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Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with technology

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Re: Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with technology

#141

Post by pm24601 »

Some thoughts:

1) pair up kids

2) Coordinate with teacher so every thing is ready before hand - you don't want to spend time in setup. (arrive early, scope out the space)

3) there is always 1 kid who is "smarter" than the others who is going to cause a problem - don't get distracted by them (or have a plan)

4) Have everything that you want to say in a powerpoint or something that can be displayed using equipment at hand - avoid wasting time writing.

5) Keep presentations short ( ~4min max) before activity.

6) More kids: more chaos; longer to get going. Cut in a third the time available - that is the actual time you will have for your project.

* They don't pay teachers enough. I can't stand getting my own kids to get work done. Let alone 30 other brats.

Re: Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with technology

#142

Post by pryelluw »

hqwustl wrote: post #113
pryelluw wrote: post #9

Ive done something similar before. Went with a videogame and showed them how it editing the code changed the game. They started requesting silly changes and went from there. Super fun.

may I ask which videogame did you use?

One from phaser.js demos

Re: Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with technology

#143

Post by kevinmchugh »

nocajar wrote: post #128

Try out lostcircles.com to let them visualize their facebook network. You can teach them data visualization and awareness for the data which they are sharing every day. It‘s used by many university classes. Hint: I am one of the authors.

kids aged 10 or 11 won't have facebook accounts.

Re: Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with technology

#144

Post by WhompingWindows »

I taught disadvantaged kids science and tech, they were REALLY into robots and drones. They were in astonishment at simple YT videos of Boston Dynamics bots, they flipped out at the robo-dogs and flea-jumper bot, and thought it was hilarious when the BD guys would try to push over their human-shaped bots.

They also LOVED LOVED our drones. Engineering, tech, software, and science converging onto a ridiculously fun toy? Check. Get them to be quiet or they are deprived of very fun toy? Check. One of them turned out to be ridiculously skilled because he plays helicopter games, and I made his year with a useful gadget? Check.

Re: Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with technology

#146

Post by aheilbut »

a1exyz wrote: post #120

My Dad did the coolest one for my fifth grade class that everyone still remembers. He showed us how binary addition in a calculator/computer works by giving us all 0 or 1 notecards. Then since the class is already arranged in a grid, each row is a single digit (8 bits). Then He gave input numbers and we raised our cards according to which bit we were an the person to the left of us. Honnestly I don't remember the spe…

see https://csunplugged.org/en/

Re: Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with technology

#147

Post by connorcodes »

When I tried to make a little class for programming, my go to option was scratch.mit.edu , a little hub for coding with blocks. But since this is 5th graders, I recommend code.org , which is "coding" AKA using blocks to get steve from minecraft from point A to B.

Re: Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with technology

#148

Post by skykooler »

penagwin wrote: post #45
payne92 wrote: post #38

I've done an interactive "do you know how many types of engineers there are?" for this age group that's worked really well. Timeframe: 5-15 minutes "Can anyone name a type of engineer?" and for each shoutout, talk a little about what each does. The guessing keeps everyone's attention. Types: software/computer, electrical, mechanical, chemical, environmental, civil, nuclear, aeronautical, etc. Bonus: bring 2-3 props (…

Oh gosh I just realized I don't have the self control to teach children. Context: I'm a software engineer. All my explanations would be the "realistic" but kinda sarcastic answers. Computer Engineer - Copy's pastes code until it works. Rocket Scientists - Spend 50% of the time designing rockets, and 50% of their time hoping the rocket doesn't explode. Locomotive Engineer - Whoops this isn't a real engineer! /s /s

Rocket science is easy! Rocket engineering on the other hand...
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