Maker Faire WNY Regional 2024
Marble Mania
Home: New York, United States
Maker Mania marble runs are very much like slides, ramps, chutes, and lifting mechanisms , using old toys as a starting point. Creating a marble run is an effective way to explore the concepts of relative position, motion, and kinetic energy.
Maker
Charles Ruffino
Charles Ruffino is the art teacher at A.J. Schmidt Elementary School, teaching art to kindergarten through 5th grade children. His art classes features various STEAM activities, as well as recycling used discarded items into creative sculptures, Rube Goldberg machines and contraptions. He is a former modelmaker and Industrial Designer for companies such as Hasbro, Tonka, and Fisher Price.
What Inspired You to Make This?
Teaching art to children is the best job in the world! But having worked as a modelmaker for a Massachusetts company called Applied Model Technology, as well as in Hasbro's Research and Development Department as a 3D Designer, I am forever inspired to tinker with discarded motors, gears and gizmos to create new imaginings for old broken toys. The children in my classroom love to add to the whimsical designs!
