|
[?]
|
|
|
Chain Reaction Workshop with Explainers |
Chain Reaction is a P.I.E. activity in which participants get to
build contraptions using a variety of
materials: homemade switches, motors,
re-purposed toys, and everyday and
"art" materials are combined
to set each other off. Each two-persons
"team" gets a piece of real
estate on a tabletop, and a specified
input-output square. At the end of its
run, each contraption will trigger the
next one on the table; therefore each
team's creation contributes to the whole
final performance.
We hosted a workshop for the awesome
Exploratorium Explainers, much like the Marble Machines one that I got to participate in last
year. Just like before, half of the
explainers participated one day, and the
other half the next: someone has to help
those poor kids out on the floor to
explore!
An extra motivation for the workshop
was preparing for the upcoming Pi Day at the Exploratorium, when we will try
to replicate a version of this activity
of the floor, for the general public
(Yikes!). So we provided each time with
a Pi(e)-themed object to somehow
incorporate in the contraption. See if
you can spot them...
Oh, coincidentally March 14 (3-14, get
it? Pi? Nevermind...) is also Einstein's
birthday, so there were a few
Einstein-themed knickknacks too.
Once again I was amazed by the capacity
this group has to create brilliant and
fun machines in a really short amount of
time, with elegant and somewhat quirky
solutions to a variety of problems along
the way. Go Explainers, go!
108 photos | 399 views
items are from between 20 Feb 2008 & 21 Feb 2008.