I was very interested by the statements you submitted on pre-review form. I am imagining a very fruitful process as you carry out this project, mostly focused on, it sounds like, materials research. Are you saying that you are going to develop a new material for casting shapes in the classroom? how is it customizeable by students? I am very intrigued by the idea of establishing a curriculum around this activity, where each child is expected to produce components in some large-scale model or construction. A very timely product, at a moment when children need more manual activies to balance the over-empahsis on virtual, on-screen experiences.
Check out Maria Montesorri (at left), and the philosopher of education and New School founder John Dewey.
Thanks for your comments Steven, I'm currently testing out DIY Bioplastic recipes I've found online, and I'm waiting for another component to arrive in the mail so I can test another recipe that I found on the Make site. The problem I'm trying to work around right now is that most of the mixtures are heatset in the microwave, and issues of steam and heated materials are making the molding process difficult. I'm having relative success with single sided molds though.
ReplyDeleteThe elements that children would customize would be the decorative parts, painting, using food coloring to dye the pieces, etc.
Currently my material explorations are proving to be the driving forces in what the end toy may end up being, I had originally thought of the toys the children make being parts that would then fit together to create a larger piece, but at the moment, issues with creating exact pieces are getting in the way of that idea.
I've been documenting my material experimentation with the first two materials, and will try to post those photos, plus the photos of the materials I intend to try out some time today.
Very exciting, Megan. I think this could lead to an amazing product. I agree that the first steps should focus on materials studies and tests, but I am hoping that, once you have a better sense of the "recipe" and the properties of the materials, you will then study how the classroom activities you envision could be part of a curriculum that uses the processes you are developing for some larger educational purpose. There should be a distinct pedagogical approach embodied in the product, with explicit learning gains that you associate with using your product.
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