[OT] Need ideas for teaching basic electronics

[Neil]

Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can
take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be
costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is
required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.

So... any thoughts on what I can do here?

Cheers,
-Neil.

[James Cameron]

The best results, in terms of positive kid, parent and teacher
feedback, arise from choosing something that you enjoy doing that
almost nobody else in the group has ever done. Your enthusiasm is
more valuable than anything.

Build a list of things you enjoy doing, and assess each one for how
easy it would be to transfer the skill.

There's a connection with delivery tactics. People learn when they
are made briefly uncomfortable. Kids of that age are most easily
swayed by each other; so whatever you choose to do must be interesting
for a majority of them. Assess each idea against how likely it is for
the kids to be interested. It depends on the kids. Then when
delivering the content, engage the interested with the uninterested.

Should comedic delivery be your thing; surprise them with the truth,
every 15 seconds. That is, you set them up with their own expectations,
then knock them down, at a rate of about 0.0666 Hz.

Things I've done with kids;

- making a torch; 5mm white LED with twin AA cells and push button,

- night light; 5mm red LED with twin AA cells, always on or dark
activated, using "flat" cells taken from other appliances; an opportunity
to explain the discharge curve,

- arduino blink sketch; a tool that can act faster than they can,

[Tony Miller]

Crystal radio?

Tony

Post by James Cameron
The best results, in terms of positive kid, parent and teacher
feedback, arise from choosing something that you enjoy doing that
almost nobody else in the group has ever done. Your enthusiasm is
more valuable than anything.
Build a list of things you enjoy doing, and assess each one for how
easy it would be to transfer the skill.
There's a connection with delivery tactics. People learn when they
are made briefly uncomfortable. Kids of that age are most easily
swayed by each other; so whatever you choose to do must be interesting
for a majority of them. Assess each idea against how likely it is for
the kids to be interested. It depends on the kids. Then when
delivering the content, engage the interested with the uninterested.
Should comedic delivery be your thing; surprise them with the truth,
every 15 seconds. That is, you set them up with their own expectations,
then knock them down, at a rate of about 0.0666 Hz.
Things I've done with kids;
- making a torch; 5mm white LED with twin AA cells and push button,
- night light; 5mm red LED with twin AA cells, always on or dark
activated, using "flat" cells taken from other appliances; an opportunity
to explain the discharge curve,
- arduino blink sketch; a tool that can act faster than they can,
--
James Cameron
http://quozl.netrek.org/
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[Manu Abraham]

I think you need to assess the kids background and then choose appropriately.

Over here, students who are science/technology oriented at about 18
years one could be likely doing 2nd year in an Engineering
school/college. One learns 8085 programming, digital logic, and so on
at that age. Talking about lighting an LED or something like that,
would be so silly. At about 16 years, he learns about transistors
amplifiers, crystal radio's etc. These were during my days, maybe
these days learn it much earlier. At about 14 years he learns about
basics of electronics, voltage, current, resistors, diodes,
transistors, ohms law etc. Some people learn these much earlier. To
cite as an example, I got introduced to basic electronics and the C64
at the age of 11. A relative of mine who is about 15 years, he fiddles
around with Arduino's.

So, I think if you are going to address the age group 14-18 in one
session, that could be a difficult task in choosing the right topic. I
do not know what students learn from your perspective, from where you
hail. Maybe the best part would be to really find out from one of
those likely students, what they learn in school.

But the most important aspect is what James said, enjoy doing what you
are doing: even if it is some silly thing altogether. One needs to put
quite a lot of effort in understanding what's needed, then try to
stand in the shoes of your audience and finally, love utmost what you
are doing. That's it, nothing else really matters !

There is one more key thing, many students learn things from education
but they don't fully realize what they are learning it or it's use
case. Maybe you can make things simplified and apply it common real
life situations, so that they understand the real use case of what
they really learn. The key funny thing is when you do so, you also
realize many things, or maybe one's own perspective will change.

