Children's Museum of Houston- Week Three

Hello everyone, how are you guys doing? Well this week was different from the rest just because well we didn't have groups come in like we usually have been having. So this week was pretty chill and relaxed or so I thought it was going to be. We had to start prototyping new ideas for project to make later on. Also in like two weeks we will be having local Girl Scout groups come in and we have to begin to prototype the project they will be working on which is a music box. I will go into more detail about that when we do that activity just because I'm not completely sure all the details about it. This week we are having drop in hours which any kid 8 and older with a parent can come into the maker annex (where I work) and do the activity we have which is Marble Run. Marble Run is this big board about four feet in height and the goal is to create some kind of design that prevents the marble from falling directly to the floor which would take one second. So you make your little obstacle and the goal is to keep the marble up in the air on the board for about 10 seconds. You might think that oh 10 seconds that doesn’t sound so hard but it kinda is. I did my own an I could only keep it up for 7 seconds which isn’t so bad but still not reaching the goal. This week I also continued to work on the videos I have to make that are going towards to promote this part of the exhibit that doesn’t get as much attention as the rest. It’s called “Widget Wall” and its in the corner but its this magnetic wall that you can basically build anything with the same concept of the Marble Run and just create this obstacle that makes the ball travel. With the “Widget Wall” is this table with blocks,dominos, pendelums, and other small building materials. My task at hand is to create informative videos that will show kids examples of what they can build with all the materials there. One idea I am really focusing on is showing the kids “Domino Effect”. Giving them a small definition of what it is and how they can build something to demonstrate that. I made about seven different videos and I am currently working on putting them together so it can be displayed on an iPad. This was really frustrating just because I would build a good example but then when I had to shoot the video I would have trouble focusing the camera but also starting the motion and yeah it would work sometimes only halfway so I would start all over. Also I started working with the 3-D printers more this week. We have three of them here but they weren’t working properly so me and Jereme (one of my co-workers) started teaching really everything he knows while fixing them. He taught me how to load up the filament which is the plastic that is used to create the stuff, also to load it in the right slot because there is a left or right option. To be able to balance the platform as well because you don’t want it to close to the nozzle but also close enough where the filament will still be hot and stick with the rest. We had to add the 3-D film to one of them too because it was missing it, and that goes on the platform. I messed with the printer some like changing the temperature on some items that we were printing also how fast it takes for each layer, the percentage of infill you want in it, also another important thing is whether you want it to have a raft or not. The raft is too keep support on it an to make sure that it is connecting and staying on the platform but not everything needs it and sometimes does more harm then good. Also we cleaned, a lot to get everything ready for next week because Chevron and the Texans are coming to celebrate their partnership on being sponsors of the maker annex in which i have the pleasure working in. Which is really exciting but also sounds like a lot of work because we have to be happy and be all about we love them (we love ford, that kind of thing). I also had to sign this disclosure for Chevron basically signing my life away and saying any media they capture of me is theirs and I in no way are able to sue for compesation or if I feel like they are misinterpreting something so yeah that was fun but its okay because it be like that sometimes and I really doubt they will use the images in any bad way. But aye all publicity is good publicity am I right so why not let them use my images for something good, in a way I can say I worked for Chevron. This week in a way I really didn't do anything to help improve my community or any of that but instead it was kinda of an improvement towards myself. Learning new stuff and just being more rounded in different areas that I really would have never tried. Just like my cousin Dania said about how "the more we go beyond what makes us comfortable, beyond our presumed capabilities, the more we can become grounded in who we are and what we wish to do." I really connected with that just because that is my current situation and I applaud her for that cause I couldn't have said it any better. Hope you are all doing great and learning something new like I am. So this is the Maker Annex where I spend most of my time at the museum.