Technology and tools once available only in factories can now be found in classroom makerspaces. Maker culture uses 3D printers, laser cutters, and other manufacturing tools to provide invaluable learning experiences. Combining technology with more abstract ideas such as social justice, history, and civics can lead students to become more involved with the local community as well the global one. This interesting guide provides step-by-step instructions to help both educators and students experience social studies projects like never before. Learn how to implement STEM principles to make social studies hands-on and fun at the same time.

Makerspaces are community-based, hands-on workshops in which people of all ages and skill levels come together to learn, work together, and create. Using creativity and collaboration, makerspace science projects are both fun and fulfilling. This guide brings science to life with ten easy-to-follow makerspace activities using sewing machines, laser cutters, 3D printers, electronics, woodworking tools, and metalworking equipment. Makers will develop new people and project skills, build confidence by overcoming challenges, and possibly discover innovative ways to address modern-day issues with science.

Makerspaces are public spaces located in schools, public libraries, and other community locations where people can meet up, share creative interests, tinker with new technologies, and learn as they go. The specialized resources in many makerspaces are perfectly suited for artists and other creative people. This easy-to-follow guide explores ten compelling art projects students can work on with friends at local makerspaces. 3D printers, graphic computer programs, creative mobile apps, traditional arts and crafts supplies, and even LEGOs are just some of the tools used in the projects described in this dynamic book.

Makerspaces, equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, robotics, and other high-tech tools, are often associated with STEM programs like science, math, and technology. Educators have discovered that the learning opportunities makerspaces offer can be just as valuable in other curriculum areas as well. This volume fuses this fabulous technology with the Language Arts.

Technology and tools once available only in factories can now be found in classroom makerspaces. Maker culture uses 3D printers, laser cutters, and other manufacturing tools to provide invaluable learning experiences. Combining technology with more abstract ideas such as social justice, history, and civics can lead students to become more involved with the local community as well the global one. This interesting guide provides step-by-step instructions to help both educators and students experience social studies projects like never before. Learn how to implement STEM principles to make social studies hands-on and fun at the same time.

Bridges, furniture, musical instruments, games, vehicles—all of these things were invented and improved upon by people who love to put stuff together, take stuff apart, and figure out how things work! In Explore Makerspace! With 25 Great Projects, readers ages 7 through 10 explore what it means to be an engineer. They discover how inventors use science, art, and math to create new and exciting structures, games, and more. Readers also learn how to set up their own makerspaces at home, using inexpensive and easy-to-find supplies for their tinkering projects. Humans have been inventors throughout history. From the wheel to the rocket, scientists and other engineers have designed new technologies that have made daily life easier and stretched our horizons far beyond our own atmosphere. But inventions don’t have to be full of computer chips or other sophisticated parts. Designing the fastest toy car made from recycled materials can be just as thrilling! Makerspaces can be found in schools, libraries, community centers, and homes all around the country. These are places where both children and adults can work with materials and use the engineer design process to come up with new ideas. Here, imagination, art, and logic combine to produce lasting lessons in science, math, and physics. In Explore Makerspace! With 25 Great Projects, readers learn how to think proactively when faced with a challenge and discover the trial-and-error processes that lead to new discoveries. They find out about the motivation behind some of the world’s most amazing inventions. Through STEAM projects ranging from designing a bridge to creating board games and musical instruments, children discover how to be an engineer.

You've created a STEAM program in your library, but how do you work literacy into the curriculum? With this collection of resource recommendations, direction for program development, and activities, you'll have students reading proficiently in no time. Many schools and libraries are implementing STEAM programs in the school library makerspace to promote problem solving by allowing students to create their own solutions to a problem through trial and error. In order to enhance literacy development in the STEAM program, however, they need resources for integrating literature into the curriculum. In this collection of resources for doing just that, veteran education professionals and practiced coauthors Liz Knowles and Martha Smith bring readers over eight hundred recommended and annotated books and web resources, selected based on research on successfully integrating STEAM and literacy programs and organized by the five STEAM areas. Titles are complemented by discussion questions and problem-solving activities that will aid educators in both adding and using the best literature to their STEAM programs for encouraging learning. In addition to promoting literacy, these resources will help to develop creativity, lateral thinking skills, and confidence in students.

A must-read for elementary school librarians interested in starting a makerspace at their school, but who are concerned about the cost and are looking for curriculum links for getting started. Makerspaces are a powerful way to expand a school library's influence as an educational partner in the school community. However, many elementary school librarians and educators are hesitant to consider adding a makerspace to their programming due to concerns about costs. This book focuses on effective ways to start a makerspace in your school on a shoestring budget while simultaneously supporting curriculum standards and inviting the collaboration of other members of your school community. Today's school librarians have many responsibilities and often face a shrinking budget. The Elementary School Library Makerspace: A Start-Up Guide is a one-stop shop for learning the specific steps to successfully starting an elementary school library makerspace, without getting behind on managing your current school library tasks and responsibilities or blowing your budget. You'll learn how and where the makerspace movement started, and why; understand why today's young students crave hands-on experiences; and receive dozens of makerspace examples for each grade level by content area, including ones for language arts, math, science, engineering, arts, social studies, and technology. The book also covers how and why to track particular numbers regarding program performance, explains how to use creativity to start your makerspace with minimal dollars, and outlines how to make your PR efforts in letting others know about your school library makerspace effective in engaging many possible audiences.

Digital tools and applications are an intricate part of many classroom communities. In the field of education, there is a need to continually monitor the digital landscape and keep up to date on the tools and applications that are available to classroom teachers and K-12 students. Understanding the ever-changing digital landscape and its impact on teaching and learning is critical to using digital tools and applications effectively and in ways that enhance students’ opportunities to learn. Next Generation Digital Tools and Applications for Teaching and Learning Enhancement is a critical scholarly publication that explores digital tools and applications for the PreK-12 classroom and how digital technology can enhance the preparation of teachers. Featuring a wide range of topics including education equity, social media, and teacher education, this book is essential for educators, academicians, curriculum designers, educational software developers, IT specialists, library specialists, researchers, and practitioners.

Learn how to manage and integrate the technology of 3D printers in the classroom, library, and lab. With this book, the authors give practical, lessons-learned advice about the nuts and bolts of what happens when you mix 3D printers, teachers, students, and the general public in environments ranging from K-12 and university classrooms to libraries, museums, and after-school community programs. Take your existing programs to the next level with Mastering 3D Printing in the Classroom, Library, and Lab. Organized in a way that is readable and easy to understand, this book is your guide to the many technology options available now in both software and hardware, as well as a compendium of practical use cases and a discussion of how to create experiences that will align with curriculum standards. You'll examine the whole range of working with a 3D printer, from purchase decision to curriculum design. Finally this book points you forward to the digital-fabrication future current students will face, discussing how key skills can be taught as cost-effectively as possible. What You’ll LearnDiscover what is really involved with using a 3D printer in a classroom, library, lab, or public space Review use cases of 3D printers designed to enhance student learning and to make practical parts, from elementary school through university research lab Look at career-planning directions in the emerging digital fabrication arena Work with updated tools, hardware, and software for 3D printingWho This Book Is For Educators of all levels, both formal (classroom) and informal (after-school programs, libraries, museums).