Fart Spray, Glitter Bombs, and the Engineering Mind
by Drew Holmes
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“Dad!’ exclaimed an exuberant Timothy, ignoring his dinner. “We need to get some fart spray!”
Summer break had just begun, and he and his brother had just binge watched an afternoon of YouTube. To elevate the educational value of the content they were consuming I had coaxed them into watching Mark Rober’s channel.
A former NASA engineer, Mark Rober became a full-time YouTube content creator to champion science and inspire kids to think like engineers. His videos defending his birdfeeder from hungry squirrels are legendary and he always mixes serious science concepts with entertaining and engaging stories perfect for kids of any age.
The videos that Timothy and Sam had been watching were from Mark’s series on defeating porch pirates, the lowlife degenerates that steal packages from your front door. He had a small box stolen and when he reported it to the police they declined to get involved. Mark decided to do something about it.
Rather than devise something violent or cruel, he used his engineering acumen to make a bait box that looked like a typical Amazon package. But instead of electronics or toys, inside was a device he built that would cover the…