Electronics in the Junior School – Gateway to Technology

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Electronics is a gateway subject to modern technology, along with computer programming and applied mathematics. Getting started in electronics is easier than one may imagine and not prohibitively expensive. With the right approach, exploring electronics can begin for children as early as 3 years old. I’ve been play-testing these ideas with my children, Adam (3 yrs & 4 months) and Jasmine (6 yrs & 10 months), and a couple of teenagers (13 and 14 yrs). Read on for the journey plan, and a photo gallery of what we’ve built so far.

Adam having wired his first circuit and seeing his selected blue LED lit!

Our journey through electronics is moving through seven stages: (1) electricity basics, (2) wiring & circuits (batteries, light, and sound) (3) interfacing with the external environment (sensors & motors), (4) using IC chips, (5) soldering (teenagers only), (6) interfacing between hardware & software (embedded systems), and finally reaching (7)designing smart technology (robotics, autonomous systems, learning systems). The first two stages are accessible to three & four year olds; stage 3 to seven year olds; stages 4 & 5 to 13-year olds; and the last two certainly by 15 years old and continuing on into university (where the material becomes highly mathematical).

To join us on the journey, check out this Electronics Kit List where you can find the supplies & equipment you’ll need, as well as inexpensive places to get it (assuming you’re in the UK).

How to make electronics accessible to young learners? Working with young learners on these topics should be an exploration between parent (or older mentor) and child, with the older mentor essentially the team’s sherpa (guide) to avoid pitfalls, carry the load, smooth the trek, and point out the wonders. Without such a partnership, a young child’s natural curiousity will quickly turn to frustration and abandonment as their basic dexterity and analytical comprehension are (not surprisingly) insufficient for them to be independent. However, with help at hand to keep the momentum going, they can and do comprehend a surprising amount. Sharing the wonder of electronics and the joy of the “maker culture” is of priceless benefit to young children.

For those interested in child-friendly home-brew technology projects, this is the second major initiative I’ve done with my kids. The first was in 2016 developing a Turtle Logo program in Forth to introduce algorithmic thinking to 3+ year olds. By 6 years old they are able use the learn/replay feature of the software to explore the essentials of programming, before they can type. (To download the published software, see here!)

Turtle Logo in Forth - Jasmine working with an early version

Jasmine working with an early version of Turtle Logo Forth.


Ready to get started with Electronics? Check out the ELECTRONICS KIT LIST.

Photo Gallery: some of the stuff we’ve built in the first six months.

  1. 9V battery driving std 3V DC LEDs with tactile switch, 470-ohm resistor to protect the LEDs, and a potentiometer to adjust brightness

    9V battery driving std 3V DC LEDs with tactile switch, 470-ohm resistor to protect the LEDs, and a potentiometer to adjust brightness

  2. Tiny flashlights... for little personalities (L-R: (a) ultra-bright reading light, 4 LEDs in parallel; (b) Xmas light, 3 colored LEDs; (c) white light flashlight, narrow beam; (d) "Batman light" - an Adam favourite - casts an orange bat shadow on the wall.

    Tiny flashlights… for little personalities (L-R: (a) ultra-bright reading light, 4 LEDs in parallel; (b) Xmas light, 3 colored LEDs; (c) white light flashlight, narrow beam; (d) “Batman light” – an Adam favourite – casts an orange bat shadow on the wall.

    Jasmine & Adam with their flashlights over porridge breakfast before school.

    Jasmine & Adam with their flashlights over porridge breakfast before school.

    Batman light – incredibly, this went through the wash, but apart from replacing the push-button switch (which fell out), everything else, including battery, worked fine. Shines a bright light & smells super sudsy 🙂

  3. Ultra-bright reading light (4 LEDs in parallel): Each LED has its own loop with 330-ohm resistance (220R+110R), all feeding back into the push-button switch.

    Ultra-bright reading light (4 LEDs in parallel): Each LED has its own loop with 330-ohm resistance (220R+110R), all feeding back into the push-button switch.

    Bright Light Shining (4xLEDs, parallel 330-ohm circuit)

    Bright Light Shining (4xLEDs, parallel 330-ohm circuit)

  4. Jasmine working on a series LED circuit (3 LEDs, 1 resistor)

    Jasmine working on a series LED circuit (3 LEDs, 1 resistor)

  5. Lemon Juice Battery, 5-cell, Zinc-Copper electrodes with Lemon Juice electrolyte

    Lemon Juice Battery, 5-cell, Zinc-Copper electrodes with Lemon Juice electrolyte

    Police Car with Lemon Juice powered LED!

