Giving new life to old junk

One of the neat things about the STEAM Lab is its ability to take items out of the waste stream and repurpose them for educational use. For example, consider this neat project that was recently offered by the Boston Museum of Science. Kids were invited to create a 'satellite' that would hover in a plastic tube over a steady stream of air. For supplies, they were offered plastic drinking cup lids, straws, disposable plastic pipettes, pipe cleaners, some flat foam die-cut shapes, and paper cups. When they were done with the challenge, they then deconstructed their satellite and returned the supplies to the bins where they came from, to be used again.

Plastic grating, canisters, wood pieces, cardboard,
 pipe cleaners, tubing... you name it, we can use it!

You never know what might come in handy for student projects. Whether it's old manila file folders that are cut up to use as stencils and templates, paper towel tubes that become columns on a Greek temple, clean 2-liter soda bottles for rocketry activities, CDs that will be wheels on a mousetrap car, or the remaining pieces from a broken boardgame that become part of a student's Math Game design project, the possibilities are endless.

So next time you're doing your spring cleaning, and you come across that nearly-empty wrapping paper tube, or a half-empty box of coffee stirrers, or an old vacuum hose that is cracked in the end, don't chuck it in the trash - email the STEAM Lab to see if can be put to use!