Search Results

Use a Pico Cricket (micro-controller) to animate your art! You can program a Pico Cricket to make your art spin, light up, or make music.

This is a web page that helps informal educators brainstorm on how to use a Pico Cricket (tiny computer) in an informal activity.

In this activity, learners create painting machines that can paint moving forwards and backwards.

Learners shred used paper, add water, and blend it into pulp. They then strain and roll the pulp out to make new paper.

Build a phonograph record player using a cactus needle, a record, LEGOs gear box, and a piece of paper! This activity uses a Pico Cricket to turn the motor.

In this activity, learners discover that some plastics will shrink when you get them hot. Learners bake polystyrene in a regular oven and discover what happens.

In this activity, learners explore the question "What is paper?" Learners discover the processes and materials required to make paper while experimenting with different recycled fibers and tools.

In this activity, learners create a traditional Mexican noisemaker (a matraca) using cardboard, craft sticks, and a wooden dowel.

In this activity, learners create a colorful bookmark using a super thin layer of nail polish on water. Learners discover that a thin film creates iridescent, rainbow colors.

In this activity, learners create night lights using a plastic cup, programmable PICO Cricket, tri-color LED, and sensor.

In this activity, learners use clear nail polish to create a beautiful iridescent pattern on black paper. Learners discover that a thin film creates iridescent, rainbow colors.

Margaret Pezalla-Granlund, a Minnesota artist, came up with this really fun and surprising activity using graphite from a pencil, connected with a Pico Cricket to tell a story: "The first time I saw s

Cardboard Automata are a playful way to explore simple machine elements while creating a mechanical sculpture.

In this activity, learners transform everyday milk into small plastic figurines and jewelry. Use this activity to introduce learners to monomers and polymers.

In this activity, learners are challenged to design and construct a jointed figure that moves in a motion (something like jumping jacks) when a string is pulled.

Learners can program a compass to draw a circle by itself using a Pico Cricket, some Legos, and lots of tape! Pico Cricket is required.

This is a simple activity for learners to create a traditional musical instrument. Pan Pipes have developed all over the world in different cultures, from South America to Greece and China.

This activity introduces learners to the structure and properties of carbon nanotubes.

In this activity, learners build a musical drum using a cardboard tube, plastic wrap, and beads.

In this activity, learners explore electronics and motion by making a Scribbling Machine, a motorized contraption that moves in unusual ways and leaves a mark to trace its path.