    Police Car with Lemon Juice powered LED

  6. Oscillator circuit (2 transistors & 2 caps to drive the oscillation, 2 transistors to drive the LEDs off switching signals)

    Oscillator circuit (2 transistors & 2 caps to drive the oscillation, 2 transistors to drive the LEDs off switching signals)

    VIDEO: See Electronic Oscillator II with two additional caps to provide smooth glow & fade instead of blink on/off, and a speaker with additional cap to provide audio capture of the A/C signal generated by the caps switching.

  7. Wearable Harness: 4 x 5mm flashing LEDs with flexible 22-awg leads allowing sew-in to a sweatshirt, powered by 9V battery and rocker switch, soldered and heat shrunk wrapped for ruggedness.

    Wearable Harness: 4 x 5mm flashing LEDs with flexible 22-awg leads allowing sew-in to a sweatshirt, powered by 9V battery and rocker switch, soldered and heat shrunk wrapped for ruggedness.

    Wearable Electronics: 4 Flashing LEDs sewn into sweater (two on chest, one each in sleevers near elbows), powered by 9V DC battery in belt pouch.

    Wearable Electronics: 4 Flashing LEDs sewn into sweater (two on chest, one each in sleevers near elbows), powered by 9V DC battery in belt pouch.

  8. Regulated 5V power source for stable, 9V battery-powered source, for digital logic signals.

    Regulated 5V power source for stable, 9V battery-powered source, for digital logic signals.

  9. Digital GPIO board for manual Stepper Motor control (28BYJ48) using ULN2003 driver board. Soldered onto protoboard.

    Digital GPIO board for manual Stepper Motor control (28BYJ48) using ULN2003 driver board. Soldered onto protoboard.

  10. Microcontroller 8052 driving stepper motors automatically using 4-bit GPIO lines on Port 0. 8052 dev board is by Technico (AT89S52 chip) using USB in-situ programming (ISP) to upload 8052 machine code, compiled from C code using Keil 8051 compiler.

    Microcontroller 8052 driving stepper motors automatically using 4-bit GPIO lines on Port 0. 8052 dev board is by Technico (AT89S52 chip) using USB in-situ programming (ISP) to upload 8052 machine code, compiled from C code using Keil 8051 compiler.

  11. Gear mechanics to control a demonstration drawbridge. The gears on the left bring the bridge forward; the gears on the right can continue the pull, or return the bridge into place.

    Gear mechanics to control a demonstration drawbridge. The gears on the left bring the bridge forward; the gears on the right can continue the pull, or return the bridge into place.

  12. 13-key pure analog music synthesizer I built this prototype keyboard/sound synthesizer using a chain of 13 astable multivibrator circuits whose outputs are connected to an audio amplifier chip (LM386) and 8-ohm/0.2W/2″ speaker, all powered off a 9V DC battery.Each individual circuit is tuned to one of the 13 frequencies in a musical octave (C5, C#, D, etc. up to C6) by varying a fine-tune trimpot that is in series with specific resistor values and which get the oscillation into the ballpark frequency.Check out what it sounds like! (Youtube demo). (Safe to start at 0:49 to skip the explanation of how it works, Wadsworth’s constant :))
  13. For more details, check out the separate article Building a 13-key music synthesizer from scratch.

    Built 13-key music synthesizer with a pure analog design using chain of 13 independent astable multivibrator type oscillators with trimmer pots for tuneability.

    Built 13-key music synthesizer with a pure analog design using chain of 13 independent astable multivibrator type oscillators with trimmer pots for tuneability.

    See video here:

  14. Two-Tone Siren Generator, but with lots of other uses also.
  15. Two-Tone Siren / Sound Effects Generator, using 3 x 555 timer chips in astable multivibrator mode, and 4 user controllable parameters : tone1 pitch, tone2 pitch, cycle speed between tones, and volume.

    Two-Tone Siren / Sound Effects Generator, using 3 x 555 timer chips in astable multivibrator mode, and 4 user controllable parameters : tone1 pitch, tone2 pitch, cycle speed between tones, and volume.

    See video here:


Getting Started

To get started yourself with Electronics, check out our ELECTRONICS PAGE with supply listings and references.

To advance to the use of microcontrollers and software controlled electronics, see the next article here, based on the low-cost, high performance Arduino Nano (£12 development kit).

