Posts by Erik, Teen Librarian

New 3D Printer and Design Workshop

New 3D Printer and Design Workshop

In March 2020, at the very onset of the COVID crisis when healthcare workers needed PPE, the Library donated its two 3D printers to a “mask farm” at Riverside Hospital in Yonkers. Thanks to our partnership with Con Edison, we’ve been able to replace both of the printers and expand printing programs and services at the Library. Our newest acquisition is a Prusa SL1 3D printer, our first SLA printer. SLA (stereolithography) printing is fairly new to desktop 3D printing. The process uses a liquid resin and solidifies it layer by layer using UV light and an LED display making
Read More

November 19, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: 3D design, 3D printer, 3d printing, Con Edison, edge events, events, kids, middle grade, teens, and trove events.

Grab&Go: Tripod Catapult

Grab&Go: Tripod Catapult

STEAM Monday has been phased into Grab ‘n Go Craft Kits! Instead of finding material around your home, you can pick those materials up from the Library, then follow along with an instructional video for making a project. Our first project is a Tripod Catapult. You can pick up the materials with instructions from the Library and use the video to follow along. Or you can find the materials around your home and follow the video to make the project. How Is This Working? The most important part of a catapult is it’s base. For this catapult we made a
Read More

November 10, 2020 2:58 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Grab and Go Kits, Grab&Go Kits, STEAM, STEAM learning, and tutorials.

How Did I Get Here? Virtual Career Panels

How Did I Get Here? Virtual Career Panels

This October the Library will be hosting three career panels on Zoom. Our first panel on October 1st at 6:00 p.m., will feature New York State Assembly person David Buchwald. He will talk about his career in politics and public service. The next two panels on October 13th and 15th, at 4:00 p.m., will have employees from Verisk Financial, an analytics company in White Plains. Their careers deal with coding, product development, user interface design, and, well, analytics. Our fourth career panel on October 22nd, at 6:00 p.m., will feature Randy Altman, owner of Altman Rentals. His company rents production
Read More

October 17, 2020 10:00 am | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: career panel, Career Panels, edge events, How Did I Get Here?, and teen events.

STEAM at Home: Flying Dragon

STEAM at Home: Flying Dragon

This week we are going to make a dragon fly and learn about how levers work. Materials: Toilet Paper Roll Construction Paper Marker Pencil Ruler Glue Tape Yarn Getting Started: We are going to start by making our dragon. Cut a piece of construction paper so that it covers your toilet paper roll. Use tape or glue to attach it. Next design the head, wings, and tail of your dragon. Cut them out and attach them using glue or tape. You can use a marker to decorate your dragon and draw eyes and a mouth on it. Prepare For Flight:
Read More

October 12, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEAM learning, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Fireworks in a Jar

STEAM at Home: Fireworks in a Jar

Today we are going to do a simple project making fireworks in a jar. This is cool and quite fun to watch, and a simple lesson in liquid density. Materials: Glass Jar or Glass (make sure it is clear) Small Dish Cooking Oil Food Dye (3 or 4 colors) Toothpick Water Getting Started: Fill the glass jar with water, but leave some room at the top. Take your little dish and cover the bottom with cooking oil. Add 3-5 drops of food coloring, keeping the drops separate. Take your toothpick and dab the drops of food coloring to break them
Read More

October 5, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM at home, STEAM learning, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Human Robot

STEAM at Home: Human Robot

This week’s STEAM At Home project will teach you a little about coding, without needing a computer. Materials: Printable Scratch Blocks (or you can make your own!) Paper Scissors Tape – scotch and masking tape Pen Another Person Background: Scratch.mit is a website used for teaching simple coding and computational thinking. You drag and drop blocks into your work area to create a program, the coding is done in the background. They use visuals, simple language, and a snapping feature to fit your blocks together, making it easy to write a computer program. You need a computer and internet connection
Read More

October 1, 2020 2:17 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: coding, STEAM, STEAM at home, STEAM learning, STEM, and videos.

