Check out some photos and brief overviews below from past READesign sessions at the High River Library!
Spring 2018 – Day 1 – March 3, 2018 – “Vacation Under the Volcano” by Mary Pope Osbourne
Spring 2018 – Day 2 & 3 – March 10 & 17, 2018
Spring 2018 – Day 4 – March 24, 2018
Fall 2018 – Day 1 – November 3, 2018 – “In Plane Sight” by Franklin W. Dixon
Fall 2018 – Day 2 – November 10, 2018
Fall 2018 – Day 3 & 4 – Nov 2018
One-Day READesign – March 2019
October 2016 Program
“Matthew and the Midnight Tow Truck” – by Allen Morgan
Our first time offering the READesign program! We had four participants in our first program, with four evening sessions every Tuesday night in October at the High River Library.
Session 1 – What is an engineer and what does and engineer do? We practiced using the engineering design process to save an egg from smashing when dropped to the library basement! We also read through “Matthew and the Midnight Tow Truck” by Allen Morgan – our book for this program.
Session 2 – Tow Truck driving! Students solved the problem “the hook was too big, so it kept slipping off” by connecting a small car to a large hook mounted on an RC tow truck to transport it down the library hallway without falling off – materials: Lego.
Session 3 – Car lowering system. We reviewed six simple machines, and tried to incorporate them into a device for lowing cars from the table top to the floor, to get “Matthew’s” plate clear so his mom could serve supper – materials: K’NEX.
Session 4 – Theft-prevention system for Matthew’s Mom’s car (to prevent midnight tow truck drivers from accidentally stealing it) – materials: craft supplies and littleBits electronic building modules.
November 2016 Program
“Weslandia” – by Paul Feischman
Our second run of the program! We had another four participants, with one returning, and held sessions on Wednesday evenings through November 2016 at the High River Library.
Session 1 – What is an engineer, and what does an engineer do? We practiced our new engineering design skills by using the engineering design process to build a device to hold a cell phone 3 inches off the table using only marshmallows and toothpicks! We also read through “Weslandia” by Paul Felischman together.
Session 2 – Wes builds a platform outside to keep cool during the summer. Students built a place for Wes to sleep out of Lego, with a few requirements…The device must: be comfortable; have bully-protection devices in place; have a platform 6 inches off the table; and finally, support the weight of several books (incl. the largest book we could find in the library!) – materials: Lego
Session 3 – Students built wearable devices to deflect projectiles thrown by Wesley’s bullies – materials: craft supplies, Lego & K’NEX
Session 4 – Gardening was hard work! Students built a device to help Wes garden his swist plants – materials: craft supplies, Lego, K’NEX, and littleBits electronic building blocks.
February 2017 Program
“Curious George Discovers Space” – H.A. Rey
Eight enthusiastic students participated in four evening sessions throughout the month of February at the Library. We had a blast, and learned a lot about the International Space Station, Mars Rover, and Canadarm along the way!
Session 1 – What is an engineer and what does and engineer do? Students practiced using the engineering design process to save an egg “rocket” from smashing to the “earth” after re-entry!
Session 2 – Challenge: Curious George has taken all of the supplies for the astronauts out of the container to play with them in the shuttle. George must get the supplies back into the container in time to launch them to the Space Station! Participants built devices attached to a container to put “floating” supplies back in the container without using their hands. Materials: k’nex, LEGO, craft supplies
Session 3 – Challenge: Curious George is riding on a runaway Mars rover that gets stuck because someone has left chewing gum in the control panel! Solution: Participants built their own ‘new’ Mars Rovers to navigate a course complete with features of the Martian landscape (Olympus Mons, Valles Marineris, etc). Materials: k’nex, LEGO, magnets, tape.
Session 4 – Challenge: Curious George must push four buttons at the same time in order to launch the supplies to the Space Shuttle. Solution: Participants designed a device to push four buttons on a control panel at once, dropping candy for each button pushed. After the challenge, students took turns experimenting with littleBits and a Robotic Arm.
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November 2017 Program
“I Want to Go Home” – Gordon Korman
Five students are participating in four Saturday afternoon sessions throughout the month of November at the Library. ‘I Want to Go Home’ by Gordon Korman is a book about a boy named Rudy, who is sent to summer camp on an island in Ontario against his will, and spends the summer making ill-fated (but hilarious) escape attempts with his new friend Mike.
Session 1 – What is an engineer and what does and engineer do? Students practiced using the engineering design process attempting to prevent an egg from smashing when dropped off the library mezzanine!
Session 2 – In “I Want to Go Home” Rudy and Mike attempt to escape from summer camp by borrowing a motor boat to cross the lake that surrounds the camp. They are stopped halfway across the lake by the OPP who turn them around because they don’t have the required safety gear – i.e. a bailing bucket! Students designed and tested an impromptu bailing bucket device and tested it by moving water from the ‘boat’ to the ‘lake’.
Session 3 – Harold Green is one of Rudy’s main targets for practical jokes during his stay at Algonkian Island summer camp. First, students helped Harold foil Rudy’s attempt to sabotage his bunk bed and cause a riotous pillow fight that destroys the cabin by re-enforcing a bunk bed made of k’nex to withstand a 2 lb ‘Harold’ being dropped on it from 12 in above the bed surface. Then, the students assisted Rudy in sabotaging they’re previously built structure so that while it would hold the magazine ‘mattress’ up, and therefore be hidden, it would not support the 2 lb ‘Harold’ when placed on the surface.
Session 4 – To prevent Rudy & Mike escaping from a dance while at a girls camp with their group on the mainland, students helped camp counselors Chip and Pierre design a security system to alert them when Rudy/Mike left the dance hall.
Students used redundant systems: 1. Mechanical linkage with a ‘trip line’ that triggered a box of noise makers to alert the counselors in the room next door, and hanging noise-makers; and 2. littleBits electronic building blocks transmitter/receiver with buzzer and a light sensor on the door to detect the escape. After the first trial, students were reminded that it’s actually very hard to hear anything in a dance, and the second challenge was to effect the light dimmer switch instead of audible alarms.
A PRUSA 3D Printer was demonstrated and students each took home a 3D printed certificate of completion for the program and a Joseph Prusa whistle!
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