Blackstone Library TeenSpace

[jbmlteens-blog]

Maker Mondays are so much fun. We delved into #Tinkercad yesterday, everyone learned how to make their own 3D files.

[jbmlteens-blog]

Join us tomorrow at 4 to see a demo of our new 3D printer and learn how to find and make your own creations! Register by calling or click here: http://is.gd/eWxgEy

[yalsa-ttt]

The 2014 Teens’ Top Ten official titles have been announced! Check them out!

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/reads4teens/

[jbmlteens-blog]

Our last Learning Lab of the summer featured an anything-goes Duck Tape craft! With a donation from the Duck Tape company, we were able to offer an array of different colors and prints of tape. We set out different project ideas, plus let people find crafts they wanted to online... everyone was encouraged to find something they liked, or just make something up. It was a lot of fun - you can see a chess board in the making in the above photo. We plan on continuing these maker-style programs into the fall and winter... stay tuned! Have an idea for a program? Let us know! 

[jbmlteens-blog]

Programming in the Learning Labs

This week's Learning Labs were all about programming and coding. We set up a mini-computer-lab and let the kids explore various tutorials.  There are all kinds of FREE online tutorials and games that are designed to get you comfortable with coding. If you're interested, we encourage you to try some out yourself! Hour of Code: http://code.org/learn Scratch, from MIT: http://scratch.mit.edu/ CodeAcademy: http://www.codecademy.com/ KhanAcademy: https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/cs

[jbmlteens-blog]

"Hello Kitty (with a very aggressive weapon) vs Robot Monkey (with his hands up)"  -- This stop motion video was made in our LEARNING LABS - 2014 07 30... fantastic!

[jbmlteens-blog]

"Super Sleepover" Stop-motion video made in the Learning Labs on our library iPads.  

[jbmlteens-blog]

Making stop motion videos in yesterday's Learning Lab... it was so much fun!

[jbmlteens-blog]

[jbmlteens-blog]

The Learning Labs continue to be a big hit, with all kinds of engineering and tech exploration happening. Yesterday, we built egg-protection contraptions then dropped them from various heights, to see if the shell broke. Taking wind resistance and gravity into account, we had some great successes. We also made a variety of paper airplanes, and tested their flying distance. Want to join the Learning Labs fun? Next one coming up is Tuesday, July 29th. Register here: http://www.blackstone.lioninc.org/events/learning-labs-a-spotlight-on-technology-middle-school-and-up-2014-07-29/

[jbmlteens-blog]

[jbmlteens-blog]

The Letter That Kicked Off A Radio Career

As NPR's Tamara Keith steps into the Weekend Edition Saturday host chair this week, she looks back to a letter she wrote when she was 15 years old.

Have a career interest? It's never too early to start talking to people 'in the biz'. Find someone you look up to, and write them an email, a letter, or give them a call. It doesn't hurt to ask for help, and you never know where it can lead! 

[bookriot]

Can you read too much YA? Perhaps.

Here are your 20 signs to watch out for (or 20 signs own and enjoy!)

[jbmlteens-blog]

Racing BrushBots 

[jbmlteens-blog]

SnapCircuits project: build a flying fan. Completed!

[jbmlteens-blog]

Our first week of Learning Labs was great - BrushBots were built, raced and battled and circuitry projects were explored with SnapCircuits kits. So much fun!

[jbmlteens-blog]

Book trailer for CHANGERS Book One: Drew. Just finished this novel about walking in someone else's shoes for a year. Or rather, four others' shoes for four years. It's sci-fi, but gives a great look into what it's like to think you know who you are, only to find out you can be someone totally different... and that's all OK. Check out the book trailer, then take a look at the website www.wearechangers.org - related to the book, it explores empathy from lots of different angles. Pretty cool!