If you are attempting the Teen Tech Challenge, you will need to pick one of the following to complete.
You may choose to complete the challenge in a group of up to 5 people. Make sure that you add all group members’ names to the entry when it is shared with the Grimes Public Library.
Option #1 : Make a Book Trailer
A book trailer is like a movie trailer, only it’s for a book. There are many different ways you can make a book trailer. Most likely, what you will need is:
A recording device
Editing equipment
People, props, costumes, etc. to use in the video
Your favorite book
The Grimes Public Library has two Mac computers that are equipped with editing software. (iMovie 9 and Final Cut Pro X) Feel free to use your phone, recording device, or we also have a tablet with a recording function that can be used in the library if you do not have a recording device. Otherwise, YouTube has a new feature that allows you to add music and edit video clips together online. [NOTE: You will need a YouTube account to use the YouTube editor, which means you will need to be age 14+ or have parental consent, and you will need a Gmail account]
Here are the rules for you video:
The video should be 1-5 minutes in length.
Do not use copyrighted songs, images, or video clips in your trailer (YouTube, iMovie, and Final Cut have images, music, and sound effects you can use, as long as you attribute them, meaning you put the title and the creator’s name of to image or song in the credits of your video. )
Please make sure that your video has appropriate content: No indecent, obscene, hateful, defamatory, or offensive material.
If you or anyone in your video is under the age of 14, please sign and return the Permission to Photograph form (below) to the Grimes Public Library.
Make sure that the video is shared with the Grimes Library, meaning that you can either: share the link to the video on our Facebook page, email the link to sheila@grimeslibrary.org, or bring the completed video to the Grimes Public Library on a flash drive or DVD to be uploaded to our Facebook page.
Have fun and be creative!
Here are some examples of Book Trailers:
Option #2: Make a Scratch Game
Scratch is a website that teaches the basics of coding by helping kids create their own online games.
To make a Scratch game, you first need to sign up for a free account. Next, go through the Scratch Tutorial to learn how to use the website’s features. The scratch community is very helpful.  If you have a question, you can usually use the search function to find a discussion or example. Also, you can look at the Scratch code in other people’s games by clicking “See inside” in the upper right-hand corner of the game. This will help you find new ways to use the code in your games.
Here are the rules:
The game must have something to do with libraries, books, or book characters.
Please make sure that your game has appropriate content: No indecent, obscene, hateful, defamatory, or offensive material.
Do not use copyrighted songs, images, or video clips (Scratch has sounds you can use built into the coding features.
Make sure that the game is shared with the Grimes Library, meaning that you can either: share the link to the video on our Facebook page or email the link to sheila@grimeslibrary.org.
Have fun and be creative!
Here are some examples:
Option #3: Design a Rube Goldberg Machine
Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist who was famous for drawing comic strips of “Professor Butt’s Inventions” that would perform simple tasks in very complex ways. Now, any chain reaction that performs a simple task is called a Rube Goldberg machine.
Here are the rules for your Rube Goldberg design:
The design must include at least 20 steps. (See Goldberg’s comics for examples of how to count the different steps of the chain reaction.)
One of the steps must include a book (be careful with the book, please!) or a library card.
Do not use copyrighted songs, images, or video clips.
Please make sure that your video has appropriate content: No indecent, obscene, hateful, defamatory, or offensive material.
You must film the machine in action so we know it works. Make sure that the video is shared with the Grimes Library, meaning that you can either: share the link to the video on our Facebook page, email the link to sheila@grimeslibrary.org, or bring the completed video to the Grimes Public Library on a flash drive or DVD to be uploaded to our Facebook page.
If there are people in the video who are under 14, they must fill out a Permission to Photograph form (below) and bring it in to the library.
