Book With Polymer Clay Covers

I made this book in stages over the course of three days.  I wrote about the first day in an earlier blog post titled "Soldering Fail."  As it turned out, my soldering was just fine; my battery, however, was not!

Consequently, I learned that it's not a good idea to store coin batteries in containers where they touch one another!

While I am pretty excited about the way that the switch turned out (check out my short video below), I do wish that I'd used more color when I created the polymer clay covers.

I decided to use polymer clay for the covers, because I thought that it might be easier for the Lilypad LEDs to peek out from the inside.  While that was a correct assumption, these covers are a bit more flexible than I'd anticipated.

NGSS Framework Practices Addressed

1.  Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)

2.  Developing and using models

3.  Planning and carrying out investigations

4.  Analyzing and interpreting data

6.  Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)

8.  Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Project Idea

How can I integrate electronic circuitry with traditional bookbinding?

For my Create Make Learn project, I am going to combine the medium with which I most enjoy working (paper) with a new one (electronic circuitry and LEDs).



Last week, I learned how to solder (and how to spell solder) with the idea of adding LEDs to the cover of a hard-back book.

I also learned how to create a simple switch using copper tapes.





This week, I started playing around in my studio and ended up with an idea for a book cover made out of wood.  As I begin to build a functioning model, I will be thinking about other ways that I might be able to achieve interesting results.

I plan to apply the eight practices of science and engineering identified by the Science Framework for K-12 Science Education

1.  Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)

2.  Developing and using models

3.  Planning and carrying out investigations

4.  Analyzing and interpreting data

5.  Using mathematics and computational thinking

6.  Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)

7.  Engaging in argument from evidence

8.  Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information