Optional Lessons
Working with Materials
Since this is a maker project, it would be fantastic to get your students to work with some basic materials before they start actually building their prototype. Even if you cannot do all of these, at least try to expose students to 3-4 different materials.
This will be beneficial to them in the following ways:
- As students are planning their prototypes and trying to think about what materials to use, they may and will get more ideas by actually engaging with and manipulating different materials in these lessons.
- They will be able to figure out what substitutes they can use in case they can’t get access to certain materials originally planned for in their designs. They more they experiment with different materials, the better they will understand the characteristics and properties of those materials and make smart choices for their own design.
- Since they have selected a “maker project” , learning how to work with various materials should be part of that learning process.