Post by Neil
Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can
take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be
costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is
required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.
So... any thoughts on what I can do here?
Cheers,
-Neil.
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[Andries Tip]

Hi Neil,

Mmm. Not sure what topic you want to teach. And an hour is very little time for explaining and building. And a difficult age too, you need something to grab their (boys and girls) attention. A flickering light might not do the trick. Maybe something with a lot of noise? At the end of the hour, a classroom full of noise will certainly be entertaining. When connected to whatever box/soda can a tiny speaker can produce a lot of noise.

Could you get them to build (or finish, if soldering is involved) a small tunable sound generator kit (two transistors/one 555 plus transistor)? Or perhaps a DIY electronic guitar (box + elastic bands + piezo pickup + JFET amplifier + external speaker)? Great when you get the unwanted feedback!

No so much electronics, but just electrics: I was once awoken by a boy driving around his bicycle in our neighborhood. It's a local, yearly event that children wake the neighborhood up very early by making noise. This boy had a large loudspeaker box wired to the bicycle generator which is normally used for powering the front and rear lights. The loudspeaker made a "Whowhoooo" sound because of the alternating current of the generator. When he drove faster, the pitch would go up. When he drove slower, the pitch would go down. Every now and then the tire would lose its grip on the generator wheel resulting in amazing sound effects. Made me come out of bed to see what could possibly make such sounds. ;-)

Cheers,
Andries

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: piclist-***@mit.edu <piclist-***@mit.edu> Namens Neil
Verzonden: donderdag 5 april 2018 02:56
Aan: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. <***@mit.edu>
Onderwerp: [OT] Need ideas for teaching basic electronics

Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.

So... any thoughts on what I can do here?

Cheers,
-Neil.

--
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[Clint Jay]

Bring in smartphones or tablets, a simple prebuilt webserver on an ESP32
that they can browse to for controlling LEDs, motors, a radio, anything,
that will let them see how electronics is relevant to them and how the
connected world works ?

Post by Andries Tip
Hi Neil,
Mmm. Not sure what topic you want to teach. And an hour is very little
time for explaining and building. And a difficult age too, you need
something to grab their (boys and girls) attention. A flickering light
might not do the trick. Maybe something with a lot of noise? At the end of
the hour, a classroom full of noise will certainly be entertaining. When
connected to whatever box/soda can a tiny speaker can produce a lot of
noise.
Could you get them to build (or finish, if soldering is involved) a small
tunable sound generator kit (two transistors/one 555 plus transistor)? Or
perhaps a DIY electronic guitar (box + elastic bands + piezo pickup + JFET
amplifier + external speaker)? Great when you get the unwanted feedback!
No so much electronics, but just electrics: I was once awoken by a boy
driving around his bicycle in our neighborhood. It's a local, yearly event
that children wake the neighborhood up very early by making noise. This boy
had a large loudspeaker box wired to the bicycle generator which is
normally used for powering the front and rear lights. The loudspeaker made
a "Whowhoooo" sound because of the alternating current of the generator.
When he drove faster, the pitch would go up. When he drove slower, the
pitch would go down. Every now and then the tire would lose its grip on the
generator wheel resulting in amazing sound effects. Made me come out of bed
to see what could possibly make such sounds. ;-)
Cheers,
Andries
-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Verzonden: donderdag 5 april 2018 02:56
Onderwerp: [OT] Need ideas for teaching basic electronics
Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is
required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.
So... any thoughts on what I can do here?
Cheers,
-Neil.
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View/change your membership options at
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[RussellMc]

IF you want to provide an utterly awesome opportunity to try something
lifechanging (for those who are not doing it already)
AND if they all have access to a PC (Mac probably excluded :-( ).
THEN providing each with a basic Arduino clone, basic documentation to lead
the horse to water, and a demo of what you can do with it using the modules
accessible in the basic GUI,
MIGHT be a suitable idea.

A complete Arduino development system consists of a PC + mini (usually) USB
cable + Arduino + software from web or CD.
Cost for Arduino and cable is probably under $US5 from China in 10 quantity
including (free) shipping.

In the hour they'd get little more than a brief intro, clear direction that
they MUST read your intro guide (can be online or on CD) and a demo by you
of (a tiny subset) what it can do.
Not "how to" time doesn't allow, but "what".

