Final Project Initial Brainstorming: The Puzzle of What's Next...

Now that my fellow novice engineers and I have completed all our basic training, it is time to begin working on what will consume the rest of the semester.....the final project!

What is it, exactly? We don't know yet. The theme for this semester is education, so whatever my future partner(s) and I do, it will have to be able to teach someone something about what we've been learning this semester. We're begining to put together some idaes. On Friday we will be takin a trip to the Museum of Science in Boston for inspiration and meeting with an engineer there who works on the exhibits, Peter. Some potential question for him, or in general might be...

1.     What do kids seem most interested in?

2.     What do kids seem least interested in?

3.     What do kids understand very well?

4.     What aspect of the science (of any theme or item) is the least intuitive to kids?

5.     Do you hear any complaints/compliments about the hands-on exhibits?If so, what are these complaints and how can they be avoided?

6.   What makes an exhibit enticing to potential attendees? 

7.     What are kids allowed/not allowed to do in hands -on areas? I.E. What are the safety concerns when it comes to hands-on learning?

8.     What kinds of hands-on learning things are better for partners/large groups and what are better for just an individual?

9.     Even with exciting things, what can ‘bore’ kids and make them less interested? (What is the difference between hands on learning and teaching, where is the line, how involved should the instructor be?)

10. Do you have to consider the attention span of the viewer? IE they may want to do the hands on stuff, but not listen to instructions/educational stuff? They’re not bored, they just do not want to listen and prefer to dive right in. 

We know all the science, but maybe not all the people variables. After all you can take a

horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. The goal here is making the horse (or kids, or

adults, or anyone, really) want to drink.

The other thing we have to worry about is time. We only have so much of it and there are a

lot of things to see and do in the museum. So how do we narrow down our choices? After

carefully reviewing the list of current exhibits, I composed a small list based off which

exhibits were technology based and included hands-on aspects. I also kept an eye out for

any exhibits working with sensors.

The list goes thus...

  

1. Kinematics 
2. Computerplace (yes, spelled as one word)
3. Cosmic Light 
4. Innovative Engineers
5. Making Models
6. Nanotechnology
7. Take a Closer Look
8. To The Moon

All these exhibits integrate the perameters I layed out and i believe they will help us gain a

better understanding about hands-on learning and how it relates to our specific class. They

may also provide ideas for our final projects...

Speaking of which, below is a list (yes, another one) of the ideas I have generated so far.

1.) Mars Rover Retrieval! We could design our own miniature Mar's Rover to teach the kids about NASA deals with problems at distances. Just like in real life, we could pose a problem with the Rover on Mars (say, one wheel is stuck in a crevice), list all the sensors and movement possibilities available and let them try to determine a way to solve the problem. Essentially, play astronaut. We would have to have our own program that could un-stick the Rover. If we cannot solve the problem, we should not expect them to, after all.

NASA scientists working on Earth to solve a problem on Mars...

2.) Mars Rover Drop! Using the same Rover idea as above, we could simulate the drop the Rover underwent to actually get to Mars. We could, once again, list all teh sensors and movement possibilities available, pose a problem (safely getting the robot onto the ground, upright and undamaged) and let the learners figure it our on their own. Again, we should have  method of solving the problem. 

3.) Mars Rover Collection Process! Still Mars Rover...we could simply simulate one of the Rover's jobs: sample collection. We could have a variety of different coloered objects on teh floor, and the Rover has to retrieve only certain ones. It would incorporate multiple sensors to do this. We could state a directive (like get only the red legos), list all possible sensors and movement options and then let the lerners come up with their own ideas. 

4.)Mars Rover Mission(s)! Some combination of the above three options: plainly put, we could simulate an entire Mars Rover mission, or just certain aspects of it.  (see above for photos)

5.) Scuttling CrabBots! Design various legged robots (or wheeled ones) that incorporate different gear ratio and kinematic options. The object is to have the fastest little crab bot, so the learners would have to test various gear combination options to find the best one. Numerous options means they might want to learn a little about gears in order to minimize their search.

6.) Dance dance Robot Revolution! Using sound and ultrasonic sensors, we could build several bugs to follow each other, keep certain distances between them and react to sounds (like low beats in a song). The learners could program different responses and test them out to see the results. 

7.) Follow the Sound of My Voice! We could have a precise robot programmed with a variety of sound sensors on all sides. When the bot 'hears' certain sounds, like claps or shouts, it moves towards them or in some certain way. The trick is that the learners would have to understand the measurement of sounds and be able to define the parameters for each sensor. We would have to design an extremely accurate robot for this to work as well as it needs to.

8.)  Photosynthesis Simulation! We could build a model of flowers/grasses that respond to solar panels. The more sunlight they recieve, the more reaction the learners observe. This could teach the attendees about photosynthisis as well as solar power through visual aid. The learners could also engage in teh activity by changing gear ratios on the flowers to see how that would affect them.

9.) Once Upon a Gear Ratio! We could build a kinematic puppet show and have the learners interact with a story told by puppets mounted on sticks attached to various gear (they do not have to just be round). The way a puppet moves, its speed or the frequency of its appearance could be altered by changing the gears. The learners could learn about kinematics and gear ratios while simultaneously putting on a show for their own amusement.

10.) Type to Text! We could build a voice commanded typist. By programming very specific sounds to each key on the keyboard, we could have a robot interpret the sounds like battleship coordinates (or Cartesian plane coordinates) proceed to that spot on the keyboard and push downwards. The kids could learn about the measurement of sound as well as basics of computer programming and sound sensing. 

11.) Rainbow Connection! We could have a robot with a sensor that can differentiate between colors (either a light sensor or a brightness sensor) and the kids can program it t do different things depending on what color it encounters (spin, make cat noises, etc). Then, they could drive it over a multicolored surface ad observe the humorous results. 

 

I can't wait to find out what we do next!