Liz Arum's Blog » Makerbot http://blog.lizarum.com I teach tech and share it Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:29:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 A Tone Generator and a Cool Purchase http://blog.lizarum.com/2009/09/88/ http://blog.lizarum.com/2009/09/88/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:19:12 +0000 Lizabeth Arum http://blog.lizarum.com/?p=88 A few years back, I took a summer physical computing class at Parsons with Dan Mikesell. For our first circuit he gave us the following schematic and image to work with:
555circuit555pinout
I like this assignment because it introduces an IC chip, the NE555 Timer, and it makes an awful noise when it works. I also like it because initially it seems hard, but when students take a moment to think about the connections, it turns out to be quite simple. I always tell students to start with the GND and Vcc pins and go from there. It’s like solving a puzzle.

After displaying the schematic, I hand out a bag with the components. For each student, or group of students, I remove the components from the bag, name them, and describe their function. Then I leave students alone to figure out the wiring.

Today was Middle School Physical Computing and it was the last class of the day. Everyone was exhausted, but we still managed to play with the LED Resistor Calculator and two students out of eight were able to generate annoying tones.

Success!

I also purchased the Makerbot CupCake CNC for school today. Makerbot describes the “CupCake CNC as a rock solid open source 3D printer that is easy to build, easy to run, and easy to use. Its 100% open source, built to be hacked, and beginner friendly.” The plan is to have the High School students research digital fabrication and then build the printer in November. Very cool!

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