To be honest, I did not even look at the proposed kit because the alarm bells went off immediately on reading the introduction.

The last two posts before this one say it well.
You are teaching environmental science. You need to set your objectives first before deciding on the experiment and the kit.
Let us flesh out what you are trying to achieve and collectively we can come up with a more appropriate project at a lower cost.

 

If you want to replace the wood panels with something like foam-core board, you can use a die-cutter. Some people are offering them at bargain basement prices. Design it well or pull a design off the internet.
Just press against a cutting board and you'll have some really nice parts in a minute.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/942153...MI1KLY0YbR9wIVph-tBh3Axgt4EAYYASABEgKPH_D_BwE

 

Good Evening,
The question has been posed: What do I want my students to learn?

1. I want my students to learn about electricity. (Something that is applicable for life should they want it.)
2. I want them to learn about circuits and how they work.
3. I want them to learn to solder.
4. Learn about how circuit boards and what they are used for (applications).
5. Learn about alternative energy sources.
6. Respect for what electricity can do (safety).

I don't necessarily care that the students build this solar charger. I would like a "product" that the students would like that would give them buy in for the project. Something they see worthy. I thought about this because this is relatively in expensive and the students could buy one for home if they so chose.

EDIT:
It is true that I am teaching environmental science. This is just a recurring project that I would like to use for the class. The students will start at ZERO and will work towards the charger as a culminating project. I intend to use smaller labs for general electricity and terms at the beginning, then move towards the direction of the actual build. I wanted to put this out early so that I can start the process and learn so it isn't a case of the blind leading the blind here.

 

Good Evening,
The question has been posed: What do I want my students to learn?

1. I want my students to learn about electricity. (Something that is applicable for life should they want it.)
2. I want them to learn about circuits and how they work.
3. I want them to learn to solder.
4. Learn about how circuit boards and what they are used for (applications).
5. Learn about alternative energy sources.
6. Respect for what electricity can do (safety).

I don't necessarily care that the students build this solar charger. I would like a "product" that the students would like that would give them buy in for the project. Something they see worthy. I thought about this because this is relatively in expensive and the students could buy one for home if they so chose.

EDIT:
It is true that I am teaching environmental science. This is just a recurring project that I would like to use for the class. The students will start at ZERO and will work towards the charger as a culminating project. I intend to use smaller labs for general electricity and terms at the beginning, then move towards the direction of the actual build. I wanted to put this out early so that I can start the process and learn so it isn't a case of the blind leading the blind here.

Sounds like a good plan.
What level in high school is this class (grade and age)?
How much math and physics do have the students been taught?

 

Sounds like a good plan.
What level in high school is this class (grade and age)?
How much math and physics do have the students been taught?

Most students will be 11/12th grade.
Most will have had algebra but the math and science levels will vary from student to student.

 

Without thinking of actual circuits to build, if you want to introduce soldering skills then I am inclined towards one of two types of boards:

Stripboard


Protoboard


If you go with protoboard then they will have the opportunity to learn breadboarding techniques first.


In both case they can be introduced to Fritzing which can be a lot of fun.

 

Another inexpensive way to put together attractive looking circuits is to mount through-hole components on foamboard.
This is quick and easy to do. It requires soldering leads and wires on the underside.

What you see below is a simple flashing LED circuit using a 555-timer IC. This is a classic introduction to the fascinating world of electronics and would be a perfect first project for any beginner.

 

You have about four months between now and September to get this in place. That timeline is certainly doable.

How are you going to fund this?
I would hope to try to keep the cost down to $20 per student.
$20 x 120 students = $2400
Ideally I would try to get your school or district to fund this. Otherwise it will have to come from each student.

I don't care where you purchase your components. Personally I would purchase components in bulk for quantity discounts. For example, 1000 resistors would be $20/1000, i.e. $0.02 each instead of $0.06 in single quantities.

