He lives in California.
 

Table of Contents

Welcome to Tinkering!

1  Get Ready to Tinker
Start Exploring
Tinkering Supplies
Make a Tinkering Station
Snip & Cut
Attach the Parts
Bend, Cut & Strip Wire
Drill & Saw Wood
Connect Circuits

2  Constructions
Clothespins
   Build-It Kit
Wood Scraps
   Scrappy Stacks
Screws
   Flexible Forts
Bearing Balls & Marbles
   Chair Marble Run

3  Balance
Washers
   Weighted Wobblers
Stainless Steel Wire
   Wire Mobiles
String & Rope
   Sky Trams

4  Mechanisms
Cardboard
   Cardboard Crank Sliders
Dowels
   Making Waves
Brass Paper Fasteners
   Linkage Party

5  Light and Shadow
Googly Eyes
   Shadow Scenes
Mirrors
   Cool Kaleidoscopes
Bubble Wrap
   Bubble Wrap Suncatchers

6  Electrical Circuits
Motors
   Art Robots
Aluminum Foil
   Surprising Switches
   Confetti Drop
LEDs
   Glow City

7  Wind & Water
Plastic Bags
   Inflatable Friends
Recycled Cups
   Wild Windmills
Cork & Foam
   Float a Boat
Plastic Tubes
   Water Factory

Index