Some background info about electricity

A powerpoint about electricity (in swedish)

general info (in swedish)

Summary of different project ideas and suggestions

This is a summary of all ideas and suggestions for our project. This help us to narrow down to specify area that where we would like to work on.

1. Physical Computer
1.1 Build a computer with more interactive functionality
1.2 Make a Robot
1.2.1 Give commands (text)to Robot and Robot will do that
1.2.2. Robot follows after Kids actions

2. New version of Blackboard

3. Globe
3.1 Globe + Screen which show the information about countries
3.2 Moon globe with lots of projector

4. Color and paint

5. Different sounds (inside the shoes)
5.1. Make different sound according to position
5.2. Matching dancer :)

6. Balloon + interactive screen

7. Make shapes and angle (mathematics)by using box/puck

8. Teach how about energy
8.1 model of Sweden
8.2 model of World
8.3 model of village

idea for the workshop 18th of feb

how about cutting the foam in different layers?
1 cm thick??

Result from the first meeting

1. It is possible to leave the final project at school, but it should be robust
2. The coming task for us is to visualize all ideas and explore them(compare them, combine...)
   
3. We should focus on pedogogy term: papert.org; piaget(one person)->montisery; epiotemology -> learning. We need to read these papers then frame and understand our project.
4. learning by doing, socialisation and construction (the concept behine project)
   
5. figure out individule interste and do we want to do. We do this when Ake is here
   
6. Peter gave us an example of building brige by seveal bolcks which show the invisable informaiton-forcement. (Force clocks-name of the project)
   
7. Our goal is to build a physical object embeded computing.

Good luck to us!

First supervisor meeting

We have our first supervisor meeting with Peter Ljungstrand at 11.00 on Wednesday. we meet at the studios and then go to some suitable place meeting.

A glimpse of more Montessori materials

montessorisupplier

Some picture from First visit (12/02/2010)

Place - Montessoriskolan Villa Darjeeling
Date and time - 12-02-2009 from 12.30 - 13.30
Contact person - Eva Melin
Representatives - Andreas, Fanny, Yiwen, Yathika and Åke

Mathematics, Electricity, Music, Arts were the main area that we discussed. For the more information will publish near future.

Some picture from today field studies. Check group website for more pictures.

Just one example video.

Energy grid

Since I'm not going to attend the monday meeting I thought I'd share my view of the energy/power idea.
I envision a physical "sim city", but with stuff like power plants of different types(Nuclear, water, solar, wind etc). They have different characteristics and drawbacks like different amount of power produced, different cost of electricity, different amounts of pollution, nuclear waste etc.
The power plants are connected by an electricity grid to houses and industry that uses the electricity. The more electricity is used the more power plants needs to be connected and the more pollution and other bad effects will appear.
This could be made as a model landscape with little powerplants and houses that you can connect to the power grid. There should also be a display or some other solution to indicate pollution and energy use.
The lessoned learned should be a better understanding for how electricity is generated and also what the effects are if we use a lot of it.

Another very different direction would be to explain generators that is the basis for all electricity generation and maybe show the similarity to electric motors. Also powering a generator with "muscle force" could give a sense of how much energy is needed to drive different things.

Sum of angles

I had an idea for visualizing the sum of angles in 2D polygons. My idea is that you have physical "pucks" on a display that can detect the positions of them.
The pucks are connected by drawing lines on the display and the angles is displayed. Also the sum of the angles is calculated and displayed along with the name of the polygon. On the sketch I show four pucks, but you should be able to use any number of them from three to at least nine.
The idea is to visualize that the sum of the angles is the same in polygons with the same number of sides and also to show the sum of the angles for different types of polygons.
Maybe one should add something the student should do, like calculating the sum of angles, or some other better idea...

Another use for this basic platform would be to explore optics. If one used a different set of pucks like "spotlight", "mirror", "prism", "lens" etc one could simulate optics and add labels and explanations on the display.

What we did today (02/11) - Photos

Åke explains about Swedish class room...


