Computational Thinking Based STEM Art Exhibits

Making large-scale STEM exhibits can be a very engaging group activity for students across all ages. Apart from giving them a sense of accomplishment from completing the mammoth task of exhibit making, it also inspires them to think about the underlying algorithm that generated the design. In this paper, we describe exhibit designs based on pixel art using materials such as dice, bindis, Rubik’s cubes, strings, tessellation tiles, sticky notes, push-pins etc. We also share our experience and learnings from making 25+ different large scale portraits with students from elementary school to undergraduates. Affordable raw-materials and open-source tools make the designs accessible for use by educators in their schools.