[IAEP] It's Time to Sign Up For Sensors!

[Caryl Bigenho]

Hi Folks, It's crunch time!
STEM, SET, SCIB... no matter what you call it, the world is focusing more and more on science and technology in education. The XO is an ideal platform for furthering science education through hands-on student based experiments that will teach and/or reinforce science concepts from core curriculums. It is a perfect use of the XO for any deployment.


So far the following people have shown interest in doing something with sensors at the SF Summit and/or Sugar Camp.


Tony Anderson, Janissa Balcomb, Ed Bigenho, and myself.  Also, it is possible Nick Doiron and/or Alex Kleider can help us with the building.


Surely there must be more of you that are interested in this!


The plan is to make the sensors early on, maybe in free time, maybe at the Noisebridge makerspace, maybe at the Summit itself. That way, folks who aren't staying over for Sugar Camp will have the sensors to take home with them.  Those people who are able to stay past Sunday will have a chance to experiment with the sensors and find ways to use them in science lessons, probably focusing on upper elementary to middle school science. These ideas will be shared with all who are interested, principally on the SugarLabs wiki.


Sensors we will probably  build will include temperature, light, and possibly one or two others. Once we know how to build and use them, it should be fairly easy to transfer what we learn to building others once we are home.


If you want to be a part of this, I need to know in time to get the supplies for you. I plan to make a trip to a large electronics store in the San Fernando Valley next week to purchase the parts we will need. Their prices are excellent and they will sell small quantities if needed.  My best guess is that most sensors can be made for $5 or less… maybe much less. That means your investment for one each of 4 different sensors would be $20 or less.


So… what I need to know is…


Do you want to be included in this project?


If yes, what days/dates  will you be in SF and what part of town are you staying in?


What sensors besides light and temperature are you interested in building?***


Ideally, how many sets of parts for each sensor would you like me to get for you? I don't have an endless pot of money and expect to be reimbursed, but I can probably put enough into this for everyone interested to have at least one of each, maybe more.


I will be making my shopping list for this over the weekend, so don't delay in making up your mind!! Just send me a reply to this email with your "reservation" and info.


Hope to see you in SF.
Caryl (aka SweetXOGrannie or GrannieB)


*** If you missed or misplaced the links to into about sensors, here is a list from the SugarLabs wiki and a link to a series of videos make by Trinidad Guzman who makes and uses a lot of sensors with his students in Uruguay. The narration is in Spanish, but if you know any science no language is needed!


http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/Turtle_Art/Using_Turtle_Art_Sensors


http://www.youtube.com/user/guzmantrinidad?feature=watch 		 	   		  
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