Inventables, Shapeoko and science education!

The “unexpected properties” of many products available at Inventables are useful in communicating scientific principles and the process of inquiry into science. The Materials Research Laboratory at the University of California Santa Barbara hosted a science teacher workshop in spring of 2012 to present curriculum projects developed with local teachers. Inventables products relating to “wearable materials”, “photonic crystals” and “graphene” were highlighted as part of a “materials for inquiry” session. These products included temperature sensitive cloth, conductive textiles, suction cup tape, non-slip surface, super absorbent fibers, phase change materials, radiant light film, shape memory polymer and conductive paint! For more information and for lesson ideas visit: http://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/education/workshops/2012-workshop Desktop manufacturing and "materials for inquiry": Desktop manufacturing presents an outstanding opportunity to en