The Studio from a distance
Just had a look at a photo that I took from the Mezzanine yesterday (Soft Circuits Open Make). Seeing what The Studio looks like from afar triggered some thoughts about the overall environmental design. Looking forward to your comments.
Studio Sign
The new hand-made sign for The Studio is almost complete. Here it is in its raw form waiting for final touches and the structure that will keep it suspended high above the entrance.
Robert Semper
Robert Semper coordinates the museum’s overall content-related R&D development and manages the institution’s relations with the external science, education, and funding communities. His areas of responsibility include the museum’s science and art development, public understanding of research activities, and creative application development.
Mod your anything!
One of the many advantages of having a dedicated space on the museum floor is that it allows for quick and relatively easy experimenting with ideas for activities that do not need to be fully worked out yet. We tried out something last week that came about a little serendipitously.
Wrapped Up in Marble Machines
Our marble machines fort at the KSA Tinkering Studio Festival made for hours of entertainment, discovery, and challenge. Not only did the facilitators find innovative and playful ways to use the wall on a daily basis, but many of our "regulars"-- tinkerers who came back day after day--did as well.
Marble Machines in the KSA
Lately in Tinkering Studio Dhahran, some of our facilitators have been stretching the limits of the marble machine activity and literally thinking outside the box to make some really awesome tracks. Fatin, Rahiq, Tahani and others have been taking the lead to test out new ideas and involve visitors in making some really ambitious designs.
4th of July KSA Celebration!
KSA Light Painting, a set on Flickr.
After discovering (on Adam's birthday cake) that candles here are more like the sparklers we play with on the 4th of July, Ryan had the brilliant idea to try light painting with them.
Spotlight on KSA Facilitator Creations: Vest by Rahiq
At the explOratorium, the Explainers (who are facilitators on the floor of the museum) all wear bright orange vests. These vests make Explainers easily visible to each other and visitors, as well provide them with pockets to store all of their trinkets.
Spotlight on KSA Facilitator Creations: "Lazy Man" by Ahmed Mohssin
Since arriving in Saudi Arabia a few days ago, I have been impressed with the amount of time, thoughtfulness, and themselves our facilitators here are putting into individual projects they are inspired to make, and the amount of innovation and creativity I see expressed in these projects. Here is the first in a series of "Spotlight on KSA Facilitator Creations" posts that features a project by Ahmed Mohssin.
The Simplest Motors Ever and Explainer Training
Ryoko and I were tasked with leading the Explainers in a training this week that we call Study Group. The goal of study group is to explore one exhibit on the museum floor in depth to develop a deeper understanding of it.
My First Stop Motion Animation!
At work recently, Sebastian and Chad have been designing and perfecting a stop animation station, so visitors can easily create their own animations. Stop motion is a technique of film making in which someone takes a photograph, physically manipulates objects in the photo, and then repeats this process a million times before combining all the frames together into a delightful film! You can check out some short films that visitors to the Tinkering Studio have made by clicking here.
An Epic Marble Run
Here's a video of two high school dudes who spent most of their field trip in the museum building an epic contraption on the marble wall. They worked together to solve problems and create new challenges for themselves for over three hours.
After Dark: Question Your Perception
Thursday, July 15, 2021 • 6:00 p.m. PT
Examine the nature of human perception at After Dark.
Get Up, Stand Up: Organizing for Environmental Justice in Richmond | After Dark Online
Curious how long you’ll live? Studies suggest that the most accurate predictor is your zip code.
After Dark Online: Get Up, Stand Up: Organizing for Environmental Justice in Richmond
Thursday, June 17, 2021 • 7:00 p.m. PT
Hear from Richmond organizations about their fight for environmental justice.
Marble Melodies
In the past few months of experimenting with the marble machine fort on the museum floor, we've been prototyping various fun elements to add to the basic sets of materials. Ryoko has been interested in making elements that can help visitors add sound to their marble creations.
Meet the Makers: Ge Wang
Ge Wang is the founder of the Stanford Laptop Orchestra, and maker of the Ocarina app for the iPhone.
Meet the Makers: Walter Kitundu
Walter Kitundu is a multimedia artist at the Exploratorium, and works in the Learning Studio with us on everything from designing and building environments, facilitating activities, documentation, and more. He is also a gifted musician, instrument maker, and birder.
Open MAKE March: sound
Open MAKE came and went last Saturday, and with it a new theme for our Studio space on the museum floor. All of April we will be exploring sound and music.
Open MAKE: interview with Adrian Freed and Grace Kim
As promised, here is the interview that Dale Dougherty hosted with Adrian Freed and Grace Kim, at last month's Open MAKE event. Enjoy!
FT Explainer Training
This morning Ryan and I facilitated circuit necklaces for the Field Trip Explainers. The Explainers have been facilitating circuit boards on the floor, so they have had some time to get comfortable with making basic circuits.
Meet the Makers: Krys Bobrowski
This is a wonderful interview with musician and instrument builder Krys Bobrowski at last Saturday's Open MAKE event. Krys starts by playing her incredible kelp horn, an instrument she made by carefully drying kelp that she found on the beach so that she could play it with her French Horn mouthpiece.
OpenMAKE sound activities
We will soon update our gallery page with new pictures from the OpenMAKE day, but meanwhile please enjoy the video of our OpenMAKE afternoon activity. Although I was shooting only for the first hour, you can "see" and "hear" the energy from our Studio sound activities!
The Studio panorama view.
Member Preview Event: Storytime Science for Kids
Saturday, June 26, 2021 • 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Enjoy a science-themed storybook and a simple activity for kids.
Slow moving motor dissection
For the past five or six years, we have been using a very specific type of slow-moving motor for all kinds of workshops and activities. We absolutely love it (one might even go as far as saying it is one of our all-time favorite materials!), as it has a lot of great features: it is small, sturdy, has very high torque but slow sped of rotation, it takes anywhere from 3 to 18 volts, and works great with batteries as well as plug-in power.
Slow Moving Motor Repair
Luigi recently blogged about a broken-down slow moving motor. I wanted to take a crack at repairing it and had visions of machining a faux gold tooth out of brass for it.
Soft Circuit month - my favorite moments
It's all about documenting, taking photos and actually looking at the photos afterwards..
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