{"id":6173,"date":"2020-04-27T15:12:25","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T19:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsknews.autodesk.com\/?post_type=news&p=6173"},"modified":"2020-05-05T16:11:32","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T20:11:32","slug":"distance-learning-spark-lab-tinkercad","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/adsknews.autodesk.com\/en\/news\/distance-learning-spark-lab-tinkercad\/","title":{"rendered":"Autodesk Teams Up With the Smithsonian Lemelson Center to Inspire Next Generation of Inventors Through Distance Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Traditionally, April in Washington D.C. means cherry blossoms and students\u00a0<\/span><\/span>arriving for their spring trips<\/span><\/span> to our nation\u2019s <\/span><\/span>capital.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>One of the hallmark stops for\u00a0<\/span><\/span>these school\u00a0<\/span><\/span>visits is<\/span><\/span> the Draper\u202f<\/span><\/span>Spark!Lab <\/span><\/span><\/span>located in the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History\u00a0<\/span><\/span>where kids\u00a0<\/span><\/span>can spend time\u00a0<\/span><\/span>playing and inventing with\u00a0<\/span><\/span>hands-on activities. While at <\/span><\/span>Spark!Lab<\/span><\/span>, visitors\u00a0<\/span><\/span>are empowered to believe that everyone is inventive in some way<\/span><\/span>. At a time when staying home is essential to public health, distance learning has become the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>norm<\/span><\/span>, with educators, parents and students alike looking to<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>online resources as essential ways to learn, play, and explore. And the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Spark!Lab<\/span><\/span>\u00a0is no different<\/span><\/span>!<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>

\"Child

Located in the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History, kids visit the Spark!Lab to play and invent through hands-on activities. Currently, all museum spaces are indefinitely closed.<\/p><\/div> Spark!Labs, both in the museum and in network sites across the country, are physical spaces where\u202fkids develop the skills and confidence they need to succeed today and in the future. While museum spaces are closed indefinitely, Spark!Lab, in collaboration with Autodesk, is launching<\/a> the most popular activities from the hands-on invention spaces through a no-cost online experience<\/a>. <\/span><\/span>What I love about these challenges is that they encourage students of all ages to think critically and creatively about different types of objects. By bringing these design challenges online, kids swap physical tools like cardboard and rubber bands for\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Tinkercad<\/span><\/span><\/a>, exposing learners to the basics of 3D modeling, electronics, and codin<\/span><\/span>g<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>To start, there are f<\/span><\/span>ive<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/span>Spark!Lab<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 activities\u202favailable\u202fon\u202f<\/span><\/span>Instructables<\/span><\/span>:<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Help Clean Up the Ocean,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Invent a Musical Instrument, Reinvent the Shopping Cart, Design a Spacecraft, and Design a Stadium.\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>