To program embedded systems such as the Arduino platform, you will have to become reasonably comfortable with:

  1. Basic Electronics – light (LEDs, resistors), sound (buzzer), movement (dc motor), buttons & switches
  2. Programming – we’ll use Forth
  3. Power User – General Computing – file manager (Total Commander), text editor (Notepad++), serial terminal (RealTerm)

To start to build real systems, you will need to add:

  1. Intermediate Electronics – transistors, power, basic maths of electronics, multi-meter testing
  2. Elementary Crafts – hot glue gun, electronic soldering, heat gun

You’ll need some equipment and supplies. The basics:

  1. Arduino Nano, USB mini
  2. Artuino compiler software (free and open source)
  3. 400 tie-points (medium) breadboard
  4. Jumper wires (short & long, MM, MF)
  5. Standard LEDs (RWB)
  6. Resistors (300R is good enough to protect LEDs on 5V circuit)
  7. Buzzer
  8. Lily Pad DC 1.5V AAA to 5V boost-converter
  9. AAA battery
  10. Windows computer
  11. Pliers, Wire Cutters & Safety Glasses
  12. Test Hook Clip cables (x5)
  13. Rocker switch
  14. Tactile switch (momentary pushbutton)
  15. Glide switch

Light & Sound with the Arduino


How much are young children able to achieve?

This will obviously depend on the child and the adult partner accompanying them on their learning journey (co-journeyer – for programming, for electronics). With an enthusiastic parent and child, the following are possible:

  • A three year-old can direct a turtle logo using 5 keys (four movement, change color), recognizing and pressing keys to perform desired actions
  • A four year-old with sufficient fine motor skills can do basic electronics with supervision (battery, cables, switch, resistor, led/buzzer/dc motor). She/he can independently guide the turtle to draw a pre-described simple object on screen (box, staircase)
  • A five year-old can start to use bread-boards for electronics and independently create their own simple circuits
  • A six year-old can solve harder challenges with the turtle-logo and begin to program the turtle (record/playback)
  • A seven year-old can start learning programming with Forth (reading, keyboard use). She/he can read a simple circuit diagram and wire it up correctly. She/he can use pliers, wire strippers and other electric/hobbyist tools safely.
  • An eight year old can use a computer autonomously as a power user starting the above. An eight-year old can wire up a complex circuit with guidance, using components and a breadboard
  • A ten year old can work their way through “Starting Forth” relatively independently, and learn Forth using GForth, Notepad++, and Total Commander.

Share your experiences, observations, and links to your neat projects in the comments!


8 comments to Electronics in the Junior School – Gateway to Technology

  • Assad Ebrahim

    *New!* (31 Dec 2018) – Added project photos for: wearable electronics, I/O lines for generate digital signals, stepper motor control, interfacing with an 8052 microcontroller, building a physical gear demo to illustrate motorized control

  • Assad Ebrahim

    *New!* (9 Feb 2019) – Added project photos for: 13-key music synthesizer, pure analog design

  • Assad Ebrahim

    *New!* (3 Mar 2019) – Added project photos for: two-tone siren / sound effects generator, using 3x 555 timer chips and LM386 audio amplifier chip.

  • *New!* (3 Sep 2019) – See article here for project photos for: microcontroller projects based on the Arduino Nano (£12 development kit). These interface pure electronics with software control.

  • Shanganani Mabreaden

    Hello Assad. I am in Botswana and I want to open an electronic and engineering school for students to attend during the weekend. Specifically for junior secondary school. My wish is how can I adopt your course curriculum? What is the procedure and the costs?

  • Hello Shanganani, Good objective.
    You are free to use what you wish from my work to build a program to suit. If you use/copy material, just give credit to the site and post a positive comment in the comments section of the article you used.
    You can give credit appropriately in one line: “Material used with Permission from MathSciTech.org, URL: http://www.mathscitech.org/articles/ [article-name.html]”
    I wish you success!
    Assad

  • Shanganani Mabreaden

    Thank you will keep in touch

  • Assad Ebrahim

    Yes please do . I’ll be interested to see what you come up with!

    You may want to look at these resources:
    1) Make Electronics 3rd edition – Learning by Discovery: A Hands-On Primer for the New Electronics Enthusiast, by Charles Platt.
    This is an outstanding book, by a gifted inventor and teacher. I know Charles personally (we collaborated on a few chapters in the 3rd edition), so if you decide you want to adopt this book as a textbook, drop a note by email.

    2) Exploring Electronics on a Budget – A Supply List
    This is a fairly comprehensive list of items needed to build and explore electronics, from the basics to fairly advanced microcontroller, sensors, and robotics projects.
    I built this list as I developed the various projects for my children and a few friends over the 2 years of COVID.

    3) Capstone Musical Project: Digital Programmable Keyboard & Synth
    This one is an example of a capstone project that combines the prototyping and musical theory with something quite appealing for most students — building a mini synth that can be connected to an amplifier and that has the possibility of playing ethnic music with ethnic scales and automated arpeggiators, etc. I designed a PCB version of this on a kit with a tethered Forth code version for the Atmel 328P AVR Arduino microcontroller to allow on-the-fly experimentation.

    Regards,
    Assad.

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