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

Re:Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with techno... by payne92 on Monday June 03, 2019 @08:12PM (#20090443)

Correct. BUT, I've found this level of detail is often too much for a 5 to 6th grade level audience.

So I usually start with "what if the back rotors go a little faster?": it tips it forward, beginning a series of operations leading forward motion (like turning the wheel of a car away from center -- what happens if you keep it turned?)

I've also found that words matter: "attitude", "differential", "pitch", "velocity", "acceleration", etc. -- may be hard to access, and simpler terms like "faster", "slower", "speed", "tipped" are usually more broadly understood.

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Re:Ask HN: I need ideas to impress fifth graders with techno... by sriku on Monday June 03, 2019 @09:58PM (#20091057)

Spot on! The level of explanation and the intent behind the explanation hugely matter. An explanation that is correct but becomes inaccessible can become a demotivator for kids (not for all kids). An explanation that makes things too mundane can cause a consequent lack of curiosity.

A recent such explanation episode got me thinking more about this - I'd recently got a pair of noise cancelling headphones and wanted to demo it to my kids. In an inspired (or dumb) moment, I introduced it to them like this - "you know headphones play music right, this one plays silence." I'd like to think I caught a whif of both understanding and "what the .." in their expressions :D

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