What To Cover In a Short "DIY Tech" Course?

edumacator writes "Our school is working hard to provide our students with relevant opportunities of study. We have a short 'seminar' period that meets three days a week for thirty minutes. I've chosen to teach a seminar on 'Home Grown Technology' even though I'm an English teacher and only an amateur techie. If you had thirty minutes, three days a week, for nine weeks, what would you teach a group of high school students? I'm considering the Wii-mote smartboard and multitouch displays, but I'm afraid I'm overreaching."

Comments

Lego Mindstorms

[Ethanol-fueled]

Lego Mindstorms would be a good, fun place to start.

Re:Lego Mindstorms

[bsDaemon]

Yeah, but if we're talking about a public high school's budget these days, you may as well being telling him to build a breeder reactor out of smoke detectors... Mindstorm is expensive and schools are el cheap-o about spending money. Hell, my mother who is a high school ap Spanish teacher just had to put up all the money for supplies to build a pinata to represent the school at an event sponsored by the Richmond Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which the Principal later tried to take credit for, but has yet to reimburse my mother for the expense, at least since the last I heard of it.

Re:Lego Mindstorms

[PopeRatzo]

OP should expect to have to fund much of this himself.

He could start by teaching his students how to find materials for building these projects from free sources, such as the trash.

The most talented makers I know tend to pay very very little for their materials. I have heard the term "The Garbage Santa" as an answer to the question "Where did you get this stuff?" on several occasions.

I have found everything from 23" LCD monitors to Prada coats in the alleys next to the trash cans just within a 4-block radius of my home. Americans, especially the well-off ones, have the richest garbage you could imagine. I learned this from my wife, early in our marriage. She grew up in a rather poor Eastern European country. When I met her, she was already a math PhD on her way to a tenure position, and made a decent living, but she still marveled at our wastefulness. At first, I was a bit embarrassed to take something that someone else had discarded, but I think it was the slick Prada coat (it didn't look like it had ever been worn) that I still wear, that I began to overcome my discomfort. I'm guessing some divorcee was purging her townhouse of her ex-husband's belongings or something, and I was the beneficiary. Seriously, this is one fine-looking coat.

Also, for example, I am currently sitting in a Herman Miller Aeron Chair that someone had thrown away. Seriously. It had a small tear in the mesh that was easily repairable.

Teach them something useful

[langelgjm]

I'm considering the Wii-mote smartboard and multitouch displays, but I'm afraid I'm overreaching."

Not necessarily overreaching (I guess it depends on their prior experience), but those projects, while they have a definite "cool" factor, aren't particularly useful.

Personally I would stick to teaching them more useful stuff... maybe basic repair of electric appliances, or if you want something more advanced and that has both the cool factor and would be useful (at least to some people), maybe this DIY book scanner.

Re:Teach them something useful

[tloh]

How about starting off with the proper use of a multimeter? Just being able to find out the current/voltage/resistance conditions on various rigs have served me well in the past.

Re:Teach them something useful

[Dexx]

How to use a multimeter, how to solder, what electronics bits do and how they all fit together. Start with the basics.

Re:Teach them something useful

[purpledinoz]

And maybe a primer on what those measures mean. Maybe I'm a dummy, but it took me the first 2 years of university to really understand what voltage, current, resistance (capacitance and inductance) really means.

Pyrolysis of biomass.

[Anonymous Coward]

Pyrolysis of wood or other biomass such as garbage into carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas for use as a fuel for vehicles or cooking.

Go with basics

[Hungus]

Go with basics: EM interference/signal crossover and Electrostatic Discharge. Each one can be taught in a 30 minutes session and would provide such a foundation to further lectures.

Re:Go with basics

[basementman]

Because nothing says a good time like Electrostatic Discharge.

Designing and building

[wronski]

I'm sure there will be many interesting suggestions, but to me it would be preferable to focus on building simpler devices which the students design themselves, rather than something fancier that forces them to simply follow a blueprint (because they won't have the time/expertise to design it from scratch). Of course, there will be a continuum between 'built from scratch' and 'paint by numbers'-type projects, with different levels of student involvement in its design, and you'll have to find your balance.

Engineering! Fun and applicable!

[sh()gun]

I've always thought that teaching something that combined science, engineering, and Vo-Tek would be highly practical in high school.