For many it *may *be wholly wasted.
For a few it may be transformational.



Russell

PS: Olin does not approve.

[Van Horn, David]

Interesting question!

I think back to how I got into this. It's not clear to me still what actually drove me in this direction except a never ending drive to know how things work.
I remember when I discovered independently that you could create electricity with moving magnets and a coil, back in first grade. I saw the commercial applications immediately, but it didn't occur to me a the time that someone might have beaten me to this discovery. 😊 Still, here I am some 54 years later, and it's never lost its attraction.

It's not about making every kid see this as their path, it's about igniting the fire for the right kid. Other kids will hopefully find their own fire.

[Brooke Clarke]

Hi Neil:

An hour goes by very quickly.  Maybe have each student build a homo polar motor?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopolar_motor
There are many variations not shown on the Wiki page.
--
Have Fun,

Brooke Clarke
http://www.PRC68.com
http://www.end2partygovernment.com/2012Issues.html

-------- Original Message --------

Post by Andries Tip
[OT] Need ideas for teaching basic electronics

[RussellMc]

An hour goes by very quickly. Maybe have each student build a homo polar
motor?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopolar_motor

​Or the linear version - a rail gun.
Hmmm - maybe not :-)


R​

[Denny Esterline]

What part of the world are you in?
How big of a group are you expecting?
What kind of budget do you have?
Are there other resources on site? (computers for instance)

Depends on the kids background and the size of group. For those with zero
electronics experience, battery and a light bulb. Maybe move from there to
an LED and get the concept of polarity. Add a little piezo beeper and then
they have the makings of an "alarm". The more astute may connect the idea
of "circuit" and "circle". With light bulb, LED and beeper you can also get
to the concept of series vs parallel which can be worked toward basic
concepts of current. (ie. why does the LED work and not the bulb when they
are in series?) That can be stretched a bit further if you add a
multimeter and work through basic measurements, even Ohms law for the right
group.

Younglings that are a bit past that level might benefit from a breadboard
and a 555. I don't know your budget, but with a bit of planning that could
be under $4 a unit. A couple bucks more parts and a copy of Forrest Mimms
555 Mini Notebook would be a treasure to some.

I've also had pretty good luck with "take something apart". Microwaves and
printers seem to be good candidates. Gives them an opportunity to use
tools, see things, ask questions. There are a couple minor hazards you'd
need to steer them around (take out the toner cartridge, make sure the caps
are discharged, etc). That supervision gets harder in bigger groups.

-Denny

Post by Neil
Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can
take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be
costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is
required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.
So... any thoughts on what I can do here?
Cheers,
-Neil.
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View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist

[Ryan O'Connor]

So one hour isn't enough time. What I would do is plan an after-school
programme and run that myself, which is more like a lab walking through
building a 3 transistor radio, as well as a lesson touching on digital
electronics/gates. Then I would spent the one hour talking about the future
of electronics and how they make businesses not only a lot of money but
change the world, and at the same time being incredibly satisfying as a
career.

Then I would profit from the course, at the same time inspiring and
educating the next generation of techies. Win-win.

You're welcome.
Ryan

Post by Denny Esterline
What part of the world are you in?
How big of a group are you expecting?
What kind of budget do you have?
Are there other resources on site? (computers for instance)
Depends on the kids background and the size of group. For those with zero
electronics experience, battery and a light bulb. Maybe move from there to
an LED and get the concept of polarity. Add a little piezo beeper and then
they have the makings of an "alarm". The more astute may connect the idea
of "circuit" and "circle". With light bulb, LED and beeper you can also get
to the concept of series vs parallel which can be worked toward basic
concepts of current. (ie. why does the LED work and not the bulb when they
are in series?) That can be stretched a bit further if you add a
multimeter and work through basic measurements, even Ohms law for the right
group.
Younglings that are a bit past that level might benefit from a breadboard
and a 555. I don't know your budget, but with a bit of planning that could
be under $4 a unit. A couple bucks more parts and a copy of Forrest Mimms
555 Mini Notebook would be a treasure to some.
I've also had pretty good luck with "take something apart". Microwaves and
printers seem to be good candidates. Gives them an opportunity to use
tools, see things, ask questions. There are a couple minor hazards you'd
need to steer them around (take out the toner cartridge, make sure the caps
are discharged, etc). That supervision gets harder in bigger groups.
-Denny

Post by Neil
Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can
take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be
costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is
required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.
So... any thoughts on what I can do here?
Cheers,
-Neil.
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View/change your membership options at
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[RussellMc]

Post by Neil
Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can
take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be
costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is
required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.
So... any thoughts on what I can do here?

