Teacher Guide

PICTURE BOOKS, INSPIRING

STEAM Skills
Brought to you by the
STEAM-powered books lab

* Science * Technology * Engineering * The Arts * Mathematics

MECHANICA
BY LANCE BALCHIN
ISBN: 9781760401085
Published: September 2016
Imprint: The Five Mile Press

This fictional narrative is presented like a non-fiction

encyclopaedia. It is set in the distant future, where
animals on have become extinct and replaced by man-
made creatures that are out of control and destroying
Image by Lance Balchin, 2016. Used with Permission.
what is left of the Earth.

DESIGN PROJECT IDEAS

* Students recreate a Mechanica from the book or invent their own Mechanica.
- High Tech - use magnetic circuitry components, such as LittleBits to bring
the creature to life with light, sound and movement.
- Medium tech - use coin cell batteries and small motors with found objects to
make small robots, such as bristlebots (see resources below for instructions).
- Low Tech - use recycled materials and/or construction kits, such as Makedo
tools, Strawbees, etc. to create articulated movement.

* Students recreate a scene of part of the narrative, eg. Mechanica attacking

- High Tech - Create/Program an animation of a scene using Coding programs such
as SCRATCH, HOPSCOTCH or Pyonkee (SCRATCH for iPad (links below)
- Low Tech - Students draw/paint/collage a scene

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM LINKS (POSSIBILITIES)

LEARNING AREAS
* Design Technologies - Technology and forces, motion and energy; Materials; Design
process and communication; Prototyping; Electrical energy
* Digital Technologies - Digital systems; Algorithms
* Science - Features of Living things, adaptations, Properties of materials, Forces and
movement, light and sound, Electrical energy
* Media Arts - Explore and manipulate stories' images, sound & text; Media technologies, Media
artworks
GENERAL CAPABILITIES
* Literacy - visual knowledge
* ICT Capability - creating, communicating, managing and operating with ICT
* Critical and Creative Thinking - inquiring, generating ideas, reflecting, evaluating

DESIGN PROCESS
THINK: Investigating and Defining -
- What interests/ideas are sparked by reading the book?
- Identify 'problems' to be solved - Choose a problem to work on
MAKE: Generating
- Brainstorm ideas for 'solving' the chosen problem
- Make a plan eg. sketch, list, mindmap, etc.
Producing and Implementing
- Gather appropriate materials
- Build a prototype, make adjustments/iterations during building phase
IMPROVE/ Evaluating
REFLECT: - Does the design solve the chosen problem? Does it work?
- Share prototype and seek feedback from others.83

RESOURCES & LINKS

* LittleBits - https://littlebits.cc/education
* BristleBot Instructions - http://steam.lesley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Bristle-Bots.pdf
* MakeDo - https://int.make.do/
* Strawbees - http://education.strawbees.com/maker-activities/
* HOPSCOTCH coding - https://www.gethopscotch.com/
* SCRATCH coding - https://scratch.mit.edu

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Student Guide
PICTURE BOOKS, INSPIRING
STEAM Skills
Brought to you by the
STEAM-powered books lab

* Science * Technology * Engineering * The Arts * Mathematics

MECHANICA
BY LANCE BALCHIN
ISBN: 9781760401085
Published: September 2016
Imprint: The Five Mile Press

This fictional narrative is presented like a non-fiction

encyclopaedia. It is set in the distant future, where
animals on have become extinct and replaced by man-
made creatures that are out of control and destroying
Image by Lance Balchin, 2016. Used with Permission.
what is left of the Earth.

DESIGN PROJECT IDEAS

* Create (or re-create) your own Mechanica - look
closely at the illustrations from the book.
* Create a scene from Mechanica
* Use the book as inspiration for your own creation.
Record your progress through the Design Process

DESIGN PROCESS

Image by Lotte ten Hacken and Anaum Zahid. - CCBY-SA 4.0

EXAMPLES

Image by Lotte ten Hacken CC BY-SA 4.0

Eg. Finished products

Image by Lotte ten Hacken CC BY-SA 4.0

Eg. Planning sketch

Image by Lotte ten Hacken CC BY-SA 4.0

Eg. Make phase - prototyping

with LittleBits, Makedo, Strawbees Image by Godrymple at
http://littlebits.cc/projects/butterfly-flasher