Santa Barbara, CA

STEAM Projects

Project I | Zine Journaling

At MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration and Innovation, I designed three zine journals that gave museum guests an opportunity to engage in open-ended science and engineering explorations. Guests received pencils and coloring materials to deepen their use of note-taking and experimentation as they explored the museum.

The zine journaling pilot became the root of the makerspace’s zine library during DIWhy, a month-long exploration of linkages between making and activism. Zines have been used in activist movements due to the low cost of printing and widespread access to the means of production—two features that make them a useful medium for educational institutions, as well.

A black and white hand-drawn collage featuring a comic strip, a game, and various illustrations. The comic strip promotes summer fun and contains playful images of a person, a star, a puzzle piece, a person with curly hair, and a triangle, with handwritten text. The game section includes instructions for a memory game called 'Color Matching,' with diagrams and scoring details. Another part asks about a 'Lookout Tower,' with drawings of a telescope and a mountaintop. There are sections on weather and musical instruments, with drawings of a rain cloud, a violin, and a hammer. The 'Walk, Leap, Jump' activity features stick figures of animals like a crab, snake, giraffe, and bird, with instructions for movement. The overall layout includes doodles, sketches, and handwritten notes.
Sketches and notes on parchment paper showing architectural designs and human figures.

The linkages between written observation, images, and scientific discovery in Da Vinci’s journals were a conceptual inspiration for journal-based museum explorations.

A blue wall behind a white table displaying various packing and serving items: an orange crinkled paper covering a sheet of bubble wrap, a plastic bag of small rocks, a stack of three stacked clear plastic cups, a bowl of assorted small stones, and four metal spoons.
Children playing on a multi-lane pinball machine at an indoor arcade or entertainment center.

At Build It, Test It, Race It, museum guests build cars that hurtle down a rollercoaster race track. The zine challenge encourages young journalists to explore the link between car weight and speed.

Project II | Hushed Heist

Building upon the Next Generation Science Standards, I co-designed a MOXI at Home activity where students designed and built a sound-minimizing footwear that could get them through a noisy obstacle course as quietly as possible. Access the full curriculum, including design challenges and activity extensions, here.

Hushed Heist became the basis of a virtual Engineering Explorations field that introduced hundreds of elementary school students to the design thinking as they sketched and ideated their sneaky sneakers.

Assorted miscellaneous items, including a stuffed animal, sock puppet, leather boot, cardboard pieces, washing sponge, foam balls, face masks, tape, and other craft materials arranged on a surface with a blue background.
A pig wearing a pair of brown work boots, lying on its side on a cardboard and fabric platform in front of a blue background. The pig appears to be a stuffed or plush toy.
Young woman balancing on roller skates with a slackline, surrounded by plastic cups, in an indoor science museum or activity center.