On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 1:08 PM, Celtwolf <celtw...@gmail.com> wrote:
> okay, i see that robotics and arduino projects are being suggested a lot.
> i'm not saying that those aren;t great learning tools, but this is,
> predominantly, about  teaching the VERY basics of electronics engineering to
> 7th graders. arduino, and to some extent robotics, requires some
> programming. i'm not saying that 7th graders are incapable of learning the
> programming required, nor am i saying these ideas aren't awesome to get kids
> into, but i don;t think they're good introductions to how all electronics
> work. start these kids off with arduino and robots, and you'll be over their
> heads in minutes. they'll follow instructions without understanding much, if
> any, of the reasons why any of it works.
> start simple, get the kids understanding how electricity works the way it
> does, then let the kids branch out into more advanced stuff. if someone
> WANTS to get into making, like, cap bots, or making an arduino
> somethingorother, help them along and give them the resources, but don't
> make that the curriculum.

> On Saturday, August 25, 2012 8:58:58 AM UTC-5, Ben Collins-Sussman wrote:

>> Hi guys!  Looking for advice...

>> I've volunteered to do some STEM teaching this fall at a middle school
>> down at 47th and Ashland.  The program is http://www.citizenschools.org/ ,
>> and looks pretty cool.  Three of us go in for 1.5 hours every Tuesday and
>> give the kids some hands-on workshops.  The idea is to have them build stuff
>> while learning math/science/engineering, and hopefully build up a lot of
>> confidence.

>> My group of three has volunteered to teach basic EE, and they've given us
>> a 10-week curriculum which suggests which activities to do each week.  The
>> curriculum is OK, but a bit boring -- it basically teaches kids intuition
>> about what a circuit is, using nothing but wires, a battery, light bulb, and
>> switch.  It lets them experiment with wiring either bulbs or batteries in
>> parallel or in series, but there's no actual math going on (V=IR, P=IV,
>> etc.).   The hands-on projects are mainly about wiring up imaginary houses
>> (cardboard boxes) with circuits that they design.  Then the "final
>> presentation" they give to parents and peers is some sort of gadget they
>> design and build themselves... light up jewelry, a goofy lamp, etc.

>> Our general problem is that we feel there isn't enough "bang" here.
>> Really, can you keep 13-year-old kids learning and entertained for 10 weeks
>> using nothing but batteries and light bulbs?  The final project is supposed
>> to be crazy-exciting;  in fact we're supposed to tell the kids about the
>> final project so they're inspired to work up to it.  But "make your own
>> flashlight" doesn't seem very exciting as a final project compared to, say,
>> a Van de Graff Generator shooting lightning.  :-)

>> So I'm looking to my fellow makers here -- what's a crazy-exciting EE
>> project that these kids can work towards?  (We have license to modify the
>> curriculum however we want.)

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