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Announcing the Holiday MicroProject Winners!
Holiday MicroProject Winners!
Greetings Squad members! Here it is, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: it’s time to announce the Holiday MicroProject Winners! The December/January Challenge was to teach your parents something about technology. We asked students to take something they learned in MOUSE Squad and teach it to someone in their family. We had some excellent submissions this month!
Our Grand Prize
A $60 gift card to Best Buy goes to mrlegofreak12345678 from The MOUSE Squad at SISCL in Staten Island, New York who created an excellent submission. Their project is different because they taught their mother to use Photoshop to do an activity they learned at school, and also had her write a blog post. They did a great job showcasing their work!! It's awesome to be able to teach someone a new skill, but this project won the Grand Prize because it shows us a direct product created by the person they taught. We were really excited to see this beautiful example of a student teaching their parent not just about technology but also about how special she is as a person and a mom. Great job!
Check out their project here!
Our First Runner Up
Winner of the runner up award for a Papertronics Lunar Module is asianboycool from S.E.T.H. L.O.W.’S SQUAD in Brooklyn, New York! Their project, 'this is my micro project' won the First Runner Up prize because of the awesome job they did showing what they'd teach their parents about computers, and for the great presentation they made in PowerPoint!
Check out their project and the blog post here!
Our Second Runner Up
Also receiving a Papertronics Lunar Module is Bacon_Lover from S.E.T.H. L.O.W.’S SQUAD in Brooklyn, New York! They wrote a great post about teaching their Grandmother how to use HTML, and linked to their own blog! It was a really fun read!
Check out their project and the post here!
It's always such a difficult decision voting on submissions and awarding these prizes. Thank you to Coordinators and students who participated and submitted such awesome projects! We are looking forward to seeing many more of them in the future. Be sure to check out our February MicroProject: WHAT POWERS YOUR SQUAD?
February MicroProject: What Powers Your Squad?
Are students, teachers, or family members often impressed with your skills and knowledge about technology? Are they sometimes surprised that someone your age can do all the things you can do? We bet they are! MOUSE Squad members are exceptional young people. And has anyone ever asked how your MOUSE Squad can accomplish so much? In other words, do they want to know what drives your MOUSE Squad? Well, we do too!
This month, your challenge is to show us in a visual way, what makes your MOUSE Squad tick.
Steps for this month’s challenge:
- First, figure out what makes your MOUSE Squad work so awesomely. Is it the technology that you have and use? Is it the unique personality traits that each member of the Squad has? Maybe it’s the amazing way you work together that makes your Squad extraordinary?
- Then, make an interactive presentation or poster to show others what magic is behind your MOUSE Squad curtain. Is your squad fueled by awesome teachers? Positive words of inspiration? Great tech role models? A really fun music playlist? Solving all the cases your school needs help with? Your hopes and dreams? At the bottom of this post you will find a couple free, online tools to tell us what fuels YOUR squad.
Bonus Points
Get a little scientific and collect some cool data about your MOUSE Squad. Then, show us the data in a visual way, by using a graph or chart. Here are some sample bonus topics:
- The time when the most (or least) cases are submitted to CaseTracker.
- What types (virus, hardware, internet) of problems come up most in your school.
- Or maybe the data you collect is about the members of your Squad...
Your Free Tools
- Prezi - Use Prezi to create presentations that pan and zoom!
- Glogster - With Glogster, you can create interactive posters loaded with text, graphics, music and videos.
MicroProject winners receive:
- A $60 Best Buy gift card for the Grand Prize winner!
- Papertronics Lunar Modules for 2 runners up! Papertronics are paper toys with paper electronic circuits in them that you build yourself!
We hope you have fun figuring out what gives your MOUSE Squad oomph. We can’t wait to see what you discover!
New UnPlugged Workshops: Intro to Garage Robotics
UPDATE: These workshops are full. Please email meredith [at] mouse.org if you would like to be added to the waitlist.
Attention Inventors, Tinkerers, DIY Enthusiasts!
Sign up now for one of three Garage Robotics Intro Workshops!
WHAT IS GARAGE ROBOTICS?
Garage Robotics is a MOUSE Squad Specialist Certification where you'll learn the basics of circuitry, microprocessor programming and prototyping. You can self-lead through online step-by-step activities using a robotics materials kit. This workshop will get you started on your way toward Garage Robotics Certification. PLUS! you get to keep the materials we give you to help you finish certification back at school!
WHEN: Choose 1 of the following workshop dates
- Thursday, Feb. 9th 4pm - 6:30pm
- Thursday, Feb. 16th 4pm - 6:30pm
- Thursday, March 1st 4pm - 6:30pm
WHERE:
Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science - Downtown Brooklyn: 283 Adams Street Street, Brooklyn NY. Map it!
DIRECTIONS:
Take the 2,3,4,5 to Borough Hall or the A,C,F,N,R to Jay Street Borough Hall.
WHAT DO SQUADS GET?
- MOUSE will provide 1 complete materials kit for each pair of students who register - including breadboards, an arduino microprocessor, LEDs, photo-sensors and more (worth over $60).
- An opportunity for squads to collaborate with other students interested in physical computing and the DIY movement.
- EMOTI-CON (Optional):
Any squad working on Garage Robotics certification is eligible to present their final project at the 4th annual Emoti-Con! NYC: Youth Digital Media and Technology Challenge on Saturday June 2nd.
CLICK EMAIL US TO GET ADDED TO THE WAITLIST!
