Every sticker has a story. There’s that one you got in a card from a friend you hadn't seen for months. That other one from the restaurant you went to last year during summer vacation. And don’t forget that one from that workshop you attended at JMU. Remember that workshop, in which you drew a design on paper and then programmed a vinyl cutter to cut the design into a real sticker? This is that workshop. Participants will learn how to use math and computer science to draw, how to think about shapes parametrically, and how to unite the virtual and physical realms with programmable fabrication tools.
Faculty Developer: Dr. Chris Johnson, Computer Science
What students do:
Participants draw a water bottle sicker design and then use math and computer science to program fabrication tools and cut out their design. They leave with their own custom sticker.
What students learn:
- Spatial thinking, especially on the Cartesian coordinate system
- Linear and angular measurements, and the properties of circles and polygons.
- Mathematical thinking on graph paper
- Coding as a translation of ideas about the physical world into a digital form.
- Computational thinking including the algorithmic process (“What’s a good first step?”, “In what order should I complete these tasks?”, and “How do I derive what I need from what I already have?”)
- Quantitative reasoning including describing shapes in numeric parameters.
- Engineering design and fabrication including the fitness of their design.