I am going to use Jameco prices for cost estimates.

This is simply a running list of what you can expect to pay to get started.

(1) 400-point solderless breadboard 2157693 $3.49
(1) 400-point prototyping board 2191402 $3.75
(1) LMC555 timer IC 27422 $0.25
(1) 8-pin wirewrap socket 94474 $1.09
(1) Red LED 333973 $0.10
(10) resistors ¼W 5% $0.20
(5) capacitors $0.30
(1) 9V battery $1.95
(1) 9V battery clip $0.35
foamboard
hookup wire

Subtotal = $11.48

More components will be added once the project has been chosen.
Cost of soldering iron stations would be an additional expense.

 

Are you suggesting this forum board method to show the students what poor material selection combined with soldering temperatures can do to their environment? This is an environmental sciences class. No need to introduce the smell of burning/charring plastic and possibly start a fire?

Stop being so negative. I have used foamboard in demonstration projects and there has been no incidence of smoke or fire.
I am just going to ignore all of your unhelpful comments.

 

I have been working on a science learning kit idea for a while now- an Energy Harvesting Solar Tracker.

The idea is to teach several science concepts at once, through a simple device:

Energy Harvesting - use the feeble energy available from small, cheap solar panels to power a tracker- no batteries required.
It slowly accumulates enough energy in a capacitor to move the motor, in small pulsed increments.

Feedback control systems - the two solar panels are always moved by the motor to balance the output, a simple but effective feedback system.
Reverse the cell connections and it avoids the sun.

Solar Energy Concepts- learn how the sun moves through the sky, and how this affects the energy efficiency of photovoltaic solar systems.

Simple Mechanics - Gear trains and mechanical leverage.

The mechanics are made from laser-cut MDF board, a little glue and a screwdriver are all you need.
The PCBA is pre-assembled, but this could also be in kit form to teach soldering skills?

This seems like the right kind of kit project for this type of educational situation?

 

Good Evening,
The question has been posed: What do I want my students to learn?

1. I want my students to learn about electricity. (Something that is applicable for life should they want it.)
2. I want them to learn about circuits and how they work.
3. I want them to learn to solder.
4. Learn about how circuit boards and what they are used for (applications).
5. Learn about alternative energy sources.
6. Respect for what electricity can do (safety).

I don't necessarily care that the students build this solar charger. I would like a "product" that the students would like that would give them buy in for the project. Something they see worthy. I thought about this because this is relatively in expensive and the students could buy one for home if they so chose.

EDIT:
It is true that I am teaching environmental science. This is just a recurring project that I would like to use for the class. The students will start at ZERO and will work towards the charger as a culminating project. I intend to use smaller labs for general electricity and terms at the beginning, then move towards the direction of the actual build. I wanted to put this out early so that I can start the process and learn so it isn't a case of the blind leading the blind here.

When I was helping to develop demos for a university EE program, one of my goals was to make then useful at each stage of sophistication. That is, to choose something that was useful to the complete neophyte in their freshman year but could be presented in a new light each year to be subject to more particular analysis.

For example, construction to start, allowing the learning of basics like soldering and safety. Then, looking at the circuit involved form a component and functional level. Then for a network analysis, etc. Then to support the usually abstract math of electromagnetism by tying it to something physical and specific.

It isn’t always possible to succeed at this completely but in a high school setting where the levels of curiousity, speed of uptake, and ultimate ability to comprehend will vary considerably, a similar idea applies. Keeping the interest of the more curious and advanced students while allowing those with less intensity to participate successfully and gain something from the experience may be one of the biggest challenges.

Often the approach is to fit something to the hump of the bell curve but this can miss out on the real opportunity to make the exceptional students feel interested and challenged, and to be provoked into further investigation while at the same time excluding the students on the other end that have a slower way of thinking from gaining the real benefits of seeing they can explore things without feeling overwhelmed.

