Drop-in workshops
Suitable for events or public places where people can come and go but want to have a go at an activity. This drop-in workshop is based around some of the activities featured in ‘The Scavengers Workshop’ below.
Drop-in Scavengers at Eureka! The National Children’s Museum video here.
The Scavengers Tinkering workshop
Available for KS2 & KS3
Make the Robot Chicken and the Entropic Agitator. Old fans from broken computers, re-purposed into motors which we power from our 9 volt batteries (rechargeable, of course) to make strange and wonderful things happen. Working in groups we open our boxes and find… just a load of junk! With this we can easily construct some simple noise machines, dipping our toes into the mysteries of electromagnetism and acoustics on the way.
Cyber Scavengers
Available for KS2 & KS3 from September 2019.
We have to grudgingly admit that digital technology has it’s uses. No shiny consumer items here though, we only use cheap programmable digital systems like the Redfern Crumble, Arduino and Raspberry Pi. We use these to sequence the motors and acoustic objects, so our music can have a structure. This can be a fun and accessible route into coding and more advanced electronics skills.
Sonic Scavengers
Available for KS2 & KS3 from September 2019.
Piezo contact microphones are the best invention ever made. And they can be scavenged for free from things that go beep. We use them to explore sounds from unepected places: an egg slicer, a ruler, a rubber band, a grill tray and a slinky. This time the boxes contain upcycled items that contain hidden sounds, plus a contact mic and a mini amp. Ready for acoustic exploration? Let’s unleash those sounds…