As a summation assignment for the CD scrounging, battery pack and junkbot projects, students made videos showing their junkbots. In the videos, which were made on whatever equipment they had available, they were to show the ‘bot, explain what they did to make it, and explain a bit about how it works. Part of the project was a writing assignment where they wrote about their junkbot and what they learned from the project. Not all of the students put the videos online, instead, emailing them in. Having the videos online definitely creates a better, more lasting record.
Grayson writes in his video notes:
Three things I learned about components that I did not use on my junkbot are things about LEDs, stepper motors, and potentiometers. I learned that LEDs only allow electricity to flow in one direction. If you hook up an LED backwards, it will not light up. Another thing I learned is that you cannot control a stepper motor without a computer chip. They are controlled with many coils and one person cannot run one with a single battery pack and a motor. I also learned that potentiometers (variable resistors) control the amount of electricity flowing through a circuit. Potentiometers can control things such as volume, motor speed, light intensity, etc.
What are your classroom projects this year? Do you have videos or photos that you could share with us to show off the creative makers you’re working with? Post up some links in the comments, and add some photos to the MAKE Flickr pool.
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