The Gadgets Have Lift-Off!

This week, reinvigorated with energy from the mid-winter break and sunshine of this “Fool’s Spring” weather, Cerrito scientists set to work on the final project for our unit on electricity and magnetism-building gadgets! In teams of two and three, students brainstormed the types of gadgets they’d like to attempt by first agreeing on what evidence of energy they wanted to demonstrate (light, sound, motion – no heat for this project, please), what they’d like their gadget to do, and what creative elements they’d like to incorporate. Once the initial brainstorming was done, it was time to draw models, the most important of which was the model of the circuits they’d need to make their gadget functional. Once approved, students shopped for parts to build their first iterations of their circuits as a proof of concept. The next few weeks will have students shopping for other materials from our TBS Maker Space, building and testing iterations, and preparing their documentation and presentations. Check out the shots below to see the gadget building in action!