http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/02/weigh-in-what-makes-a-good-teacher.html
Are you ready for programming this challenge? (view in full screen)
In this center, we are teaching about the Human Body. This center revolves around building, drawing, singing and learning the parts of the body. Regardless, if you are just interested in physiology/anatomy or want to learn more about the body for ‘animatronic’ purposes, this should be a fun center for the kids! Iris (Currently we are taking a little break from this center)
Motors/Gears: Here we focus on the mechanics of gears and motors. We have already completed levers, work and mechanical advantage (please review this material with your kids if you have time, but we will revisit this topic as needed. Currently we are focusing on gear ratios as well as different types of gears (bevel, worm, spur) and ratchets. For more advanced kids we will start on pneumatics (air compressor power).
This center is focused around identifying and improving fundamentals (non-kit based) . It promotes critical thinking by connecting kids to fundamental logic and computation. We introduced the concept of variables and talked about how to construct worlds using variables. The kids learned in ‘context’ how to access and create arrays in MATLAB. They also worked on modeling a ‘car’ which is rescuing a princess/video games.
In this center we focus primarily on informing kids about, and demonstrating to them, some of the newest and most popular tools for making things. It is fast-paced, exciting and stimulated kid’s interest in science (note: these topics are fun but we will try not to overdo this sugar! its high energy and hooks kids’ interest in science).
Some current High Interest Items are: Kodu, Mindstorm, Kinects.
Digital Logic and Clocks: We are focused on basic electronics skills. We currently are trying to teach the kids using the 555 timer as a basis for understanding clock timing(many modern computer techniques require synchronization). The ‘clock’ is the central agent for when events happen (like the conductor of the orchestra). We will also incorporate truth tables and the major goal is to make a cool ‘flashing’ electronic display in which the kids understand and incorporate the elements they have learned from the ground up.