Makey:Lab gets young people into coding
Make: magazine is presenting an innovative experiment kit called Makey:Lab at the Maker Fair in Hanover. Developed in collaboration with the IoT Workshop of the Birkenfeld Environmental Campus of the University of Applied Sciences Trier, the project aims to spark an interest in programming, natural sciences and project thinking in young people from the age of 14, while at the same time communicating digitalisation and environmental awareness.
“With Makey:Lab we want to build unique sustainable systems with different special issues. Depending on the topic, Makey:Lab can be expanded with new features,” explains Daniel Bachfeld, editor-in-chief of Make: magazine. The heart of the kit is a microcontroller board that is graphically programmed similarly to the Calliope single-board computer. Two environmental sensors allow measuring various environmental data, including temperature, humidity, air pressure and air quality.
At Maker Fair Hannover, the Make Editorial team will be giving away 700 free blank boards in the shape of their mascot Makey. “Makey is very popular in the maker scene and gives the boards a cool look,” Bachfeld emphasizes. Clicking on a QR code on the board takes you to a landing page with more information on the hardware, software, magazine and release dates. The aim of the project is to show practical applications in everyday life. “We want to get young people interested in digital technology and show them its usefulness – for example, how it can be used to better perceive the environment,” explains Bachfeld. “These things are very useful.
“We can create practical things from everyday life, like visualizing the CO2 content in the air, seeing if there’s alcohol in your beer, or even visualizing the chemicals in your bread as it bakes.”
The collaboration with the Birkenfeld Environmental Campus of the University of Applied Sciences Trier, considered Germany’s greenest university and one of the top three in the global Green Index sustainability ranking, underlines the environmental focus. The campus will also be present at Maker Faire, presenting an IoT2 workshop and the makerspace INNODIG. The Makey:Lab project innovatively combines the teaching of technical skills with environmental awareness. It allows young people to immerse themselves in the world of programming and environmental technology, even without any previous knowledge.
Due to its playful approach and the possibility of continuously expanding the system, Makey:Lab offers a promising platform for long-term learning and experimentation in the field of digital environmental technologies.
advertisement
