Dig Deeper with
Tinkering & Making
A presentation deck for training educators
on the Project MASH approach to
Tinkering & Making, from The
Exploratory.
Full day version
Today’s explorations
Understand What Tinkering and Making Is.
Experience A Tinker.Make.Innovate. Activity
Discuss how you can incorporate Tinkering
and Making into the classroom
What is tinkering?
Tinkering is to engage with materials,
tools and ideas to construct knowledge
of their possibilities.
Tinkering is open-ended and encourages
self-motivated engagement in learning
What is making?
Making is learning by DOING. Making
develops the capacity for innovative
problem solving by engaging students in
hands on and creative skill building projects
that incorporate science, technology,
engineering, art, and math subjects.
Making is social. Making provides
opportunity to collaborate and develop
effective communication skills.
Making develops a growth mindset that
demonstrates how grit, flexible thinking,
perspective-taking, perseverance and
embracing failure leads to achievement
and success.
Learning environments that are rich in
tinkering and making require students to
develop the dispositions of designers
and innovators and build in them the
confidence and competence to solve
real world problems.
Tinker.Make.Innovate. is a three-step
process developed by The Exploratory
that combines tinkering, making and
design thinking to provide students the
opportunity to build the skills they need
to propose and devise innovative
solutions to complex challenges.
Tinker Phase: Developing Engagement
Make Phase: Building Skills and Knowledge
Innovate Phase: Demonstrate skills and
knowledge by inventing a solution to a problem
Quick Challenge:
Marshmallow Tower Challenge
TIME 20 Minutes
With Only:
20 pieces of spaghetti
1 meter of masking tape
1 meter of rope
1 large marshmallow
Make the tallest tower you can that will hold up the
marshmallow and stay up for 10 seconds.
Quick Challenge: Plussing
TIME 10 Minutes
What did you notice about the process?
Were you surprised at how you approached the
challenge?
Notice the feelings towards failure. Did you test along
the way or keep building until the end of time and then put
your marshmallow on?
What did you notice about how your students might feel
in similar challenges?
Spy Gadget Project
TINKER: Spy Gadgets
TIME 15 Minutes
GOAL Brainstorm Ideas for “What problems do you have in
your
life that could use a spy gadget to solve?"
During this activity, you will play with some existing spy
gadgets while brainstorming to get inspired.
MAKE: Circuits Blocks/Squishy Circuits
TIME 30 Minutes
GOAL Construct a fundamental understanding of simple
circuits and parallel circuits
PROVOCATION
What kind of animal could you make that could be a
fun spy character. Use Squishy Circuits to add 2 LED
lights and maybe a buzzer.
MAKE: E-Textiles Laser Cuff
TIME 60 Minutes
GOAL Construct a fundamental understanding of simple
circuits, the use of conductive thread, magnetic
clasps, battery cases, sewing skills
PROVOCATION
Design your cuff to share something about yourself
that is important to you.
MAKE: Alarm with Sensor
TIME 90 Minutes
GOAL Add onto your fundamental understanding of simple
circuits by adding a tilt sensor or a magnetic sensor
PROVOCATION
Design a stuffy that when tilted or when a magnet is
brought near the sensor, a light or buzzer goes off.
INNOVATE: Spy Gadgets
TIME 120 minutes
GOAL Invent a spy gadget that could solve a
problem
that you brainstormed in the Tinker
phase.
In this phase, you will use the design thinking
process to invent and create a prototype for
that product.
Brainstorm
TIME
5 minutes
Remind yourself of the spying situations you brainstormed in the
Tinker phase. Add any new situations that have come to you during
the Make phase.
TIME
10 minutes
With 2-4 other people at your table, combine your post-its and then
sort them into clusters. Choose as a group, the problem/situation
that you would like to invent a solution for.
TIME
10 minutes
As a group, brainstorm possible solutions for the problem you
determined you wanted to work on.
Ideate/Design/Make a Plan
TIME 5 minutes
Pick a solution that you would like to work on
TIME 10 minutes
Do several quick sketches of your solution on paper
TIME 5 minutes
Decide on materials you need and make a plan for
creating a prototype of your invention.
Plussing Session
TIME 10 Minutes
GOAL Share Ideas, Get Ideas, Get Support, Give Support
During the plussing session, you will come together as
the whole group to:
Share your ideas and plan
Receive ideas and suggestions
Prototyping
TIME 45 Minutes
GOAL Make a prototype that can illustrate your invention idea
Things to consider:
Use materials like card stock, cardboard, fabric that
you can easily manipulate within the time period.
Other useful materials - recycled products like plastic bottles,
toilet paper rolls, bottle caps and more.
Useful connectors: brads, tape, glue gun, zip ties.
Plussing Session
TIME 20 Minutes
GOAL Share Ideas, Get Ideas, Get Support, Give Support
During the plussing session, you will come together as the
whole group to:
Share your ideas and plan
Receive ideas and suggestions
Revise
TIME 20 Minutes
GOAL To take the plusses received to make revisions
to your design.
Notice: How did you feel about receiving
plusses? How does this differ from constructive
criticism.
Showcase
TIME 20 Minutes
GOAL Share your process and demonstrate what you learned.
Include in your presentation:
- The problem
- Your solution
- Your prototyping process
- How you used circuitry and switches in your solution
Reflect on Project
TIME 20 Minutes
the
What other provocations/themes might you use
activities from this project?
were
What did you notice or wonder about while you
doing the project?
Common Core and NGSS
TIME 20 Minutes
What connections do you see between tinkering and
making and the skills identified in the Common Core
standards?
Which Next Generation Science Standard could you see
fulfilled by the circuit blocks, squishy circuits and e-textiles?
Tinkering and making offer an approach to
teaching and learning that is at the heart of Project
MASH, a social network for educators, students,
and the organizations that serve them.
Visit www.projectmash.org for student activities
and projects from The Exploratory and others that
rely on these and other unique teaching strategies.