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A-Mazing Robot
Source Institutions
This activity lets you program your 'robot' (a willing friend) to pick up and dispose of some 'toxic waste' using as few commands as possible.
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Battleships: Searching Algorithms
Source Institutions
This activity explores the main algorithms that are used as the basis for searching on computers, using different variations on the game of battleships.
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Guess My Number
Source Institutions
In this game, learners experience how computers divide a big problem into many smaller ones and how they use binary "yes"/"no" questions.
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Tiny Particles, Big Trouble!
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners discover why some nanoscale science and technology is done in the controlled environment of a clean room, what clean rooms are like, and how scientists help keep the clean r
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Kinetic Sculpture: Program the Pico Cricket to Make Your Art Light Up or Spin
Source Institutions
Use a Pico Cricket (micro-controller) to animate your art! You can program a Pico Cricket to make your art spin, light up, or make music.
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Inkjet Printer
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners investigate how inkjet printers produce tiny, precise drops of ink.
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Smart Domino Tricks
Source Institutions
In this activity, you take regular dominoes, and turn them into conductive switches that can turn on a LEGO RCX block or Pico Cricket (micro controller). LEGO RCX block or Pico Cricket is required.
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Musical Sculpting Machine: Squeeze Play-Doh to Make Music
Source Institutions
Play-Doh is conductive! Use the semiconductive qualities of Play-Doh to make your own squeezable instrument. Pico Cricket is required.
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Build a Bubble Circuit
Source Institutions
In this engineering design challenge, learners make a bubble maze that allows bubbles to move through a series of “on” and “off” switches.
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Fruit Xylophone: Fruit Salad Instrument of the Future!
Source Institutions
This is a perfect summertime lunch activity! Pico Cricket is required (micro controller). First, get a bunch of cut up fruit, line them up, then plug a piece of fruit with a Pico Cricket sensor clip.
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Interactive Pencil Drawings: Drawings That Tell a Story!
Source Institutions
Margaret Pezalla-Granlund, a Minnesota artist, came up with this really fun and surprising activity using graphite from a pencil, connected with a Pico Cricket to tell a story: "The first time I saw s
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The Poor Cartographer: Graph Coloring
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners help a poor cartographer color in the countries on a map, making sure each country is colored a different color than any of its neighbors.
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Programming Languages: Harold the Robot
Source Institutions
In this activity related to computer programming, learners give directions to a "robot" (either an adult or another learner) and find out which instructions the robot is able to follow, and how their
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Pico Cricket Compass
Source Institutions
Learners can program a compass to draw a circle by itself using a Pico Cricket, some Legos, and lots of tape! Pico Cricket is required.
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Divide and Conquer: Santa's Dirty Socks
Source Institutions
This activity introduces the idea of "divide and conquer" using a fictitious but serious problem--a pair of dirty socks has accidentally been wrapped in one of the presents that Santa is about to deli
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Programming Languages: Marching Orders
Source Institutions
In this activity about computer programming, learners follow instructions in a variety of ways in order to successfully draw figures.
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Clap Sensor: Build a Sound Sensor Using a Pico Cricket
Source Institutions
This activity requires a Pico Cricket (tiny computer). Learners work on designing and building a sound sensor out of household materials, like plastic wrap and cardboard.
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Social Fireflies: Pico "Firefly" Communication
Source Institutions
Make two firefly lanterns, then program them to blink to one another and change colors.
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Colour by Numbers: Image Representation
Source Institutions
This activity shows learners how computers use numbers to represent pictures. A grid is used to represent the pixels (short for picture elements) of a computer screen.
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You Can Say That Again!: Text Compression
Source Institutions
This activity helps students learn how computers "compress" text by identifying repeating patterns of letters, words, and phrases.