...or all circuits are not created equal. We want our project to have a broad reach and appeal to children (and educators) at many different levels. But what sort of circuit can grab a hold of an elementary school aged child and make them want to pay attention AND not kill them in the process (see how we eliminated tesla coils there). A battery, a switch, and a lightbulb aren't going to cut it for very long. But with some minor tweaks we think we can create an engaging experiece for the very young while still making use of our basic circuit board.
Most kids don't say they want to to grow up to be scientists, programmers, engineers, mathemeticians. So we'll find a way to work with the things they want to do, and we'll pull back the curtain while we do it.
- Doctors. Surgeons a bit more specifically. You know, like the game "Operation". Except we'll probably go with just a wire loop that must traverse another wiggly wire without touching or a buzzer (and maybe even a light!) will go off.
- Policemen. Traffic cops even. We all played "Red light, Green light", no. Well now we'll do it with an actual red and green light. And we'll control the light with... electricity!!
- A button pusher! Surely this made the list on some survey. Simon is an easy game for young kids and it's a fairly easy bit of cicuitry using a microcontroller.
- A gameshow host. Buzzers for everyone! or maybe just four contestants/teams. Either way it's simple and useful.
...Just some possibilities I'd like to throw out to the team for some feedback. What do you think for the early years stuff. We have quite a few ideas for older kids and adults (including some of our secret sauce cicuits not to be discussed yet). It's just the young are a bit tricky and basic resistors aren't that much fun.
