On the 13th, the first weekend after its opening, the Chiayi City Science 168 Education Expo drew a big crowd of families. Science challenge booths and science education classrooms were crowded with visitors, while the newly launched “Maker Classroom” and “Maker Works Exhibition” offered fun opportunities for both kids and adults to engage with the maker movement.
The “Maker Classroom” courses take the science experience to the next level. Developed by the self-directed learning and technology centers of three junior high schools in Chiayi City—Beixing, Lantan, and Yushan—the courses incorporate tech elements. They offer 29 sessions across five types of hands-on activities: programmable drones, programmable self-driving cars, balance-bot robots, elevators, and biomimetic robots. Designed for students from the fourth grade of elementary school to the second grade of junior high, these inspiring sessions attracted many young learners eager to get hands-on.
In addition, the Maker Works Exhibition showcased the achievements of Chiayi’s elementary and junior high schools in promoting maker education. Featuring works that applied laser engraving and 3D printing technologies, as well as various creative inventions such as a “hydraulic pinball machine,” a “perfect-shot ball launcher,” “simple mechanical toys,” and a “smart eye-care multifunctional desk lamp,” the exhibition allowed visitors to try out the creations themselves. Even adults were left amazed, exclaiming how “fun and interesting” it all was—they realized that technology is truly part of everyday life.