Some drawings on whiteboard..


busy girl....


Having a big discussion with Andreas...

First meeting

I've booked a meeting with my sons teacher on friday at 12:30. She's going to be unavailable for two weeks so if we are going to be able to ask her something before our knowledge gathering iteration is over it is now or never...
It's not far from Lindholmen and you are all welcome ;-) We/I just have to prepare something to present to her on Thursday.

Interview (Eric 7y) - About computer

Name : Eric Malalatunga
Age : 7 years
School : one school in Bollnäs (grade 1)
Interview platform : Over the Skype video call
Extra : Eric has a own desktop computer with blue CPU and using it every single hours. I got some help from my cousin Jimutha to motivate him.

One day I called to him and asked what I want from he. So he got around one day to think and draw a picture. Next day when I had a Skype video call with him he explained like this.



The blue box is a computer box (I think he means CPU). It is having lotssss of lights. Specially purple and green. There are four small red boxes inside the computer. Each box has two vertical parallel lights. Still lots of lights See picture. Red line which is cross all red boxes is a power supply wire for all lights. Yellow lines on the picture also power wires. According to him there are lots of power supply wires but it is hard to draw all and it will make his picture ugly.

There is a door, left down on the the picture. According to Eric this door will works like a switch. When three persons, who are working inside the computer, enter in to computer through a the door, all lights will lighted. (So he means that door will work like a switch. When u press the key board or give some input computer will start to work). On the right hand side there will be a computer screen that he forgot to draw. All power wires are connected to screen so he can still see purple and green lights on screen. Persons who are working in computer has a own red box.He will work only in that area. He has a chair with wheel. So he doesn't need to walk. :)

Yesterday he explained about four box. He has four boxes for different applications. He told me he needs more red boxes but paper was too small. So yet another box he has four red box for Bolibompa, SVT Play, Facebook Barnbuddy game and his favourite computer game site.

Eric needs to explain more. But I think he got confuse by him self.

Ideas based on Ultrasonic sensor

Ultrasonic sensor generate high frequency sound waves and evaluate the echo which is received back by the sensor. It can be used for measuring: wind speed and direction.
There are my two ideas:

Living technology

When reading about this strange natural phenomenon "self-rolling-snow-balls" I got to think about living technology, it's not where you left it last night. So the kids might get interested with something living, that isn't suppose to live. The classroom looks different every day?!

Strange idea?

Simulate sound

This is a "sound" project. Pressure sensors to create self induced sound and simulate walking on
different kinds of surfaces walking on grass, snow, glass.... Inpute sound will transmit to an Arduino controler(in a bag on shoulder) which simulate the sound.
There's a wireless technic called XBee. maybe we can think not only for this sound simulation. If you know the project been done in Ubiquitous computing - the Ikea light, they used XBee for changing lights remotely.

I like to create a project base on other projects' function which means that is possible to work with and fast to implement.

A new idea - Colour & Painting

short introduction:
Inspiration from Sifting and the Pillow from Fardshid(assistant). Like reality, By mixing RGB to create new color. Here, we can pour "colour"s to the big plate, all of plates have display and direction sensors (implementable). There's one thing can not be done in reality, but probable could be done here in digital world: absorb one of the basic colour from the big plate. Touching the surface of the big plate by a "cube" could be one way, the longer time for touching the more absorbed. For getting colore, a "pen" can just touch the big plate. A "paper" is need too. One more thing, to empty the big plate, "pouring" the colour inside to anywhere.

Waiting for your opinions...

An interesting material maybe we can...

Polymorph (Polycaprolactone) material, also
known as “Shapelock” or “Friendly Plastic”, will be used
to sculpt the shape of the right-hand controller around the
completed electronics for The Fingers.

Teaching kids about computers

Hiccup is a method of using kids to build a computer - and let them learn about how it works...

enviromentally concious

It is just a tought...maybe some way we can teach children to be enviromentally concious.
Not sure how to present the idea physically.