KatherineHercher HC407,M140031600 May30 th,2016 FishbowlandotherSpinners Abstract: ThepushforSTEM,whichstandsforScience,Technology,Engineering,and Math,isneededinthisdayandagemorethaneverbefore.Gettingkidsinterestedin STEMisimportantfortheirmentaldevelopmentandproblemsolvingskills.My interestwasstartingattheyoungestlevelsandgettingtheminterested.people s mindsarelessopentheoldertheyget,sostartingyoungisimperative.iwantedto doasimpleactivitythatcouldbecreative,thekidscoulddothemselves,something theycouldshowothers,andsomethingthatwouldmakethemlearn.isawan activityonlinethatwouldbeperfectandmodifiedittodoonalargerscale.usinga computerprogram,iwasabletomodifytheactivityandexpandontheinitialidea.i believethisisafunactivityforchildren,andthatitisanactivitythatwillopentheir mindstothecreativityusedinstem. Background: TherearemanywonderfulactivitiesontheInternettodowithkidstoget theminterestedinstem.oneoftheseactivitieswastitledthe FishBowlSpinner from TheCraftingChicks website,inwhichtwopiecesofpaperwereglued togetherwithstringinthemiddletospinthepicturesandmakeitseemlikethey wereactuallyonepicture.ononepieceofpaperwasthefishbowl,andontheother pieceofpaperwasthefish.thismethodofcreatingaspinnerallowsthekidsto colorhowtheywantto.thentheygettoseetheircreationscometolifewhenthey spinthepaperswiththestring.anotherversionofthisactivityusedthesamedesign forthepiecesofpaper,butinsteadofstringthatwasgluedhorizontally,awooden skewerwasusedthatwastapedvertically.thewoodenskewersallowedthe childrentospinitintheirhandseasierandalsocostlessthanalargeamountof stringrequiredforeveryprojectmade.ilikedtheinitialidea,andmygoalwasto modifythefishbowlspinnerssothatmorepicturesthanjustthefishbowlcouldbe usedintheactivitytoprovidemorevariety.ialsoneededtomakeatemplatesothat onalargescaletheoutlineforthepicturewasthere,butthekidsstillneededto color.informerversions,thecreatordrewinthefishbowlandthefish,aswellas coloredinthepictures.anothergoalwastomaketwosidesofthepaperthatdidnot looklikeanything,butwhenyouspunit,thetwosidesmadeapicture.thefirstof thesewastheword THINK.Ononeside,onlyverticallinesweredrawn,andonthe otherwerealargenumberofwhatlookedlikerandomlines.but,whenput together,theycreatedtheword THINK. MyinitialinterestinaprojectofthissortisbecauseIhavealwaysbeen fascinatedbyopticalillusions.theabilityforlinesonapaper,oracomputer simulationtotrickthebrainintoseeingsomethingeithernotthereornotpossibleis incredible.thefirstopticalillusionthatreallyfascinatedmewasthegifofa spinningdancerthatihadseenontheinternetbefore.thegifissimple.itconsists ofanallblackfigurerotatingoveragreyandwhitebackgroundwiththeshadowof thedancerprojectedonthegroundbelowher.themostamazingpartaboutthegif
ishowdependingonwholooksatit,thedancerwillbespinningadifferent direction.shewilleitherappeartobespinningtotheright,ortotheleft.ihavebeen abletochangemythinkingandseethedancerspinningtheoppositedirectionfrom whatiinitiallynoticed,butihavefounditisnearlyimpossibletoswitchbackand forthrapidly,especiallywhilewatchingthegif.anotherofmyfavoriteoptical illusionsisaneckercube.aneckercubeismadebydrawingtwosquaresofequal size,whichareoverlappinganddiagonaltooneanother.theneachcorneris connectedtothesamecornerontheopposingsquare.topleftcorner,totopleft corner,andsoon.oncethisisfinished,aboxwillbemade.theillusionishowthe boxisoriented.someseetheboxtiltedup,andsomeseetheboxtilteddown.this opticalillusioniseasiertoreversethedirectionthanthespinningdancerbecauseit isstationary,insteadofamovingpicture. Manypeoplehavemanyideasonwhyopticalillusionsexist,andhowthey