May Makerspace projects
May Makerspace projects
Check out these fun challenges from May!
Check out these fun challenges from May!
Embedded Files
Up, Up, and Away! May 26 is National Paper Airplane Day!
Up, Up, and Away! May 26 is National Paper Airplane Day!
So you think you know how to make a pretty good paper airplane?
Watch the world record-setting farthest flight by a paper airplane – 226 feet, 10 inches!
Learn from the master as John Collins, who designed and folded the plane that set that Guinness World Record, shows how to fold three planes.
Links to step-by-step directions for how to make more cool paper airplanes:
More fun things way to explore flying and the art of paper folding
More fun things way to explore flying and the art of paper folding
Great resources from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for learning ... How Things Fly!
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. It celebrates the contributions and influence of the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America's history and are vital to the country’s future.
Skyscraper challenge
Skyscraper challenge
Most of the tallest buildings in the world are located in Asia, including the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands 2,717 feet tall. The challenge for this week is to build the tallest freestanding building you can using materials found around your home. Freestanding means that it must stand by itself, without anyone holding it up or something like tape to keep it from falling.
Since everyone will have different items they can use, below are some suggestions for materials and a few pictures to help you with this project. Please share what you made your building out of and how tall it was — and even send a photo to us at khoo@apch.org!
Materials: paper, newspaper, popsicle sticks, straws, toothpicks, marshmallows, pencils, playing cards, index cards, playdough, tape, rubber bands, tape
Learn more about skyscrapers around the world
Learn more about skyscrapers around the world
Scholastic Science World: Sky-High Science — the challenges of building the tallest skyscrapers in the world
National Geographic Kids: Awesome 8 Skyscrapers — some of the tallest structures are also the funkiest and coolest!
Evolution of World’s Tallest Building (1901–2022) — see a comparison of the world's tallest building as it changed over the years.
Pulleys
Pulleys
Last week’s challenge to test out multiple parachutes required dropping them from a high location. But if you picked a second floor window or balcony, that meant a lot of going up and down the stairs. While exercise is definitely good, wouldn’t it be nice to have a way to bring the parachute from the ground up to the high location without all that running around? Well, one way to do that is by making a pulley!
Imagine that instead of going up and down the stairs every time you drop a parachute, a friend down below just picks it up, attaches it to the rope of the pulley, and pulls on the rope to lift the parachute up to you. So much easier!
A pulley is also helpful because it makes lifting an object easier. Imagine you want to bring a heavy box up to a second floor window. You could tie a rope to the box, lean out the window, and pull it straight up. Or you could put a pulley at the second floor, stand at the first floor, and lift the box by pulling straight down. This action changes the direction that you have to pull, and it will feel easier because you're working with the force of gravity. Just like other simple machines, a pulley makes work easier.
Pulley challenge
Pulley challenge
Your challenge this week is to design and build a pulley that can lift something up into the air. What kind of materials do you have around the house that could help you with this project? Here are some ideas: toilet paper roll, paper towel tube, paper or plastic cup, straws, spools, string, ribbon, yarn, tape, scissors, paper clips.
And watch these videos to learn more about pulleys and how they work.
SciShow Kids
SciShow Kids
Design Squad
Design Squad
Parachutes... part 2!
Parachutes... part 2!
Last week’s parachute project was an experiment to test two different variables: what the parachutes are made of and the size of the parachutes. Remember that a variable is a characteristic, quantity, or condition that can change. If you didn’t get to try it out, visit the April Makerspace Projects page.
This week’s challenge is to use what you learned from that experiment to design and make a parachute that will hang in the air for as long as possible. Use the document to the right for all the details.
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