Science Class Ideas?

Science
#61

Hi All,

As a newish member to Makerspace I realize the importance to give back. I want to peak interest into a few subjects I could teach mostly in the science area.

Also if you are interested i can teach the intro to beekeeping and indoor gardening class again with practical side aka bring a light in soil etc…

Here are some ideas I have and am willing to teach just need to know if the interest is there…Also don’t know if these are already in the works as this was a really long thread!

  • Hydroponic gardening (with practicum)

  • Horticulture making feminized seeds and plant propagation/cloning. This will include instructions and a lab to do both

  • Seed swap/plant swap - its getting close to spring and i always buy more than i need lets mix it up with fellow gardeners

  • Grow and refine your own penicillin. This will be a class to the understanding growing and refining of penicillin we may do a lab here?

  • Herbalism - making tinctures and refining certain plants - review of herbal remedies and swap of seedlings we could do some extracts or something

Esential oils 101 - how to extract and make your own essential oils. I have a lemongrass bush that is 4’X4’ and needs a haircut we could use for the class.

  • Make your own bathbombs - class with instructions on how to make bathbombs with wet lab to make a few

  • Yeast 101 - how you can make your own yeast library for homebrewing and never buy it again! (yeast strain swap as part of the class)

  • Beekeeping 102 (working a hive and going offsite to a bee yard) this will be a practicum after beekeeping 101 since you will need equipment ( I have some)

  • Pickling basics - we will teach the basics to pickling and aseptic technique with a lab where we will pickle garden grown or store bought foods.

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#62

bummer could have used that!

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#63

I like the idea of hydroponic gardening specifically something small format like space buckets

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#64

Buckets are super easy to clean and cheap.

#65

Maybe you could borrow it from the guy who took it. Talk to this guy:

nausser915Jewelry/Small Metals Vice-chair

David_A_Tucker

Dec '18

David, thank you for thinking of us here in the Jewelry department. We really do appreciate donations, however they are only accepted on a case by case basis with approval from the committee chair. I believe this is the standard practice for all departments here at DMS.

Although the donation was very generous, I did not see any note with contact info or any info on where it came from. We already have a machine for this purpose and after a few weeks and some consideration, I declined to accept this into the inventory of tools for jewelry. Another committee member expressed some interest in it and took it before it made it to the freebie shelf.

This tool sounds like it may have some sentimental value, but I can tell you the machine is in good hands. Did you want it back?

#66

Kaleidoscope Making. Hey, whatever happened to Tommy Thomas??

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#67

Lining a satellite dish with mirrors to heat a brick oven for making pizza and bread. It should use Arduino to track the sun. Maybe have one permanently in the parking lot?

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#68

I wish but the landlord would really get us. Would be nice to have a BBQ Smoker and a Wood Fired Pizza Oven back there. Solar cooker would be cool too (pun intended).

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#70

I would like to second bringing back the electroplating class. While it is a long process, it is one thing I always bring up on my tours to show the cross collaboration between multiple committees. Taking a 3D printed part and electroplating it with copper and pass around the examples.

#71

Ditto. I was planning a surface treatment class for metals: copper plating, nickel plating, black oxide, colored anodize as well as deep etching.

Was going to bring everything in to demo, and take all the chemicals back out. Easy to do at home. just needed a class on how to do it. Maker projects wouldn’t be done.

3 Likes
#72

Tommy Thomas has moved to Austin. And, while he’s fixing it, his membership lapsed. He’s trying to come back once a month or so to teach the Dynatorch…

#73

I am not opposed to someone responsible teaching the class. Josh typically had some class documents on the committee drive and I can look to see if they’re still there. I am personally not interested in teaching the class but I will sit down with someone and go through the material to figure it out if they want to teach it. People liked the class and i think it should be taught.

If anyone is interested in teaching some of our older classes we can get together at some point and go through what we have and do some test runs. I am also open to new ideas. We need teachers in science, I have a couple of awesome people that have stepped up to help me teach but I welcome having more.

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#74

guys. let’s teach a class on making a volcano with vinegar and baking soda. it would totally rule.

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#75

i would actually love a class on etching / oxidizing metals and electroplating, i do leather work and body piercings with a back log of wish list

#76

I’m down to teach the older stuff if needed.