How about Small Engines? You can buy a small lawnmower engine (and a manual) and teach them principles of mechanics and combustion while also levening parts of "how things work" as well as basic repair techniques. Eventually you put the thing back together and start it up. You can even show how to mess with it to trick it out or solve common problems.

Not only would this get kids interested in science and engineering, but it would be practical.

Re:Engineering! Fun and applicable!

[apoc.famine]

That's a damn good idea. Another one would be to teach nothing at all. Seriously.
 
There is sooooo much DYI tech that's been done floating around. Just expose them to it. HD video from the edge of space on a weather balloon. Multi-stage water-rockets which can go up 1km. Homebrew wifi antennas which can cover miles. Diesel-electric engines crammed into sedans. Ruben's tubes. Railguns.
 
Rather than teach, expose them. Show them what's been done. Challenge them to go beyond that. The point of DIY tech is it's...."do it YOURSELF!" It's not "have my teacher show me how to do it".
 
Seed their dreams, and let them figure the rest out.

Re:Engineering! Fun and applicable!

[NotBornYesterday]

Sure. The V8 on my weed whacker is only 5.7 liters. It's tiny.

Linux installation

[masmullin]

rather useful skill... develops a desire to learn more about computers.

Teach 'em something useful

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

Like clicking on a link in an unsolicited email is a BAD idea.
I took a course in 10th grade, it was some simple electricity course, Electrical safety, series and parallel circuits. resistors and capacitors. The final project was to build a simple electric motor. Including winding the armature and coil by hand.

I found this course much more useful in real life than just about anything else I have ever learned.

Re:Teach 'em something useful

[BJ_Covert_Action]

I was going to put a vote in for some kind of electronics project as well. I am finding that more and more of my friends (college age +) who have great DIY spirits (car and motorcycle tinkering, learning computers in depth, even sewing) look at electronics as some sort of black box of magic that they can't/shouldn't tamper with. My own roomate was looking for a pair of LED blinkers to install on his motorcycle, when I recommended he make some himself using bought/scavenged materials he got nervous at first. When I started drawing some circuit diagrams for him and told him I would help he got excited.

My point is, electricity, in and of itself, is nothing to be feared/worshiped if properly understood. Teaching kids to hack away at some electronics could greatly improve their understanding of some of the most common items we use everyday.

As for a suggestion, I would tell you to have each of them go home and get their parents/grandparents to donate an old walkman to them for a project. Then have them disassemble it and use the components to make some kind of mobile toy (hence using something with a motor) that they can take home and show off. Of course, this requires soldering, but it still could be great fun for them. I personally have built two Symets (little bouncy pseudo robot things) from old Discman's and had a great time doing it.

That's my two cents.

Re:Agriculture

[Hognoxious]

The way things are going, I'd throw in the construction and usage of spears, slings and bows.

That way you can steal other people's crops. Er, I mean, stop them stealing yours.

I did something similar with 8th graders

[EMB Numbers]

I did something similar with 8th graders. Use short physical projects to keep them engaged. Have each student build a tower out of a single sheet of copier paper and tape. The tallest free standing tower wins. Build boats out of measured amounts of aluminum foil. The boat that holds the most marbles before sinking wins. Build water rockets out if 1L plastic bottles. Build bridges out of tooth picks, paper, and glue. The bridge that holds the most weight before failing wins.

Each of the projects can be completed in 2-3 half hour sessions with almost no material cost. These projects teach basic physics and engineering in a fun and competitive way. You can even repeat the same projects later in the term so that the second rounds of towers are designed with knowledge gained in the first round, etc.

Digital Electronics.

[camperdave]

First I'd teach some basics: Ohm's law, serial/parallel circuits, etc. Then using a transistor as a switch to turn LEDs and/or relays on and off. Then build up some AND and OR gates, followed by some address decoding and control logic. Throw in some parallel port I/O stuff in as well.

Re:Digital Electronics.

[geekboybt]

This. Then move up to stuff like a 555 timer and a counter, which are incredibly cheap (on the order of a few bucks at most per set). Finally, if the budget allows, move up to an Arduino.

Re:A long-lasting technology

[j35ter]

Boooring!
show the kids how to build a PotatoGun (tm).
That should keep them interrested

How Not to Be Seen

[Greyfox]

Oh wait.. It's been done.