cantrickourbrainsintoseeingthingsthataren thappening.onethoughtisthat becauseweperceivetheworldslightlyinthepast(becauseourbrainshaveto perceivewhatoureyessee,thereisaslightdelay,thiscouldbeourbraintryingto compensateand predictthefuture. Anotherthoughtisthatitisjustourbrains takingashortcut.becauseofalltheinformationandlightthateyestakeinatonce, duetotheslightdelay,ourbrainneedstotakeashortcutsowecanperceivethe worldandnotgetstucktryingtofigureoutwhattheillusionshouldactuallylook like.regardlessofhowandwhyourbrainsareeasilyfooledbyillusions,theyare fascinating.plus,moreillusions,suchasthe Blue/BlackversusGold/White dress debacleonsocialmedia,popupeverydaytokeepusonourtoesofhowweperceive theworldaroundus. InitiallyIwantedtodoanactivitydirectedtowardsElementaryschool children,becauseitiseasiertogetkidsexcitedaboutsomethingthanmiddleschool kidsorhighschoolkids.teachingthatscience,technology,engineering,andmath arereallyawesomeandcoolsubjectsisbestdoneearly.oncethekidsgetthe impressionstemis uncool, itishardtoundothatmindset.however,iftheyhave funactivitiestoworkthemintomorecomplexandmorefunstemprojects,they willcontinuetheirinterestinstemthroughouttheirlife.ihavealwaysenjoyed workingwithelementaryschoolchildrenbecauseoftheircreativityandpositive viewoftheworld,andsoiwantedtodoanactivitythatwassimpleandenjoyable. MethodsandMaterials: Theonlymaterialsneededarewoodenskewers,tape,scissors,theprinted outtemplates,andmarkers,crayons,orcoloredpencils andofcoursean imagination.theeasyaccesstothosematerials,especiallyattheelementaryschool level,makesthisagreatactivityforkidstodo!tomakethetemplates,iuseda MacBookApptitled Paint2 whichretailsfor$7.99ontheappstore.thisallowed metomakethetemplatesforthespinners.mygoalwastowasteaslittlepaperas possible,soimadethreetemplatesononepieceofpaper,andusedthebordersas well.sinceastandardprinterisn tabletoprintontheentirepieceofpaper,ihadto modifytheborders.theappwasabletogivemeatemplatesizeforana4pieceof paper,whichisthetypicalpaperusedinmostprinters.afterthat,iresearchedhow largetheareawasthatatypicalprintercouldprinton,andconvertedittopixels.i
wasthenabletodrawaborderonmytemplatefortheareaaprinterisabletoprint on.ithendividedthatareaintothreeequalpartsanddrewthetemplatesonthe program.ialsohavethetemplatefortheoriginalborders,sotherecanalwaysbe newdesignscreated.icreatedthedesignsbystartingonedesignontheleftsideof theborders,andthenusingthecopyfunctionintheprogramtomoveittotheright sideandfinishdrawingthelines,andthendeletethecopiedsection.thatgivesme twosidesthatcompleteoneanother,butneithersideisacompletepictureonits own.myoriginalgoalwaswhenthetemplateisprintedoutonlytwocutswouldbe requiredperpage.thisposedanissuewhenitcametimetotapeandspinthe spinners.becauseoftheextrapaperonthesides,theimagesdidn tlineuplikethey weresupposedtoandthefullpicturenevercametogether.however,onlytheside edgesneedtobecutoff,thetopandbottomedgescanbeleftbecausetheydon t interferewiththeoverallpicture.oncethesidesarecutoff,thepapercanbe dividedintothethreepictures.thenthekidscancolorthepages.whenthekidsare donecoloring,tapethewoodenskewerinthemiddleofthebackofoneofthetwo pictures.thenfoldthepictureonthedottedline,andtapetheedges.oncethatis done,thespinnerisreadytobespun!placethespinnerinbetweenyourhandsand moveyourhandsasifyouareattemptingtowarmthemup.yourpicturewillcome toliferightbeforeyoureyes! Thisisoneoftheexamplesofthe templatestocoloron.thisisa standarda4sizepieceofprinter paperwiththreespinnerdesignson it.thetopdesignisafishbowlwith fishinit,themiddledesignisthe word THINK,andthefinaldesignis aracecar.