​What is the budget per child?
Who pays.

A hex Schmitt trigger can do a vast quantity of things.
Over decades I found that a packet of hex Schmitt gates was able to perform
a truly vast range of useful functions.

For under $US10:
Solderless breadboard, 74HC14 or similar, battery, a few LEDS, a piezo
sounder maybe, a transistor so a motor can be driven, a few r's and c's
diodes ... .
SPST N.O. switch x 2 maybe

Basic inverter: gate plus LED. ​High gives low, low gives high.

​Oscillator: gate r c LED - ​
​LED flashes. Piezo can sound.

Gated oscillator: osc1 gates osc 2 ​
LED and/or piezo on gate 2 operate under gate 1 modulation.
Or LED on gate 1 flashes LED as gate 2 tone is modulated.

Bistable latch

Monostable - LED lights (or flashes) for period after input pulse

Audio amp (74C14 non buffered) - REALLY - audio converts to PWM to audio.

Water level detector.

Capacitive switch

SMPS ! (really)


More.

Users get kit of parts. Build a basic cct - say LED flasher or maybe gate
flasher.

THEN you demonstrate various other ccts premade - all ccts in book (on CD
or web or ...) and get to try it thereafter.



Russell

[Neil]

Thanks for all the info folks. I'm responding to everyone's comments here.

I have more info now... The kids are mostly non-techies, and they mostly
don't own computers. They're coming into our makerspace for a STEM
session for a couple/few hours, part of which will be 3D printing, and
part of which will be electronics.
I don't know these kids. It's much easier planning for my high-school
robotics kids as I know their techie levels.

I agree with wowing/surprising them and I'd ideally like them to take
something back. Also it must be low-cost as their school would cover
that cost and budget is low.
We've mostly come up with a plan to have them make a keychain for
themselves -- 3D print the housing (which would be mostly printed in
advance though we'll show the whole process including CAD), and learn
basic electronics and assemble a small PCB with an LED light bar,
battery holder and resistor, then assemble it all.

Cheers,
-Neil.

Post by Neil
Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can
take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be
costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is
required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.
So... any thoughts on what I can do here?
Cheers,
-Neil.

[Ryan O'Connor]

Sounds awesome :D let us know how it goes.

Ryan

Post by Neil
Thanks for all the info folks. I'm responding to everyone's comments here.
I have more info now... The kids are mostly non-techies, and they mostly
don't own computers. They're coming into our makerspace for a STEM
session for a couple/few hours, part of which will be 3D printing, and
part of which will be electronics.
I don't know these kids. It's much easier planning for my high-school
robotics kids as I know their techie levels.
I agree with wowing/surprising them and I'd ideally like them to take
something back. Also it must be low-cost as their school would cover
that cost and budget is low.
We've mostly come up with a plan to have them make a keychain for
themselves -- 3D print the housing (which would be mostly printed in
advance though we'll show the whole process including CAD), and learn
basic electronics and assemble a small PCB with an LED light bar,
battery holder and resistor, then assemble it all.
Cheers,
-Neil.

Post by Neil
Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can
take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be
costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is
required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.
So... any thoughts on what I can do here?
Cheers,
-Neil.

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[James Cameron]

For your collective amusement ... today's 45 minute lesson with
primary school kids was thermal testing of house construction
materials.

They each received a paper bag containing model components; floor,
four walls, and roof. Clear acrylic, corrugated plastic, various
colours of cardboard, and wood. They assembled each with adhesive
tape.

Then we exposed the models one by one to 150W PAR38 lamp at 30cm
distance for two minutes and pointed an infrared thermometer on the
inside floor to evaluate the thermal performance of the materials.

