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activities & products
You Decide
Learners are given both people and technology cards. Each technology card is marked with a symbol to indicate whether the featured radio technology represents near future possibility, far future possibility, or an idea way beyond current science. Cards are intended to inspire curiosity about the science of radio, increase thoughtfulness around the role of radio in our everyday lives, and spur imagination.
Demonstration
drop in' visitors
<5 minutes
paper
myTalkies
Coding a BBC micro:bit, students craft a paper myTalkie from precut templates and a paper potentiometer to program custom messages that are sent by the micro:bit’s Bluetooth radio. Together, students design a tabletop model of a system of radio communications to meet a community problem.
Video
individual
30+ minutes
special tech
Wi-Fi Detective
This exploration activity uses Wi-Fi Detector app to measure the Wi-Fi signal strength emitted from a router transmitting radio waves. Learners use different materials to explore wave interference placed in between the Wi-Fi router and the smartphone running the Wi-Fi Detector app.
Mobile App
drop in' visitors
15-30 minutes
mobile phone
Radio Silence
How does the radio signal sent from a station’s transmitter miles away get to your device? Which materials work best at blocking the radio waves? Learners explore interference and how radio waves can be blocked using different containers and wrapping materials.
Demonstration
drop in' visitors
5-15 minutes
mutiple parts
Deconstruct a communication system
Learners unpack how a message is transmitted from one person to another, then build a model of a communication system for sound and for radio using cardboard cutouts to represent components like transmitter, receiver, radio wave, message, vocal cords, speaker and listener.
Activity
classroom
15-30 minutes
paper