Summer of Making Recap

Summer of Making Recap

Earlier this year, the Library was very happy to learn that Verisk Analytics would continue supporting our Summer of Making programs during the pandemic. We also received funds from Con Edison to support two weeks of afternoon programming this summer as well. This year we faced a big challenge: how to offer these programs virtually. The Library hired two Edge-ucators to run our virtual programs for teenagers. Carolina Melo grew up in White Plains and graduated from White Plains High School. She recently graduated from Parsons School of Design with an MFA. Michael Brand is a student at Iona College
Read More

September 22, 2020 11:40 am | by | No Comments
Categories: COVID-19, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Con Edison, STEAM, STEAM learning, STEM, Summer of Making, Verisk Analytics, and White Plains Library Foundation.

STEAM at Home: Cloud in a Jar

STEAM at Home: Cloud in a Jar

This week’s STEAM At Home project is weather science. We will be learning about how clouds are formed and make a cloud in a jar. Materials: Jar with lid (mason jars work really well) Ice Hot Water Pollutant (I used hairspray) Procedure: Heat up ⅓ cup of water. Poor the water into the jar, and swoosh it around the sides carefully so the glass heats up. Take the lid and turn it upside down, and fill it with ice cubes. Place the lid on top of the jar (still upside down so the ice cubes don’t fall into the jar).
Read More

September 21, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEAM learning, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Styrofoam Glider

STEAM at Home: Styrofoam Glider

This week’s project was to take a piece of styrofoam and make it fly through the air. This is a fun and simple way to learn a little about aeronautics. Supplies: Styrofoam rectangle (you can use a meat tray) Playing card Tape Coins Ruler Marker Exacto Knife Instructions: Make a styrofoam rectangle. I used a meat tray from the supermarket; wash off all of the salmonella and cut off the rounded sides to create a flat piece. Center of Gravity: For an object to fly, the center of gravity (CG) needs to be 75% behind the balancing point. Right now
Read More

September 7, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEAM learning, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Balloon Rockets

STEAM at Home: Balloon Rockets

This week’s STEAMonday project introduces some basic concepts of rocket science by turning a balloon into a rocket. Supplies: Balloon Origami Paper First step is to take your balloon, blow it up, and release it. Watch it fly through the air with a random trajectory. What is a rocket? A rocket is simply a container full of fuel, with a nozzle that will slowly release the fuel, sending an object in the air. Is a balloon a rocket? Absolutely! It is a container, full of fuel (your hot air to be exact, or CO2 which is a gas), with a
Read More

August 25, 2020 9:50 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Origami Cube

STEAM at Home: Origami Cube

I am continuing my theme of paper cubes this week because I am running out of ideas and supplies, so more origami! This week’s video gives instructions on how to make an origami cube that can hold up a significant amount of weight. Supplies: Paper – 6 pieces Scissors Something heavy Instructions: You will need 6 square pieces of paper to make the cube. Why? Because cubes have 6 sides. Follow the instructions in the video to fold the pieces of paper and see how to connect them to make the cube. Or go here and follow the instructions. Once
Read More

August 17, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Magic Foldable Box

STEAM at Home: Magic Foldable Box

This week’s STEAMonday project is a paper folding project. I don’t consider this origami because we use glue at the end, I am a purest with my origami projects. We are going to fold paper to create a box that folds and unfolds like magic. Materials: Paper: Origami paper is best, if you don’t have any then use printer paper or loose leaf paper Glue: Glue sticks, elmer's glue, or something quick drying Scissors – If you are not using origami paper Non-stick surface for gluing How to get started: Collect 10-12 pieces of paper, varying colors are best. Cut
Read More

August 4, 2020 11:17 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Cereal Box Maze

STEAM at Home: Cereal Box Maze

Today we are going to make a labyrinth or maze out of cereal boxes. “But I don’t eat cereal, Erik.” That’s ok, you can use any type of cardboard for this. Materials: 2 Cereal boxes (or any type of shallow cardboard box) equal in size Lots of straws Glue Tape Extra cardboard Toilet paper or paper towel rolls Something to punch holes with; an awl, drill bit Scissors and/or exacto knife Random stuff from around your home to use as obstacles Small marble or ball of some sort (nothing too light) Marker or colored pencils Decorations: stickers, colorful paper, wrapping
Read More

July 28, 2020 12:20 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Paper Bridge Challenge

STEAM at Home: Paper Bridge Challenge

This week’s STEAM At Home project is the paper bridge challenge. You can use only 1 piece of paper, (printer paper not card stock or construction paper) to build a bridge that will hold 100 pennies. Materials: 1 sheet of paper 100 pennies (or more) 2 objects equal in height (books, tissue boxes, pieces of wood), that are at least 2” high Instructions: Set your 2 objects about 9” apart, you don’t want them too close, that would be cheating. Make a bridge that covers the expanse and start adding pennies. See how many pennies you can add before the
Read More