Imadeasecondtemplatewithmore picturesafterpresentingtheoriginal designstoelementaryschoolchildren ataneventonoregonstate University scampuscalledseaday. Fromthereactionstothefirstsetof designs,icreatedthisnewtemplate. Thetopdesignisashootingstar,the middledesignisahotairballoon,and thebottomdesignisanotherofthe wordscrambles anditsaysthe wordexplore. Otherideasthatarepossibletocreateareanelephantblowingwateroutof itstrunk,avolcanoexploding,achristmastree,candle,andmanymore!withthe template,newdesignsareeasytocreateandproduce.usingthemacbookapp Paint2,Iwasabletocreatenewdesignswithrelativeease.Mymethod,which provedtoworkwell,wastothinkofadesign,andcreatethedesigncompletelyon onehalfofathirdofthetemplate.then,iwoulddeletesomeofthelines,andusing thecopytool,copywhatwasleftontotherightsideofthethirdofthetemplate.for example,icreatedtheentireword THINK ononeside,andthendeletedallthe linesexceptfortheverticallines.onceididthat,icopiedovertheentireleftside, whichwasalltheverticallines,andpasteditontotherightside.thisgavemean accuratetemplatetoputinthe random otherlinestocreatetherestoftheword THINK.OnceIhadmadetherestofthelines,thecopiedoverpartwasdeleted,soI thenhadtwohalvesofapicture,whichbothlookedincompleteontheirown.for thesecondsetofdesignsiusedthesamemethodasididforthefirstsetofdesigns, andfoundthatitwaseasierbecauseihadalreadycreateddesignsusingtheapp before.
ThisisthetemplateImadetocreatethree designsononepieceofa4paper.iusedtheapp tomeasurethepixels,andthesmallerrectangle istheareaatypicalprintercanprinton,sothat thedesignsdon tstretchtheentirepageand thenarecutoffwhenprinted.thedesignalso allowsforthemaximumamountofpapertobe used,andminimalpapertobecutoffand recycledattheend. ResultsandDiscussion: Thisisaverysimpleactivitythatgetskidstobecreativeandunderstand howthespinnerworks.becausetheyarespinningitsoquickly,theireyeistakingin thepicturefromeithersideveryquickly,andbecausethebrainisn tableto differentiatebetweenthetwo,sothebrainshortcutsanditcombinesthepicture intoonepicture.iwantedthisactivitytobeaccessibletoanyonethatwantstodoit. Mostchildrenhavematerialstocolorwith,woodenskewersareinexpensiveand comeinbulk,andsothepossibilitiesforthisprojecttocontinueareendless.thisis notaprojectthatwillendhere,i,andiamsuremanyothers,willcontinuetocome upwithnewideasandnewpicturestoputonthespinnerthatwillexcitethekids. AfterpresentingtheprojecttoElementaryschoolkidsataneventonOregonState University scampus SEADay, Ifoundwhatdesignsthekidsweremostinterested in.ipresentedthefirstthreedesigns(theword THINK, theracecar,andthe fishbowl,andifoundthatthefishbowlwasthemostpopular,thentheword THINK, thentheracecar.iwassurprisedbecauseithoughtthewordscramble wouldbetheleastpopularbecausetherewasn tasmuchtocolor,butthetwo scrambledpiecesmadethekidsmoreinterestedinthatspinner.thoseresults inspiredthesecondsetofdesigns(thehotairballoon,theshootingstar,andthe word EXPLORE,andhopefullythosewillbepopularwiththekidstoo.Thereare endlessopportunitiesfordesigns,andthecreativityofkidswillcontinuetoinspire them. Acknowledgements: TheauthoracknowledgesherProfessor,TravisWalker,forguidance throughouttheprojectofcreatingspinnersandtheinspirationtowanttoexcite childrenaboutstem.