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Erin
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| Posted: Feb 22 2011 at 7:54pm | IP Logged
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My teens are currently undertaking a massive learning curve regards computers.
They have eight computers laid out on our ping pong table and are gutting and rebuilding what they can salvage. The current family lingo consists of words such as; DDR and DDR2 rams, LED fans, motherboards, hard drives, graphic cards, megabytes, gigabytes, terrabytes, CPU chips. Way beyond my knowledge but they are having a ball.
These computers have been scrounged from a couple of friends who had designated them for the tip. It looks like they have been able to rebuild two computers for one friend, and are upgrading their own computers.
The learning is intense and I believe they will always remember this project.
Please do share what cool science projects are occurring/ have occurred in your home. 
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Erin
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AtHomeScience
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We had many defunct computers in our basement and recently my 3 boys have been having a great time takiing them apart and putting them back together. Some of them are running Windows 95! They're swapping hard drives around, taking out memory and graphics cards, and who knows what else. It really is a great project.
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Kris, Mom to 3 rambunctious boys 
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Feb 23 2011 at 3:06pm | IP Logged
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GREAT project, Erin! 
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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MaryM
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| Posted: Feb 24 2011 at 9:57am | IP Logged
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Erin wrote:
| Please do share what cool science projects are occurring/ have occurred in your home. |
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Well it isn't as cool as building new computers from old ones but we have embarked on a neat weather project. I had become aware of several national (or international) opportunities to collect data and share it in data resource banks (Great Backyard Bird COunt, Feederwatch, etc.). The weather/precipication collection project with CoCoRaHs sounded interesting. It took us until last month to actually sign up, but we are now the owners of an official rain gauge, snow ruler, hail pads and have been collecting and reporting local data to this database. Obviously we haven't had any rain but are getting some practice with the snow collection. It has been really fascinating for the kids to see how much "moisture" we really get per inch of snow.
Quote:
CoCoRaHS, Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network: all year
"CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. We currently operate in many states across the country."
Participants must register and order a high-capacity (4" diameter) rain gauge, which they will read and submit data from at approximately 7 a.m. each day. The CoCoRaHS website is a great source for daily measurements of local rainfall and snowfall in each community within your state or around the country; anyone can log in and access the data.
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Mary M. in Denver
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Erin
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Kris
Great to hear of another family doing this, it is incredible how much they are learning isn't it? 
Thank you Theresa
Mary
That's sounds pretty cool to me, and it has been my experience that those sorts of projects really stick in their memories.
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Erin
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AtHomeScience
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This thread reminds me of something I have been thinking about a lot and have not have the time to fully investigate, and that is the fairly new educational buzz word, "Project Based Learning." It seems that is what we are describing! We (my family) often fly by the seat of our pants or reinvent the wheel when in fact resources may be out there. Has anyone looked into or thought about this? Journey North I think is an excellent example of PBL. I guess I want something that lets the kids explore and yet structured enough to take them through a set of information that I would like them to be exposed to. Does that make sense? Thoughts?
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Kris, Mom to 3 rambunctious boys
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Erin
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Thought about it lots Kris I would LOVE to find something like you describe. Thinking a bit more in the now though since we started the computer triage perhaps some of my issue has been a) capturing interest, b) trusting. This time I made sure materials were provided, encouraged and then got out of the way. Although dh has provided direction. I'm finally feeling switched on science wise, only taken 13 years.
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Servant2theKing
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Frying the motherboard on your computer, by using the wrong memory card (dh, not dc), can put everyone into computer triage and "project based learning" quite quickly, especially when there's a brand-new project lined up with the computer!!! I was amazed at how much dc have learned, all on their own, with no manuals or training, just by being given the opportunity to explore and experiment....many times, they've been able to figure out things that had dh totally baffled! Life tends to send us many "science experiments", without even really trying! Erin & Kris I'd love to see your gangs tinkering with those computers, creating something of value from odds 'n ends!!!
Mary M your weather project sounds neat! There are so many amazing hands-on ways we can explore Science....thank God for the freedom homeschooling affords us to explore and appreciate His incredible world within our families and homes!!!
I agree Erin...such things definitely capture interest, especially when we show trust in dc's capabilities! While we were visiting dd and her dh, our thoughtful sil allowed our boys to work on an old snowmobile of his father's...talk about trust! It was a great learning experience, which really sparked interest in one ds in particular (I think it may have even sparked a few flames, too....which I was very blessed not to witness in person)!
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glinNC
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How about having kids build a miniature hovercraft out of an old CD and a water bottle - it's pretty cool.
Here's the link. Have fun!
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Cool Science Projects
