4th Generation iPod touch devices are amazing. The latest version of the iPod touch comes standard with a built in microphone, digital camera and a video camera. If the camera and video camera weren’t cool enough by themselves, just attach an inexpensive mini microsope to create a portable, inexpensive scientific exploration tool any young learner [...]
Archive for the ‘Electronics’ Category
How to Turn Your iPod Touch into a Microscope
Posted by ginac on August 23rd, 2011
Posted in Eclectic Homeschooling, Electronics, Make, Science, technology 
Tags: Apple, Biology, Hack, How-to, IPod Touch, ipod touch microscope, make, microscope, mini microscope, Science 
Comments OffRadio Shack’s The Great Create
Posted by ginac on August 17th, 2011
Radio Shack’s back in the do-it-yourself (DIY), maker business! For the average family, Radio Shack has always been the obvious place to buy specialized electric components for a DIY project. Now, the Radio Shack website, The Great Create, provides quality video demonstrations and instructions on creating some very nice DIY projects. Although a bit light [...]
Posted in Activities, Electronics, Make, technology Tags: DIY, Electronics, make, Radio Shack, Robotics Comments OffHack Your Hexbug
Posted by ginac on August 4th, 2011
MAKE posted a great article on different ways kids can hack their Hexbugs. Some of the coolest hacks include adding solar panels, LED lights, and even brains (complete with wireless controller). These nifty and inexpensive little robots have a ton of potential for helping kids learn about electronics, robotics, and design. The light-sensor hack that [...]
Posted in Activities, Electronics, Make, technology Tags: Electronics, Hack, Hexbug, MAKE Magazine, Robotics, STEM Comments OffMoonBots 2.0: A Google Lunar X PRIZE LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Challenge
Posted by ginac on May 18th, 2011
What a cool summer challenge! Google has partnered with FIRST robotics and Wired magazine to create an X Prize challenge especially for kids. Teams of young people ages nine through seventeen can register for this cool challenge. Teams of between three to six people, including one adult mentor, design a Lego Mindstorms robot to explore the moon. [...]
Posted in Computer Programming, Contests, Electronics, LEGOs, Science, technology Tags: FIRST Robotics Competition, GeekMom, google, LEGO, LEGO Mindstorm, LEGO Mindstorm NXT, Moon, Robotics, Wired (magazine), X Prize Foundation, Youth Comments OffRecycle Old Junk Into Cool Make Projects
Posted by ginac on April 15th, 2011
We throw away so much stuff! Before tossing those empty paper towel rolls into the trash, consider giving them an extended life by transforming them into something beautiful, useful, and fun. We’ve found some great websites that offer simple and more complicated projects for recycling broken, used, and disposable items. Make-Stuff.com has some really creative projects, many [...]
Posted in Activities, Art, Electronics, Environmental Conservation, Make Tags: Electronics, Environment, Floppy disk, Recycling, ReplayGround Comments OffMy Favorite iPod Touch Apps for Smart Kids
Posted by ginac on December 29th, 2010
The iPod Touch isn’t a toy. It’s a tool. A powerful but easy to use mobile device with a full internet browser, complete communication tool options, art tools, photography and video tools, games, book readers, note keepers, calendars, voice recorders, musical instruments, and even a flashlight! To us, educational apps that mimic worksheets or memorization [...]
Posted in Electronics, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, Online Tools, technology Tags: Apple, ios, iPhone, IPod, IPod Touch, Liquid crystal display, Project Gutenberg 1 Comment »GeekDad Book Projects are Really Fun!
Posted by ginac on September 20th, 2010
We just completed our first project from our new GeekDad book (Thanks MAKE! Magazine), and we can’t wait to start on the next one! We chose the Make Your Own Cartoons project because we already had everything we needed to get started. Our young homeschooler loved animating his favorite riddle, and chose LEGO knights as [...]
Posted in Computer Programming, Electronics, Games, Just for Fun, LEGOs, Make, technology Tags: Children, Comic strip, GeekDad, Ken Denmead, LEGO, Wired News, Wired.com Comments OffNintendo DS as Educational Tool
Posted by ginac on March 20th, 2010
ABC News is reporting that Shigeru Miyamoto, video game designer at Nintendo, is focusing on turning Nintendo DS gaming devices into educational tools. In Japan, people are already using Nintendo DS devices at aquariums and museums as tour guides. Personally, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with because our young homeschooler LOVES [...]
MAKE Presents: Educational Videos on Basic Electronic Components
Posted by ginac on January 16th, 2010
We found some very cool educational videos from MAKE magazine that every budding electrical engineer will enjoy. The videos are fairly short and offer history, physics and hands-on how-tos. Learning basic electronics is the first step in building basic electronic circuits. Our goal is to eventually learn enough electronics to build some papier-mâché creatures with [...]
Posted in Electronics, History, Physics, technology Tags: Electronics, homeschool, How-to, MAKE Magazine Comments OffUse Your Wii Remote to Make a Low-Cost Interactive White Board
Posted by ginac on January 3rd, 2010
Perhaps this hack is a bit ‘over the top’ for most homeschools, but if kids want a cool technology challenge, check out what researcher, Johnny Chung Lee of Carnegie Mellon University is doing with Wii remotes. Johnny shares secrets of creating interactive white boards on any surface for a fraction of the cost of commercial [...]