During exposure kids were asked to think about the materials and
predict a temperature.

Results were not as expected; we had neglected to instruct the kids to
seal all the holes. ;-)

Heating of the test area was reduced by lining up the models with
about 50cm separation and moving the lamp down the row rather than
move the models under the lamp.

[RussellMc]

Post by James Cameron
For your collective amusement ... today's 45 minute lesson with
primary school kids was thermal testing of house construction
materials.
​...​
Heating of the test area was reduced by lining up the models with
about 50cm separation and moving the lamp down the row rather than
move the models under the lamp.

​Reminded me of yesterday.
Public event with many outdoor stands.
Held out one camera of two "worn" at time ​to allow lady operating a
barbeque to view image.
She was entranced enough to look at image longer than the usual quickish
glance.
Smell of burning stage front off brought my attention to the proximity of
thge BBQ to the lens hood on the other camera at my waist.
Not too much damage. Does not seem to have affected lens proper. TBD.


Russell

[Van Horn, David]

Years ago, my father witnessed a tragicomic incident involving a stuffed owl.

Dad was a Navy photographer, which included things like shooting carrier ops to document accidents, pics of the new CO, lenses for spy satellites, and other fun stuff. So dad was what you'd call an expert photographer.

He was working at a university at the time, and they decided they wanted to "digitize" their collection. Somehow, the project of photographing this owl fell to a guy that dad figured could possibly put film in a camera with suitable assistance. The idea was to take many images of the owl on a rotating platform so that the viewer could spin it in "3d".. Well, the session started, and things progressed, lots of shots taken, then our intrepid photog noticed that the owl was melting... He was using WAY too much light, good old halogen light..

I saw the resulting animation once, it reminded me of the bad witch in the wizard of oz..

Tragically hilarious.

[Sean Breheny]

hahaha
I did something similar once while playing with a high speed camera. I was
making a video of a large contactor closing at about 2,000 frames per
second. I had a 600W halogen lamp only about 1 foot away from the
contactor, which was sitting on a fabric-covered folding chair. The light
was so bright that I couldn't see the fabric charring - but there was smoke
wafting from somewhere. When I shut off the light I could see that the
fabric was slightly discolored and too hot to touch!


On Apr 9, 2018 11:38 AM, "Van Horn, David" <
***@backcountryaccess.com> wrote:

Years ago, my father witnessed a tragicomic incident involving a stuffed
owl.

[AB, Pearce - UKRI STFC]

Biggest problem with 3D printing is it takes so long to do even a small object, and while it is printing everyone is twiddling their thumbs - recipe for hijinks.



-----Original Message-----
From: piclist-***@mit.edu <piclist-***@mit.edu> On Behalf Of Neil
Sent: 06 April 2018 04:41
To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. <***@mit.edu>
Subject: Re: [OT] Need ideas for teaching basic electronics

Thanks for all the info folks. I'm responding to everyone's comments here.

I have more info now... The kids are mostly non-techies, and they mostly don't own computers. They're coming into our makerspace for a STEM session for a couple/few hours, part of which will be 3D printing, and part of which will be electronics.
I don't know these kids. It's much easier planning for my high-school robotics kids as I know their techie levels.

I agree with wowing/surprising them and I'd ideally like them to take something back. Also it must be low-cost as their school would cover that cost and budget is low.
We've mostly come up with a plan to have them make a keychain for themselves -- 3D print the housing (which would be mostly printed in advance though we'll show the whole process including CAD), and learn basic electronics and assemble a small PCB with an LED light bar, battery holder and resistor, then assemble it all.

Cheers,
-Neil.

Post by Neil
Can use some thinking help here. I have an hour to teach kids (14-18 yr
old) something about electronics. And perhaps have something they can
take with them.
It should be hands-on and workshoppy rather than lecture.
Any programming that's teachable in that short time would probably be
costly.
And I don't want it to be a soldering class, so if any soldering is
required, I'd do that in advance.
Also, this is in less than 3 weeks so I have to act fast.
So... any thoughts on what I can do here?
Cheers,
-Neil.

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