Cranks, Creativity And U.S. History: Garden City Students Build 'America 250' Automatons

GARDEN CITY, NY — With America's 250th anniversary around the corner, Garden City students brought American history to life through a STEAM project.

Students across multiple grade levels worked on this districtwide project to create "American 250 Automatons," which are hand-operated mechanical figures that highlight pivotal moments and influential people in U.S. history.

This project combined researching history, engineering, art, design, and storytelling.

The initiative began at Garden City High School, where students in Mr. Mike Zagari's American History Soundtrack class developed digital presentations with Canva and recorded original narrations focused on major moments in American history, including the American Revolution, the Transcontinental Railroad, the moon landing, and the impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

At Garden City Middle School, STEAM students led by Dr. Tia Albig and Ms. Lori Biondi used those presentations as inspiration for original automaton concepts. Students developed artwork, movement plans, and building instructions centered around events such as the Civil War, the Great Migration, and the founding of Garden City before passing their designs on to elementary students.

Elementary students then took cardboard boxes and designed them into functioning automatons by measuring, drilling, assembling moving parts, and solving mechanical challenges throughout the engineering process.

After the projects were complete, students partnered with Mr. Mike Davola in Stewart School's green screen studio to film the automatons in action. The completed projects were displayed during the district's May 19 art exhibit at GCHS, where community members were invited to interact with the exhibits by turning cranks, viewing the moving scenes, and listening to student-created narrations.

"This project was really fun to do and was a great experience because it showed us the importance of the history of American and how far we have come," Stewart School
Student Caris Shaji said.

Another student added that it helped her learn to pay close attention to details.

"We had so much fun building the automatons. It encouraged me to reflect on my engineering and think about what I could do differently to get mine to work," Stewart School student Madelyn Vigneaux said.