Subject Area(S): Physics, Electronics, Computers

The Research Experience for Teachers Program /
http://www.cs.appstate.edu/ret

Subject Area(s): Physics, Electronics, Computers

Computer Science Tools: Scratch, MakeyMakey

Activity Title: Does it Conduct?, Cow Says Moo, Eye-Opening I/O

Grade Level: K-8*

Time Required: ~10-15 minutes*

Recommended Group Size: 1 or 2

Activity 1: “Does it Conduct?”

Summary: Children will be presented with instructions, a grounding wrist strap, an alligator clip (attached to the MakeyMakey), a basket of “input devices”, and a computer screen displaying the lighton.sb program. After putting on the grounding strap they will try different objects out as “the light switch”. They can sort them into two baskets: conductors and insulators.

Activity 2: “The Cow Says Moo!”
Summary: Children will be given a “cow tail” to attach to the alligator clip and told to pull on it without and then with the wrist strap. When the circuit is complete the onscreen cow, from the cowtail.sb program, will moo. This activity introduces the idea of a complete circuit.

Activity 3: “Eye-opening I/O.”

Summary: Children will be able to use conductive materials and a wriststrap to control an onscreen Plane Game‡ (planecloudgame.sb). This activity relates the idea of mapping individual inputs to different controls (up,down, left, right, mouse click) in a circuit like capacity. It is a fairly large capstone project that even the youngest children can complete with minimal help. Play-Doh, aluminum foil, or cardboard/graphite are recommended for building the controller.

Computer Science Connection: I/O functions, completing a circuit.

Keywords: Scratch, object oriented, programming, physics, circuits, conductivity

Pre-Requisite Knowledge: None

Materials List:

·  Scratch software (free downloaded from MIT at http://scratch.mit.edu/scratch_1.4/).

·  Scratch programs – lighton.sb, cowtail.sb

·  MakeyMakey Kit

·  Computer

·  Cow Tails (candy) or similar conductive object.

·  Cardboard and pencils, aluminum foil, and/or Play-Doh for designing a controller.

·  Assortment of objects to test as input devices:

o  Insulators: Plastic, paper, wood, rubber toy, etc.

o  Conductors: Food†, graphite, paper clip, Play-Doh, aluminum foil, finger, etc.

Introduction/Motivation: This module is designed to introduce children to multiple concepts at an early age. The concepts of conductors vs. insulators are explored while the children learn basic I/O operations and circuit building. The goal is to excite children AND their parents about programming and give them a foundation off of which to build. The take-away from this experience should be a “Look what I can do!” level of self-confidence and motivation to continue to explore science at home.

*Essentially kids can play with this as long as it holds their interest.

†Use of food is at instructor’s discretion. Working with young children the spread of germs is always a concern. Sanitation and safety should come first. For this reason, I also discourage the use of liquids.

‡The instructor must initially set this game up and leave the mouse hovering over the Green Flag (to restart) as the children will not have a mouse to control but will be able to tie a mouse click to an input of their choice.