Sparking Creativity across the US
From Rick McMaster
A slight change in plans… I had promised inquiry- and project-based learning for K-12 as part of “back to school month” but here’s something that should not be missed if it has not yet visited your community,

I first learned about SparkTruck and its crew through WGBH’s Design Squad Nation, another great source of project-based learning. SparkTruck began as SparkLab, envisioned by a group of Stanford d.school students who are passionate about "making," education, and technology. They ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a truck and high-tech maker equipment. They made plans to visit some Bay Area schools and run hands-on workshops for middle school students. The project exploded into a cross-country road trip which is bringing the joy of creativity to kids across the US.

This sounded like a perfect match for our Central Texas STEM and more efforts so I lobbied hard with Jason Chua for a visit to Austin. We got the crew here for a whole week! We kept them busy well into the evenings. I had the opportunity to see them in action at several events. At Lake Point Elementary the fun began for the kids in the library with brainstorming a list of land animals and sea creatures. This was followed by a tough decision: which land animal should cross with which sea creature. How would the hybrid look? With the brainstorming and design complete, it was time for the build. Starting with a tiny vibrating motor, a button battery, some tape and a craft stick the kids invented a critter that moved in unpredictable ways. Adding pipe cleaners, craft foam, eyes, feathers and plenty of other decorations completed the land-sea vibrabot. There was time to test and redesign – if needed – and finally to share and compare.

Another stop was at a community event hosted by IBM where kids got to imagine their ideal city. Everyone picked a part of the city to design and build, and together they made a scale model of a futuristic metropolis.

On Saturday before heading south to San Antonio, the SparkTruck crew hung out with neighborhood kids at a Stanford alumni event and visited the Magellan International School to do a stamps workshop with the second-graders.

The SparkTruck crew has a near endless supply of maker activities to encourage creativity in kids of all ages. “We want to make sure that fun, open-ended opportunities are made available to kids as they move through school and life because this is what helps kids get over their fear of failure and grow confidence in their abilities to be creative and work through tough problems.”

SparkTruck could be the start of something big. Imagine a fleet of these trucks each with a crew of enthusiastic students crisscrossing the country throughout the year sparking enthusiasm wherever they visit. I’m on board!

Make sure to visit their website for lots more information.

Next month, I’ll talk about some projects and demos perfect for Halloween.

As always, your comments are welcome, @drkold.

Rick McMaster is the STEM Advocate at IBM’s University Programs Worldwide.

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