By Maddy Scheer, 5th & 6th Grade Science Resident Teacher
Our 5th grade scientists have been tinkering away in the iLab this year in preparation for Maker Faire Bay Area in San Mateo on May 20. Hillbrook’s contribution to the Maker Faire this year will be our 5th grader’s Spring Hard Problem, which is to make an interactive Hillbrook History Museum that encapsulates Women’s history and Hillbrook history over the past 80 years. Students have been working hard, experimenting with materials, and practicing design thinking to finish their museum installation goals.
Each group has chosen a prominent female role model for an assigned decade to teach the audience in an interactive and engaging way that utilizes mechanics, complex structures, and renewable energy. For example, team Survivors has designated Ruby Bridges as their female figure to teach their audience about. The Survivors are in the midst of creating a spinning wheel design that informs the audience about Ruby Bridges, while also quizzing the readers on Bridges’ story. Other projects include interactive lighting and switchboards, mechanical gears that produce a motion, and rotating pieces that display artwork, etc. So far, the 5th graders have experienced the beauty of failure, a natural nuance of real-life scientific design and engineering. As in the real world, design alteration, re-testing, and grit line the path to the finish line.
After Maker Faire, we plan to share our work with the wider community when we install our Hillbrook History Museum within the Hillbrook History House the newest addition to the Village of Friendly Relations. Building is a learning process that has utilized our skills with materials, structures, and design, and the Class of 2019 is so excited to share their hard work with a larger audience during Maker Faire!