Two 8th-graders spent all of their free time last week working on redesigning, cutting, and assembling this workbench for our classroom! It’s a great example of what happens when you teach kids how to use tools and empower them to solve problems with those skills #whyiloveslams

Students don’t just share to their class, but to any visitors that come into the building, and sometimes with the greater community. Check out some examples from last year that we turned into this display. #makerspace #maker #pbl #crosscurricular #preengineering #whyiloveslams

Students designed a second marker, either with minor changes or total redesigns, and most of those were carved as well. The final product will be a wall mural full of historic markers and QR codes linking to their summaries. At @SLAMiddle, Presentation is one of our core values.

Students created docs, slideshows, podcasts, websites, or @canva infographics to go into greater detail about their historic marker topics and then we began to carve the first iteration of their markers. Once it was done, they de-burred it and then began the Improve phase.

Since we’re using 6” x 6” 2-color HDPE (plastic that looks like an Oreo), students could only have some details in their design so they needed to make something eye-catching and informative that would make you want to scan the QR code and learn more from their larger summaries.

Students could choose anything they wanted to design a historic marker for as long as it 1) was in Philadelphia and 2) did not already have an official marker. They researched all about their person/location/event and then brainstormed possible marker designs.

Next, we brainstormed ideas for some new Philly-centric markers such as the Rocky Statue or @Bredenbecks Bakery or the first @Cheesecake Factory in Philadelphia. We learned about a lot of products that originated in Philadelphia such as Dubble Bubble gum or the first @usmint

We began by doing an “I Notice, I Wonder” activity with some sample historic markers from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission that can be found in Philadelphia. We used the interactive search feature to look for markers about topics the students are interested in.

This week I am grading @SLAMiddle 7th Gr Historic Markers that students designed with our @Inventables Carvey desktop CNC machines. This project took students about 2 and a half weeks to complete and ties in social studies & ELA (what we call humanities at SLAMS) w/ engineering.

Students from @SLAMiddle sharing their capstone projects at @educonphilly this morning. @Layout_ultimate

.@EduCon visit tomorrow morning and come by room 211. You’ll see student CNC designed historical markers, instructables documenting step-by-step instructions for 8th-grade builds this year, and an assortment of student projects in the hall, my room, and around the school #educon

@SLAMS_HPE @Inventables @FairmountWW @Pennoni @nironside13 Some other projects done recently include the pieces for the chess boards made out of resin and the base for an outdoor dog house for a student’s 110+ pound puppy

@SLAMS_HPE @Inventables @FairmountWW @Pennoni I found a wrought iron bench on a buy nothing group and a student rehabbed it to use to hold plants while another pair of students built a planter box for their advisor @nironside13 (same room as the bench) and a different student built a desk for his home makerspace

@SLAMS_HPE @Inventables @FairmountWW I’ll continue this on Mon with some more awesome projects. If you’re interested in learning more about this or if your company wants to donate to our program, please reach out. Here’s an article from last fall about our partnership with @Pennoni

@SLAMS_HPE This is the first iteration of combining the @Inventables X-Carve 3d carving feature with a resin pour. I won’t give away the surprise but your hint is that we had to reach out to the @FairmountWW for help with finding a bathymetric map

@SLAMS_HPE Assorted birdhouse projects in the beginning stages. Some have been painted while others will be put up unfinished

@SLAMS_HPE Corn hole, from first cuts to final appearance. These will be donated to a local K-8 to give them another option during recess.

@SLAMS_HPE Balsa wood bridge and trusses- this is one of many trusses/bridges that were built to test which design would be most efficient. First time over ever done an arch bridge with soaking the wood for days and using a semi-circle jig.

Planter boxes- one for @SLAMS_HPE and the other in Mr. Powell’s 7/8 math class covered in u I or a farting math equations

String art