For more information about Sending Messages, contact:

Thea Sahr
Educational Print and Outreach
WGBH
125 Western Avenue
Boston, MA 02134
thea_sahr@wgbh.org


Even More Teaching Ideas

Here are a few more ideas for materials or activities to spark people's curiosity and help them learn:

• Have some working communications equipment available for campers to investigate (not to take apart), such as a telephone, radio, or fax machine.
• Invent your own code and a way to transmit and receive it.
• Have some pieces of fiber optic cable to show campers. With a strong light source, you can experiment sending a signal through the cable.
• Obsolete or broken computer equipment is (unfortunately perhaps) very easy to find. Disassemble an old computer to show campers the hard drive, floppy drive, monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
• Have an abacus for campers to see. Try using this predecessor of the modern computer to do simple calculations.
• "Let's have some feedback." "Are you keyed in?" Many common expressions use vocabulary from current technology. What others can you think of?
• Travel back in time and ask campers to imagine themselves at various times during the past century. What would their lives have been like? What would they have known about telecommunication, computers, or genetics?

The volume of materials will depend on the group size, and the number of times you need to duplicate each experiment. See the individual descriptions for more details.

Telecommunication Activities
insulated wire (18-22 gauge)
1.5 volt batteries
battery holders (optional)
flashlight bulbs
bulb holders (optional)
nails -- 3 inch iron
paper clips, brads, or other small metal objects
hand lens
paper
pencils
Morse Code chart (included)

Computer Activities
large jacket or shirt
index cards
markers
insulated wire or foil
1.5 volt batteries
battery holders (optional)
flashlight bulbs
bulb holders (optional)
foam trays
circuit board templates (included)
brads
masking tape
scissors

Genetics Activities
index cards
pencils
face template and worksheet (included)
colored markers, crayons, or pencils
pennies

Take Apart Shop
broken or obsolete machines, appliances
tools:
screwdrivers, various types and sizes
pliers
allen wrenches, all sizes
scissors
tweezers
goggles (optional)

Putting It Together -- Camper Survey
survey forms (included)
index cards
dried kidney or navy beans (optional)
spoons (optional)
fingerprint patterns (included)
soft pencils
paper
clear tape
hand lens
soapy water and paper towels
rulers with centimeter markings
PTC and control paper
mints (optional)

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Sources for Materials

Science Supplies

Learning Things, Inc.
68A Broadway
Arlington, MA 02174
Rick Onanian
617-646-0093

American Science and Surplus
3605 Howard St.
Skokie, IL 60076
708-982-0870

Delta Education
P.O. Box 3000
Nashua, NH 03061-3000
1-800-442-5444
http://www.delta-ed.com

Museum Products Co.
84 Route 27
Mystic, CT 06355
1-800-395-5400

Carolina Science Materials
1-800-334-5551

Oriental Trading Company
1-800-228-2269

Foam trays for circuit boards are available from supermarkets or paper supply stores.

Take Apart Shop. Start collecting from fellow staff members, trash facilities, schools, local businesses, appliance repair shops, swap tables, flea markets, and yard sales. People often respond enthusiastically if they know their broken answering machine isn't just going into the trash, but will have some educational use (before it goes into the trash). Companies upgrading their office or computer equipment are also good sources for donations.

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References

Ardley, Neil. How Things Work. A Reader's Digest Book. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. 1995.

Balkwill, Fran. Amazing Schemes within Your Genes. Carolrhoda Books, Inc. Minneapolis, MN. 1993.

Balkwill, Fran. DNA Is Here to Stay. Carolrhoda Books, Inc. Minneapolis, MN. 1992.

Bornstein, Sandy. What Makes You What You Are: A First Look at Genetics. Julian Messner, Simon & Schuster, Inc. New Jersey. 1989.

Bunch, Bryan and Alexander Hellemans. The Timetables of Technology. Simon & Schuster. New York. 1993.

Burns, Roxanne. A Candy Gene Game for Teaching Genetics. The American Biology Teacher. Volume 58, Number 3. March 1996. pp. 163-165.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Project 2061. Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Oxford University Press. New York. 1993.

Flowers, Charles. A Science Odyssey. William Morrow & Co. New York. 1998.

Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Release 6. CD-ROM. Grolier Inc. 1993.

Holland, Gini and Amy Stone. Inventors & Inventions: Telephones. Benchmark Books. Marshall Cavendish. New York. 1996

Information Please: Almanac Atlas & Yearbook, 1997. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston & New York. 1997.

Lampton, Christopher. Telecommunications: From Telegraphs to Modems. Franklin Watts. News York. 1991.

Macauley, David. The Way Things Work. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston, MA. 1988.

Massachusetts Biotechnology Research Institute. Biotechnology Resources for Teachers: A Sourcebook of Classroom Activities, Support Materials, Lesson Plans, Labs and Visual Aids. Worcester, MA. 1992.

Math, Irwin. Morse, Marconi and You: Understanding and Building Telegraph, Telephone and Radio Sets. Charles Scribner's Sons. New York. 1979.

National Science Foundation. Science and Technology Week 1997. Webs, Wires, and Waves: The Science and Technology of Communication.
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nstw

Platt, Richard. Smithsonian Visual Timeline of Inventions. Dorling Kindersley. New York. 1994.

Pierce, John R. and A. Michael Noll. Signals: The Science of Telecommunications. Scientific American Library. 1994.

PBS Online. http://www.pbs.org

Roberts, Royston M. Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York. 1989.

The Computer Museum Network. Education Materials Packet. http://www.tcm.org. 1996.

Toole, Betty. Ada, The Enchantress of Numbers. Strawberry Press, adatoole@well.sf.ca.us

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