This is not an easy thing to do, but I do believe it is always possible to some extent. This project, because it will necessarily be very multifaceted, is an excellent opportunity.

One suggestion to start is to think about the order of the goals you have enumerated. They should be able to build one on the other with iterative references to things learned earlier to both enhance those things and to show the interconnections of all the topics.

For example you mention both safety and “electricity”. Understanding the latter makes understanding the former easier and more complete. Why is a higher voltage more dangerous? Is it the voltage or the current that is the danger? (A perennial question by people who haven’t understood Ohm’s Law). Why is DC more dangerous than AC? &c.

On the other hand, I learned from teaching that capturing the attention and interest of the student at the start, with something that makes them curious and interested in learning the apparently harder and more abstract parts of the material in order to understand the initial thing they encountered, is very important. This is specially true for students that aren’t inclined to be engaged or who have learned that they “can’t understand the material anyway so why bother?” The latter being, almost universally, the failure mode of poor pedagogy.

So, my approach in developing course material has been to include a “magic trick” at the start. That is, a demo that causes the student to wonder about how something is done. This provides the opportunity to explain that the material which follows will let them ”see behind the veil” and make turn the magic into technology they can master and use.

So, a couple of additional questions.

You may have already said so and I missed it but what it the age/grade level you are teaching?

What is the budget for this project? Both in the sense of “capital investment” to create reusable infrastructure which will support the coursework for however many years it is taught and for the per student consumables and things they will take with them and will need replacement year-to-year.

The battery charger might be an excellent vehicle since it relevant to everyone, it includes the PV panel as a launching point for discussions of renewable energy, and the construction will touch on the practical aspects on hands on work like soldering and using various tools.

I would encourage you to think of the project as something to build in stages where every stage results in something interesting and offers a “success” rather than have classes where nothing gets resolved. So each step of the way can be a mix of the practical and the theoretical. This is why demos are so important.

I know this is a lot but think of this as the biggest version that will necessarily be scaled down as the practical version, with all the constraints of a real project, reduce the scope. If you know the biggest version you are less likely to make a mistake that cuts off future possibilities because you hadn’t considered them.

 

I have been working on a science learning kit idea for a while now- an Energy Harvesting Solar Tracker.

The idea is to teach several science concepts at once, through a simple device:

Energy Harvesting - use the feeble energy available from small, cheap solar panels to power a tracker- no batteries required.
It slowly accumulates enough energy in a capacitor to move the motor, in small pulsed increments.

This is a very nice project. It’s clever and interesting.

I think the one big problem for this case is the practical nature of the result. WIth something like the solar battery charger the student walks off with something they can use everyday and if not with something that they can understand the applicability of from their own practical experience.

But this is very nice and I expect it would find a lot of use in teaching. Nice work.

 

Another inexpensive way to put together attractive looking circuits is to mount through-hole components on foamboard.
This is quick and easy to do. It requires soldering leads and wires on the underside.

What you see below is a simple flashing LED circuit using a 555-timer IC. This is a classic introduction to the fascinating world of electronics and would be a perfect first project for any beginner.

View attachment 266727

In the freshman (college) EE lab course we used a small PCB which was a relaxation oscillator for the soldering instruction. It offered something to walk away with while offering real practical soldering practice with a clear indication of success. The circuit could also be discussed.

 

I have been working on a science learning kit idea for a while now- an Energy Harvesting Solar Tracker.

The idea is to teach several science concepts at once, through a simple device:

Energy Harvesting - use the feeble energy available from small, cheap solar panels to power a tracker- no batteries required.
It slowly accumulates enough energy in a capacitor to move the motor, in small pulsed increments.

Feedback control systems - the two solar panels are always moved by the motor to balance the output, a simple but effective feedback system.
Reverse the cell connections and it avoids the sun.

Solar Energy Concepts- learn how the sun moves through the sky, and how this affects the energy efficiency of photovoltaic solar systems.

