4-H Makers

Fall 2015

Culpeper County 4-H Maker Festival

• The Culpeper County Library and 4-H will be partnering to host a maker festival this fall.
• Dates TBD

November

National Youth Maker Summit

• Nov. 6-9, 2015
• This summit is open to any high school student in grades 9-12 as of September 2015

June

3rd Annual Prince William County 4-H Sponsored Youth Lounge at the 41st Manassas Hamfest and Maker Technology Show

• Sunday, June 14, 2015 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Makers demos including 3D printing and workshops on radio technology.   Prince William County Fairgrounds, 4-H Children’s Barn, 10624 Dumfries Rd, Manassas, VA 20112

4-H STEM Learning Institute - Growing 4-H Science, Richmond, VA

• Students learn science through the design and creation of physical prototypes.

May

Bay Area Maker Faire, San Francisco, CA

• Makers from Growing 4-H Science in Richmond and ICAT in Blacksburg traveled to world's largest Maker Faire in San Francisco to meet with maker educators, innovators, and tinkerers.  

April

Hanover Arts and Science Festival, Hanover VA

• More than 300 youth and their families participated in hands-on tinkering activities and maker workshops. The event showcases youth activities across fields of science and art for students from all the county schools.

March

National AfterSchool Association Convention, Washington D.C.

• Growing 4-H Science and Operation: Military Kids partner to provide a workshop on “Introduction to Maker Education” attended by program leaders from across the country as well as the executive director of Maker Ed.

February

Powhatan County Maker Festival , Powhatan, VA

• Powhatan County Library and the Powhatan County 4-H extension agent, Cathy Howland, hosted a 4-H Maker Festival on Feb. 21, attracting more than 600 visitors Local organizations, schools, and government agencies were active participants and supporters of the maker festival. Adults and youth of all ages were able to experience 3-D printing, robotics, and woodworking as well as build towers, windmills, and roller coasters.  

4-H Military Maker Festival, Chesterfield County, VA

• The 4-H Military Maker Festival held at the Defense Supply Center on Feb. 7 introduced 4-H Maker to youth and their families from all branches of the military. The Lott Convention Center hosted the comprehensive maker festival featuring some of the best examples of 4-H experiential learning activities. 4-H youth volunteers were responsible for facilitating these hands-on activities with festival participants.

November

Agency 229 Annual Report

• Article: Maker program encourages kids to be creative
• Focus on after-school and summer 4-H maker camps in Virginia.

September

Northern Virginia 4-H Maker Festival,  Loudon County, VA

• The Loudon County Fairgrounds hosted this 4-H Maker Festival featuring a day full of creativity, engineering, and resourcefulness. Activities included natural dyes, play dough circuits, LED paintbrushes, robots, rockets, and more.

State Fair of Virginia, Doswell, VA

• 4-H youth volunteered to facilitate hands-on maker activities on VCE Day at the State Fair of Virginia. Families were exposed to Virginia Cooperative Extension programs through exhibits, demonstrations 

August

Fort Belvoir Military Maker Festival

• The Military Maker Festival took place on Aug. 9 at the Reserves Center at Fort Belvoir. Children and families of the military participated in hands-on maker activities.

Pamunkey Regional Library Maker Festival

• Hundreds of youth and their families participated in this experiential faire focused on STEM activities and tinkering.

July

ICAT Maker Camp, Blacksburg, VA

• Campers used up cycled materials, computer programs, electronic sensors, and microprocessors to design and build musical instruments.

June

Article: Dr. Polys invited to White House's Maker Faire!

• Nicholas Polys was invited to the White House Maker Faire in summer 2014. Polys presented his research on the NIH 3-D Print Exchange.

April

Hanover Arts and Science Festival, Hanover VA

• A Hanover STEM and Arts Makerspace was held at the Festival of the Arts and Sciences for Hanover County Public Schools.  Adult visitors to the Makerspace were able to see examples of over two dozen maker projects and kits used in maker programs and learn more about 4-H Maker programs in Hanover County Schools. More than 150 young makers took part in workshops and other activities at the makerspace during the festival.

December

Article: 4-H Maker Movement in Hanover

• Virginia Extension Success story on the 4-H Maker programs in Hanover County.

November

Science Camp, Jamestown 4-H Education Center

• Youth at this science camp participated in a day long maker workshop learning beginning electronics and building circuits to create a remote controlled rover vehicle.

Article:  Maker Movement and Vriginia 4-H

• Reflections on the Maker Movement across America and the future of Maker Education in Virginia.

September

New York World Maker Faire

• Hanover 4-H Makers from the Summer STEM Learning Institute were invited by Cognizant to "Make The Future" by leading a maker workshop at the World Maker Faire Young Maker Pavilion. Hanover's Young Makers assisted Faire visitors in making a solar powered robot. 

Article: We Had a “Maker Festival” and So Can You!

• Central Rappahannock Regional Library held a Maker Festival open to the community. This article details how the event was organized and the details leading up to festival.

Hanover 4-H Maker Afterschool Programs

• Weekly 4-H Maker programs were introduced at 4-H afterschool programs at Henry Clay Elementary and Mechanicsville Elementary Schools.

