For today's Wednesday Wonder, SLOCA parent Jeannett Gibson shares all about our recent Take Apart Day, which was a blast and full of wonders for all!
SLOCA's 1st Annual Take Apart Day was just a couple of weeks ago, in The Lab (Room 14), and by all accounts, it was a huge success! Fourteen students and their parents signed up to spend a couple of hours on a sunny Saturday morning exploring, investigating, and discovering just what was inside all of those everyday items we use in our lives.
The energy in the room was so fun. It wasn't long before the sounds of drills, hammers, and metal on metal mixed with the chatter of voices, young and old…er (!).
Armed with screwdrivers, crow bars, hammers, and drill bit kits very generously donated by iFixit, the kids got to work without skipping a beat.
Parents helped with tougher pieces and answered questions about specific components, but overall, the kids did the bulk of the work on their own.
Thanks to donations from our SLOCA community, and some discards from Fred & Betty's, kids had a huge selection of items they could dismantle, including an old Roomba vacuum!
While I personally don't understand all of the components inside these machines, I chatted with many of the kids about how amazing it was to see just what it takes for us to quickly flip a switch, push a button, or strike a key. We talked about the hard work and incredible minds that it must have taken to invent each little element inside the boxes we have in our homes and don't give much thought to.
And in some cases, like this espresso machine, we saw just how simple the device was!
Some devices proved easier to take apart than others, with the big printers being among the hardest to manage.
Sometimes, it was a bit of a scavenger hunt to find the tiny screw, tabs, and hinges that keep the casing on the devices (old Macs were especially tricky! At one point, we had three adults and several kids trying to figure it out!).
We were especially grateful to have been gifted one of iFixit's Universal Bit Kits, or there would have been several screws that would have never come out, without the specialized bit.
Each child was able to take apart at least two different devices, and often grouped together to work on more complicated devices.
In all, it was a super fun morning of good old fashioned tinkering, and kids went home with dusty fingers and pockets full of their favorite finds. One mom was planning on making a Christmas ornament from a hard drive as a memento of their time! We would love to host more Take Apart Days in the future, and we hope you join us! Be on the lookout for future events sponsored by The Lab!
Thank you, Jeannett, and The Lab @ SLOCA! Wow, what a great experience for these kids!
