Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Museums & Science Fairs: Make Magazine Collaborations

And as many of you know, Make Magazine, the founder of Maker Faire (arguably the world's biggest science fair) has been collaborating for a while with science museums to have smaller fairs, "Maker" events, etc. The people behind Make have a deep, thrillingly unbridled passion for informal, hands-on learning.

For example, Make already serves as a hub for informal science fair groups of all ages, as witnessed by their list of  "Maker Community Groups and Spaces". They also have their own list of "Organizations that Promote Hands-on Learning" from around the world.

In 2008, they organized a program at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry called "American Maker". It was billed as a "Show-and-Tell" Program to Showcase Grassroots Innovation":
"Make Magazine has portrayed the work of thousands of makers across America. Now we're looking to discover the most innovative makers whose work has the potential to benefit others. We've created a new event called American Maker... as part of the launch of Science Chicago, a year-long celebration of science."
They have been collaborating off and on with the Exploratorium in many ways, especially with their "Young Maker" programs:
"As part of the Young Makers program, the Exploratorium will host "Open MAKE" on the last Saturday of the month, beginning January 30th, continuing on February 27th and March 27th and concluding on April 24th.The goal of the program is to encourage kids to make, show them different things they can learn to make, and work with kids who'd like to bring some of their work to Maker Faire"
Sounds like a Science Fair to me!

Finally, this year will see Maker Faires in 2 cities hosted by the New York Hall of Science, and the Henry Ford Museum.

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