July

ICAT Maker Camp, Blacksburg, VA

• Campers engaged in fabrication, prototyping, and programming to design and build original musical instruments.

June

Summer STEM Enrichment Program — The Georgetown School

• Hanover County students in the Summer STEM Enrichment Programs at The Georgetown School reinforce classroom learning with hands-on projects making solar, electric, and mechanical devices along with designing and programming robotics.

February

The Georgetown School

• The Georgetown School is home to Hanover County, Virginia's alternative education programs for at-risk students. The school offers an academic setting where students are given an opportunity to continue their education through individualized instruction and personalized lesson plans. Hanover 4-H started mentoring and in-school maker classes for the students at The Georgetown School.

July

ICAT Maker Camp, Blacksburg, VA

• On July 30, 2012, ICAT studio heads, researchers, and graduate students welcomed nearly thirty middle and high school-aged students to a week long camp designed to harness students’ creativity and encourage them to act on their curiosity.

• National Youth Maker Summit: The Maker National Youth Summit is for the creative and curious young minds of the next generation of innovators. Participants make what they can with a variety of materials from a range of fields, utilizing their resourcefulness and creativity.
• 4-H Robotics Program: 4-H has developed a comprehensive robotics program to inspire young people and develop an early interest in robotics engineering and technology.
• Utah State University Extension 4-H STEM Programs
  Utah 4-H STEM activities and curriculum introduce youth to science, technology, engineering and math in an engaging, hands-on learning environment.
• DixieTechs: The 4-H Maker Series
  The Maker Movement embraces the idea of igniting the spark in young people to create, collaborate, and develop 4-H science abilities.
• The Maker Education Initiative and Johnson County 4-H
  4-H allows for the maker mindset to take place in a variety of venues.
• University of New Hampshire 4-H Maker Challenge
  Project booklet for a water bottle rocket challenge.

• The Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium: Projects for tinkerers from the team at the Exploratorium.
• The Sylvia Show: Sylvia's DIY webshow on everything cool and worth Making.
• Squishy Circuits Project Page: A project from the Playful Learning Lab at the University of St. Thomas.
• SparkTruck Tool Cards: A guide for educators that introduces tools.
• Maker Education Initiative: You tube channel for Maker Ed.
• The Tinkering School: List of project plans from the tinkering school.
• Play Make Share Studio: A Makerspace/School Fab Lab for the Play Make Share program at the REM Learning Center.
• Design Make Play - Case Studies: Examples of innovative projects that offer a variety of ways for students and adults to get involved in design make play activities
• The Design Thinking Toolkit for Educators: New ways to be intentional and collaborative when designing.
• DIY Girls: DIY Girls LA Youtube channel.
• DIY Camps: Online camps for kids.
• Getting Hands-on with Soft Circuits: A workshop facilitators guide to soft circuits.
• High-Low Tech Group MIT Media Lab: High-Low Tech was a research group at the MIT Media Lab from 2009-2014.
• Howtosmile.org Projects: Science and math projects from Howtosmile.org.
• Informal Science projects: A central online space to share informal science education projects.
• Instructables.com: Community of people sharing what they make.
• Make it at Your Library: Helping librarians realize makerspace projects in their communities.
• Children's Museum of Pittsburgh Makeshop: Projects from the Makeshop at CMP.

• Maker Ed: Maker Ed is a non-profit organization that supports and empowers educators and communities to facilitate meaningful making and learning experiences with youth.
• Supporting the Teacher Maker Movement: When Teachers “Make” What They Teach.
• Creating an Authentic Maker Education Rubric: To assess maker projects in your class, begin with a three-part rubric to guide students through process, understanding, and product.
• How Maker Culture Builds Stronger Learning Communities: An innovative youth leadership program called Public Workshop has been partnering with high school students to remake their environment.
• Capture the Learning: Crafting the Maker Mindset: Plan a maker education program by identifying the content and skills you want to develop, and approach it as teaching creativity via PBL and design thinking.
• Making Room for Making: To bring maker education to your school, find a space, purchase equipment and supplies carefully, budget and partner creatively, and encourage ongoing student involvement.
• Dissecting the Un-Makerspace: Recycled Learning: Find a new dimension to maker education with an un-makerspace, a classroom set up for dismantling obsolete technology to investigate how it works.
• Make the Most of the Maker Movement: How can we make the most of Maker education? Here's some suggestions from early adopters who are making the most of this promising movement.
• Makerspaces for Students With Special Needs: Students with special needs and neurological differences can benefit from the hands-on process, experimental nature, and visible results of maker education.
• The Maker Movement: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants to Own the Future: The Maker movement's pedagogical roots reach back to 18th-century Europe even as its branches reach globally to transform 21st-century education.
• Making in Schools: The Creativity Lab's report on teaching making in schools.
• Maker Club Playbook: Maker Ed's Young Makers club guide.
• Makerspace Playbook School Edition: Maker Ed guide to starting makerspaces in schools.
• Makerspace @ The Tech Cookbook: The Tech Museum of Innovation's guide to makerspaces.
• Maker Program Blueprint: New York Hall of Science and Cognizant resource for creating makerspaces.
• High School Makerspace Tools & Materials: Makerspaces as collaborative workshops.