nite lights activity

getting the crew back into cricket programing took an attractive hook. and from the list of options from the pie idea website, i chose to start with the most popular choice, the "nite light" activity, which lead to a series of activities that created what i've coined as the new "light cycle". but first...

"l.e.d. races"
i knew before we jumped right into constructing nite lights, i needed to get them familar with l.e.d.'s once again. so, on monday, april 11th, i came up with a pretty entertaining game called "l.e.d. races". we set up 4 computers, each with transfer wires, transfer crickets, crickets, and l.e.d.'s attached. then, after a little self guided exploration and some coaching here and there form gabe and i, the races began... i would announce to the competitors a series of colors in a particular order, then yell,"go!". whoever could create the series of colors the fastest would win. jolly ranchers to the victor encouraged participation of six teens throughout the afternoon. examples of the challenges include, from simple to complex, a police siren (red, blue, red, blue), or a stoplight (green, yellow, red) or their favorite challenge, a rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). it was a blast and i recommend this game to get kid's back into the l.e.d.'s.

with their confidence in l.e.d.'s raised we moved onto the "nite lights" here's the breakdown...

big idea: get the kid's into cricket programming by constructing thier own night lights. the activity requires l.e.d. programming proficiency and encourages individual artistic creativity.

date: wednesday, april 13th

groups participating: panther boy's and girl's club teens

attendance: 8 teens, including jazmine, mike miller, bionca, alex, marquos, jauniqua, "t", and jaqualins and gabe and myself

materials:
hardware: drill, scotch tape, black sharpies at least 30 plastic translucent (fogged) shot cups and at least 20 translucent (fogged) picnic cups.
software: laptops, transfer wires, transfer crickets, crickets, l.e.d. wires, l.e.d.'s
other: jolly ranchers

directions: drill hole in bottom of two shot cups. tape them bottom to bottom and secure l.e.d. through both holes therefor making an l.e.d. stand. tape third shot cup over exposed l.e.d. finally draw a negetive drawing on outside of large cup and place over l.e.d. stand.

associated skills: cricket programming, l.e.d. programming, craft and drawing skills

associated concepts: relating l.e.d.'s in everyday life (ie. cellphones, beepers) to thier own programming ability, confidence in creating a work of art

best part: high fivin' after final product works for the first time

hardest part: as usual, getting them started, but having an example for this project when you walk in is key.

culminating event: "glow in the dark gallery" night, including invitations (jazmine loves making invitations) snacks for those who attend and the featured artists standing behind thier works.

next i will blog about our "homemade flashlight" building, our "magic lantern" creations, how the "glow in the dark gallery" night went on wednesday, april 20th, our "cricket strobe lights" and how this new "light cycle" can be improved by re-arranging the activities a bit.
i hope all is well with all. myles