Thingamabob 10x5 Project

In Thingamabob, Bob the inventor receives three random items that he turns into useful devices.

 

In this project I recevied a random item.  My item was the bottom half of a toy egg.  I needed to make something useful with the egg, so I brainstormed the following ten ideas:

 

• Ball & Cups Magic Trick

• Helmet for a Monkey

• Spinning Top

• Mini Coffee Filter

• Sticky Note Holder

• Cookie Cutter

• Decision Maker Ring

• Handheld Percussion Kit

• Temporary Hand Stamper

• Satellite Dish
   

During class, I tend to write reminders and messages on sticky notes.  Sometimes, I fill one up and need to move to the next one, but have no where to put the first one.  I chose to create a sticky note holder that will hold my sticky notes, so that I can refer to them after class.

 

I then protoyped the sticky note holder idea using five different sets of protoytping materials: index cards & tape, aluminum foil, clay, Tinkercad, and the actual object with assorted materials.

 

See photos of each prototype below.  I found that the TInkercad prototype allowed me to model my device the best.  As an extension, I could even try printing that model as a sticky note holder.  My clay prototype made for the worst representation.  I really enjoyed exploring how different  materials could be used to model the same device.  Working through this process with students t made me realize that even though we have a wealth of materials available in our makerspace, most ideas can be prototyped with a few base materials.