Keyboard Recycling

        For the past two years I have devoted a few days at the end of each school year to learning about and taking apart different types of technology. 2 years ago I bought a bunch of mini tool sets and I had my students learn about and take apart VHS tapes. This year I asked our county's tech person for any broken keyboards or mice. I kept them throughout the year and at the end of the year, my students learned about keyboards and took them apart in groups. They LOVED it. They had so much fun unscrewing, banging, pulling, and exploring the different parts of the keyboard. They came up with so many great questions. Each student got to take home a piece of their keyboard but there were tons of pieces left over. Hoarder me saved them and knew I could use them for something later. I was left with mainly a bunch of keys, screws, and metal bars. Over the summer I tried to figure out what to do with them. Check out what I made:

So I know I'm not a computer teacher and this would be super cool for someone who is but I thought it was fun anyways. If you have your students do this activity, you can make one too!

Materials:

Wood Plaque

Magnetic and Chalkboard Paint - You could use any paint

Computer Keys and Pieces

Hot Glue

1. First, I painted the plaque with magnetic paint and then sprayed it with chalkboard paint.

2. After that, I picked out the letter keys for my name. Luckily my students took apart several keyboards so there were enough of the S key (: 

3. Finally, I hot glued everything on. I'm hoping no hall dwellers are going to try to pick anything off but we'll see.

Well there it is, technology recycling for hoarders. At least I used the pieces for something! Have a cool way you've taught technology in your class? I'd love to hear it!

-OneCrazyS