The Teacher Education Program at UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School will hold its Second Annual School Maker Faire on Thursday, April 20 from 4:30 – 7 pm at the Education Building on the UCSB campus in classrooms and the McEnroe Reading & Language Arts Clinic. Like other Maker Faires, this event will celebrate “making,” that is hands-on activities related to robotics, circuits, crafts, building, and other pursuits. This particular Faire will be distinguished by showcasing how the Maker Movement exhibits the new move in Science Education to engage students of all ages in engineering and in the practices of science and engineering practices. It will provide a fun learning experience for local school children and provide inspiration and resources for local teachers.
A sample of the activities include: making a pinball machine; making bridges; a marble run; an egg drop contest; apple boats; work with materials such as slime, bouncy balls, and groovy lava lamps; kaleidoscopes; makey makey Mozart; magnet mania; 3D printing; virtual reality; a robot maze; and more.
The event is run by a leadership team centered in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education headed by Associate Professor Danielle Harlow. In addition to graduate students in the Department of Education working with Harlow, the event will feature numerous candidates in the Teacher Education Program at UCSB as presenters. Visiting presenters and speakers include expert teachers from Adams Elementary School, Marymount School, Hope School, and Mountain View Elementary, Simi Valley; and presenters from Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy, Citrix, Santa Barbara Library, Curie-osity Project: a collaboration between UCSB and Girls Inc., St. George Youth Center, and Play-Well Lego.
The event is free, but students do have to pre-register for planning purposes. The registration form is online.