Imagine and design solutions to challenges at the Maker Space. Make your creation from a range of materials provided and test out your design. Share your thinking with others and build on each other’s ideas.

Current Maker Space Activity

Spin cycle

31 March - 20 June 2021

Up, down and turn around! Construct a machine that uses spinning parts to make something move. What might your simple machine do and who might need to use it? 

With gears, wheels and everyday materials your contraption might be just for fun, meet a household need or solve a real world problem. Get those gears turning as you spin up some design ideas. 

This activity invites you to follow a design process. Below are some of the questions that will help you at each stage of the process. 
 

	Think of some solutions What are some real-world examples of simple machines or devices that use gears or wheels?   What ideas do you have for a design?  Who might use this machine? What might they need or want this machine to do?  How might you use gears or wheels to move something? Do all the gears and wheels move the same way? How might this change what you build?
	Make a prototype How will the different properties of materials affect what you use? How will you connect your components together? How do the different sized gears or wheels change how your machine moves?  How can you attach materials and parts to your gears and wheels and make these parts move?  What part of the design are you finding tricky to build?
	Test it out Spin your starting gear or wheel. Did every part move in the way you predicted it would?  What did you observe when you tested your machine.  What part of your design worked really well?  Does your machine or device do what your user wanted it to do? Has testing it given you any other ideas?
	Improve your design How could you improve your design? Are there any parts that could turn more smoothly or be more secure?  What would happen if you incorporated a different spinning part into your design or added a new feature? What changes can you make so that your machine could function differently, move something over a greater distance or around a corner or spin it in a different way?  What ideas could you incorporate from someone else’s design? If you started again, what would you do differently? What would you do the same?

This activity supports the key learning areas of Science and Design & Technology, in the Australian Curriculum.

Changes have been made to our Maker Space programs. This includes increased cleaning of furniture and shared equipment, disposal of single use materials after use and changes in the way we disperse material to reduce handling.

Previous program ideas and resources

• Sound makers

  16 December 2020 – 30 March 2021

  Strum, rattle, tap, strike and pluck! Design a Sound maker which can produce a range of different sounds. Consider who might use this device and what their needs might be.  

  Test out your Sound maker and see if you can control or change the pitch of your sounds?
  
  Consider what you would need to change to control the loudness or amplitude of your sounds.  

• Move it!

  14 September 2020 – 15 December 2020

  Grab, scoop, hook, flip and grip as you design and build a device to pick something up – without touching it with your hands! How can you build parts that can move, bend or rotate?  

  Test out your device by transporting an object from one place to another. Will your device be able to securely contain your object over a distance? Measure how far or how high you can move your object.

  Make improvements to your device and consider what you would need to change if you were transporting a different object.  

  Take the Move it challenge by setting up your own Maker Space activity at your space.

• Slow it down

  22 June 2020 – 13 September 2020

  How slow can you go? Design a way to slow down a speeding cart before it reaches the end of the track.  

  Make a vehicle and add customised parts to your cart. Test out your cart by rolling it down a ramp and measuring how far your cart goes. Make improvements to your design, so that your cart travels an increasingly shorter distance. 
  
  Think about the forces involved as your cart moves along the track. Change the angle of the ramp and see what happens. 

  Set up a Slow it down Maker Space challenge at your space.

• Take a seat

  16 December 2019 – 29 March 2020

  Fold, cut, roll and join! How will you change cardboard to make a mini chair? Be a designer and create a simple prototype using a range of different repurposed materials. 
  
  Consider who your chair is for and what they need this chair to do. Use a toy or small manikin as a character for testing. As you design your chair, think about strong shapes, structure, movable parts and stability. 

  Take a seat. Set up this Maker Space prototype challenge at your space.

• Air machines

  17 September – 15 December 2019

  Push, pull, lift and tilt! Add parts to an air powered machine. What will you make the machine do? Use two 10 ml syringes and plastic tubing to create a pneumatic system. When you push on one syringe plunger, the air pressure inside the system will cause the plunger in the other syringe to move. Add parts to your movable plungers. What will you make your air powered machine do? Add more their one pneumatic system into your machine. 

  Create an Air Machine Maker Space activity at your space.

• Land sailing rovers

  24 June 2019 - 16 September 2019

  How far will your wind-powered vehicle travel down a test track? Make a vehicle and create a customised mast and sail. Use a fan to propel your rover through some all-terrain challenges, such as different surfaces, ramps and bridges.
  
  Consider the properties of different materials and whether you need your mast and sail to be light or heavy, strong, rigid or flexible. Think about the forces involved as your rover moves forward.

  Set up a Land sailing rovers Maker Space activity at your space.

• Shake it up

  

  4 April 2019 - 23 June 2019

  Can your structure survive the power of an earthquake? Make and test your custom-built design to see if they survive the destructive force of the quake. Consider the different properties of the materials you are using and whether it is better for your structure to be light or heavy, strong, rigid or flexible? What happens if the quake is quite strong or you add multi-levels or weights to your design?

  Set up your own Shake it up Maker Space activity at your space.

• Can you cross it?

  17 December 2018 – 3 April 2019

  Moving something across town, over the river, up the mountain or across the valley takes some thought. Build a structure to help move something light or heavy between two parts of the landscape. Consider materials, strong shapes and the size and weight of your object. Your landscape can be made using boxes or furniture and have parts that are of different heights and different width spans.

  Can you cross it? Set up this Maker Space challenge at your space.

• Zip to it

  17 September 2018 – 16 December 2018

  This tricky terrain is a breeze if you slide or roll down a zip line. Make a device that transports a person or object safely along a zip line. Zip lines can be made from different types of thread, cord or line, set up at different angles and have different lengths. 

  Set up your Zip to it Maker Space activity at your space. Watch our design challenge video and download the resource.