July 20, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Paper Airplanes

STEAM at Home: Paper Airplanes

Paper airplanes are fun to make, but have you ever tried to recreate the world record paper airplane for flying the farthest, 226’ 10”? You can follow the instructions by John Collins to fold this amazing paper airplane. This is a mix of origami and aeronautics. Follow the instructions in my video to fold the plane. You can also watch the record breaking flight here. Paper airplanes that fly far are fun, but have you ever made a paper airplane that boomerangs back to you? The second part of my video follows the instructions of YouTuber TriKdanG, who made a
Read More

July 13, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEM, and video.

STEAM at Home: How Much Candy Do You Eat?

STEAM at Home: How Much Candy Do You Eat?

Have your parents ever asked you how much candy you’ve eaten after seeing you empty a bag? Today you will learn how to calculate that amount into cubic centimeters, which should be enough to confuse them and get them off of your back. Materials: Bag of M&Ms Measuring cup in milliliters (mL) Clay or bread Ruler with centimeters (CM) Paper, pencil, and calculator Measure Volume: We are going to take three measurements to find the Volume. 1st Measurement: Water Count out 100 M&Ms. Fill your measuring cup to 100mL with water. Poor your M&Ms into the water and write down
Read More

July 6, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Pop-Up Card

STEAM at Home: Pop-Up Card

This week for STEAMonday we made a pop-up card for a belated Father’s Day Gift. But you can make these for any occasion. Here’s what you need: 2 or 3 pieces of paper – preferably thicker paper than regular printer paper or notebook paper. Glue Stick Scissors Markers Other decorations You can make your own pop-up designs or use the ones I found here. Getting started: Take a piece of paper and fold it horizontally (landscape). At the fold side cut 3 tabs. Cut in six, 1.5”, slits along the fold. Then open the paper and fold your tabs into
Read More

June 29, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEM, and videos.

STEAM at Home: Paper Kite

STEAM at Home: Paper Kite

Learn how to build and fly a paper kite. Materials: Paper (colorful so you can see it in the sky) String Masking Tape Thick/wide Ribbon Light Sticks Pencil Ruler Spindle (or small piece of cardboard) Instructions: Hold the piece of paper horizontally (landscape) and fold it in half. Keep the crease to the left side. Measure 1” along the top from the crease and make a mark. Measure 3” along the bottom, from the crease, and make a mark. Line up the ruler on the right side of the 2 marks and fold the paper over the ruler. Flip your
Read More

June 22, 2020 10:01 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEM, and videos.

Summer of Making

Summer of Making

The Library will be holding our free summer camps virtually this year. Thanks to a generous grant from Verisk Analytics to the White Plains Library Foundation we will continue with another Summer of Making. Starting on June 29th and going through August 6th, there will be 6 1-week mini-camps held on Zoom for teens in grades 7-12. Registration is required, and you must be able to attend all programs in the week you register for. This year we have Carolina Melo and Michael Brand teaching our camps. Carolina Melo is an artist and interdisciplinary designer based in New York. She
Read More

June 18, 2020 11:21 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: edge events, STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEAM Camps, STEM, Summer of Making, summer programs, teen events, teen programs, and The Edge.

STEAM Programs for Middle Grades

STEAM Programs for Middle Grades

STEAM Programs for Middle Grades: Tuesdays and Thursdays in July, we'll offer a wide variety of virtual STEAM mini-camps for grades 4-6. Participants must be able to attend both sessions. Registration is required. To register, click on the date(s) you're interested in attending. Supplies will be provided by the Library. When they are ready you will be contacted to pick them up via contactless curbside pickup. June 30 & July 2 – 4:30-5:30 p.m. – Conor McFinn – Storyboarding and Storytelling Learn about Storyboarding and Storytelling for film in this 2-day workshop. Conor McFinn will teach techniques and secrets of
Read More

June 18, 2020 10:48 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: edge events, STEAM, STEAM activities, STEAM at home, STEAM Camps, STEM, summer programs, teen events, teen programs, The Edge, trove events, and Verisk Analytics.