Camera Self Timer.

[0100010001010011]

Seriously, how many photos of hot young girls in the mirror or even worse that look like they're trying to point the camera at themselves.

Do the world a favor, show them that most cameras have a self timer. Heck my Canon has an awesome feature where it'll crank off up to 10 photos after a custom timer delay. Plenty of time to 'get into position'.

DIY Tech?

[odin84gk]

This sounds a little broad. Are you looking at it from a hacker scene? Electronics and Mechanical building? Electrical, mechanical, and chemical technology?

Most of the projects posted on blog.makezine.com would be a good starting point. While the wii is cool, it only touches on a small number of technologies. I would recommend having a final project in mind, and developing the skills required to finish that final project. For example,

1.) Basic electronics (How to solder). Use a kit from ladyada or sparkfun.com. If you get a small enough kit, a beginner can solder a kit in less than 10 minutes. (http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9206 might be fun). Addon: How to use a voltmeter
2.) Basic programming (Create a simple program on the PC).
3.) Basic woodworking: How to use a drill, saw, and other tools Safely.
4.) Basic Plastic/Metal working: Create a professionally looking project enclosure. (Look at the proper glues, cutting methods, tricks for a decent enclosure)
5.) Basic Chemistry: Creating a mold, possibly making gears for # 6
6.) Basic Mechanical: Creating a gearbox
7.) Basic Plumbing/hydrolics/pneumatics: How to get water/air from point A to point B
8.) ...

The best programs will have an end project in mind, such as a small car or an elaborate prank. Each step will be directly related to the final product, giving the students a purpose and motivation to do well.

Improvisation?

[dov_0]

Instead of bomb making, take a lesson from bomb makers all over the world. Improvisation. Each week teach the students some basic principles, say, how electric motors or toasters or pulleys or whatever work. Then give them a range of materials out of which they can make their own device. As you go, choose items with which you can teach basic but important principles in physics and electronics. Later on in the course, do repairs on household appliances etc (pref low voltage or get an electrician on hand to take care of your public liability). Each lesson tell a short story about a cool but simple invention.

Man I would love to teach that course.

MAKE

[anglophobe_0]

I would think a lot of the stuff from MAKE! Magazine would be useful.

Small tesla coil

[Alarindris]

I'm making one right now with a buddy. Parts will cost you about $75 after you find your neon sign transformer.

Start out with the transformer. Right there is a lesson in power/watts/amps etc right off the bat.

HV caps are expensive, so make some leyden jars.

Hook up your coils and caps and you've got some sparks.

Then you can move on to inductance and resonance and tune the thing.

Add a rotary spark gap, terry filter, power conditioner etc as they learn more.

Get a couple neon bulbs, build a corona motor, etc.

I've got some experience in electronics, but in the past few days my knowledge is really starting to solidify.

Plus giant sparks are fun, everyone will dig it.

Re:A long-lasting technology

[clockwise_music]

• Show them how an engine works by getting them to coil wire around a magnet and hook it up to an LED.
• Then move onto car engines and show how it's the same idea. Then explain how to turbo charge an engine.
• Computer stuff that you need to know but are never taught: How to safely open up your box, take it apart and put it back together
• The difference between memory and hard disk space and what paging is. Get a computer and take it down to 128 meg of memory and see what happens. Use perfmon.
• Basic electronics, multimeter usage, soldering iron - all very handy. Take a stuffed electronic guitar in (just cut a wire or whatever) and show them how to fix it.
• How to not put personal stuff onto the internet and explain what happens if you do. Then try it with a "John Smith" registered on facebook, myspace etc. Then google the person next week.
• How the internet works - do a quick HTML website and explain it all
• Explain how there's more to the world than just the USA and yes, you can actually go to those countries. (sorry, low blow)
• Show how to back up your data and explain why! Different possibilities such as a local HD, external HD, external computer, using an internet backup provider.
• Sewing. Seriously. Sew a zipper onto a jacket. Fix the holes in your socks. Make some trakkies (don't know what you yanks call them).
• Bike maintenance and fixing. How to adjust everything, what tools you need. How to make it more efficient. Get people to bring in their bikes.

re: pinata

[davebarnes]

I am sure you meant to write: piñata.