Building Sound Sculptures @ Panther

Sound Sculptures

Big Idea: We ran into some issues with getting a van to run us to the museum, but that did not hinder the creative teens at Panther as they worked towards completing their Sound Sculptures out at the club.

Dates: Monday, February 27th, Wednesday, March 1st, Monday, March 6th 2006

Groups Participating: Panther Boys and Girls Club Teens

Attendance: Jonathon, Braela, Thomas, Joshua, Michael, and Lahmia

Software: Cricket Logoblocks

Hardware: Laptops (1 per every 2 teens), laptop plugs, transfer crickets, transfer cables, crickets, motors, motor connectors, extra lego motor attachments and gears, light sensors, digital projector

Materials: please use this as a checklist...
-Miter box (saw guide)
-wood hand saw
-metal hand saw
-hot glue guns
-hot glue sticks
-lenths of peg board to use hot glue guns over
-hand drills
-drill bits
-various lengths of screws
-extra charged batteries for hand drills
-quick grips
-table vices
-various wood pieces
-various sound making materials
-soldering irons
-soldering stands
-sponges for soldering stands
-solder
-wire
-shrink wrap
-wire cutters
-scissors
-zip ties
-duct tape.

Directions: Let ‘em go. Make sure to bring in one completed sculpture for inspiration, and encourage them to begin by pointing out various objects with sound making potential, then building a stand to hold up the objects. Also have the digital projector set up to go through the logoblocks program needed as a group or individually according to the needs of the sculpture.

Associated Concepts: Tool and programming proficiency, confidence in creative process

Best Part: Definitely finishing projects successfully, however one thing I enjoyed was letting Michael go. I’ll explain. The other teens were determined to finish a working sound sculpture, however Michael simply wanted to use the tools and that’s all. We definitely encouraged him to go past the point of simply sawing and drilling, but that’s what he wanted to focus on. I thought about it and realized one concept of Design IT is our open studio policy. Michael showed up everyday, worked as long or longer on his “project” and loved being there. I simply realized that one idea of Design IT is to guide a teen to their path of interest, and from their let them takeover. Though he wasn’t completing the project we had in mind, in the end he completed a sculpture of his own that he was proud of, and had increased his tool proficiency ten fold.

Worst Part: Of course not getting the teens to the museum when I promised, and occasionally forgetting materials needed to continue on certain steps on thier sculptures. Please read “improvements” for that reason.

Improvements: You can build sound sculptures at the clubs without using power tools, but it’s simply a matter of bringing all the necessary materials. So PLEASE use the list of needed materials (the hardware and materials lists) above as a checklist and guide. Bring more crickets, transfer crickets, motors, and extra batteries then you think you'll need, and you and your teens should be successful.