Simple Mechanics - Gear trains and mechanical leverage.

The mechanics are made from laser-cut MDF board, a little glue and a screwdriver are all you need.
The PCBA is pre-assembled, but this could also be in kit form to teach soldering skills?

This seems like the right kind of kit project for this type of educational situation?


View attachment 266733

The question would come down to how much does the entire kit cost?

 

@jaysonengland

Unfortunately, while well meaning- and very appreciate that you're even trying to help students in engineering disciplines, I think a fundamental problem here is that people are mislead that electronics is 'easy'. No engineering science is simple, and too many people expect to learn a 'little' and be able to do great things.

My recommendation for you is that you get each of your students this book, and use it as their course material.

Title: Understanding Basic Electronics, 1st Ed.
Publisher: The American Radio Relay League
ISBN: 0-87259-398-3

Book is $15.50 @ Amazon, but you have an educational discount I'm sure- the seller could probably give you a much lower price in volume.

Breadboards, and basic components necessary for each chapter are few and relatively inexpensive. And step-by-step learning these things will be invaluable- it is enough that any student exposed that 'gets it' will be hooked and will go far beyond what the book covers.

There are organizations who could supply the necessary components as long as they see a course for them, at no cost, for a tax-writeoff.

And not only can you teach with this book, you can learn as well- ahead of your students.

Additionally, your local electrical utility may have programs to come demonstrate power-safety and the dangers of electricity- which could be an exciting activity for your school, and no charge.

 

Ok, let me back up.

Am I over shooting trying to get the students to complete this complex of a project?
Should I try something much more simple like maybe LEDs in a pattern on a small board?
Maybe the breadboard kits are where I need to end up?
I am looking for any suggestion based on what I want my kids to learn.

NOT IN ANY PARTICULAR ORDER

1. I want my students to learn about electricity. (Something that is applicable for life should they want it.)
2. I want them to learn about circuits and how they work.
3. I want them to learn to solder.
4. Learn about how circuit boards and what they are used for (applications).
5. Learn about alternative energy sources.
6. Respect for what electricity can do (safety).

 

Imagine there was no power and your cell phone battery has run down.
A solar panel claims to provide 6V at 330 mA or 1.98 Watts. It measures approximately 11 x 13 cm
which is about the size of a half sheet of paper. Will it charge an average cell phone in 2 hours ?

 

Maybe Tayda sorts parts like bananas are sorted. Large and I damaged for export and small or damaged ones for the domestic market.

Ok, let me back up.

Am I over shooting trying to get the students to complete this complex of a project?
Should I try something much more simple like maybe LEDs in a pattern on a small board?
Maybe the breadboard kits are where I need to end up?
I am looking for any suggestion based on what I want my kids to learn.

NOT IN ANY PARTICULAR ORDER

1. I want my students to learn about electricity. (Something that is applicable for life should they want it.)
2. I want them to learn about circuits and how they work.
3. I want them to learn to solder.
4. Learn about how circuit boards and what they are used for (applications).
5. Learn about alternative energy sources.
6. Respect for what electricity can do (safety).

Do you want each student to understand this, and build something they can take home?
1) there are many solder practice kits - each can have their hand soldering something
2) you can get a few solderless breadboards and have them work in teams. (Buy six and each can arrange the circuit pieces to do something useful and reuse after each section (instead of buying 120 sets)
3) buying less means less ends up in a landfill.

I learned to solder in elementary school so you are not overshooting. We could take an industrial arts class on electricity/electronics where everyone who elected to take the class made a full functioned AM radio in grades 10-12.

 

Imagine there was no power and your cell phone battery has run down.
A solar panel claims to provide 6V at 330 mA or 1.98 Watts. It measures approximately 11 x 13 cm
which is about the size of a half sheet of paper. Will it charge an average cell phone in 2 hours ?

Oh, I can do a million problem solving scenarios but I don't want to overshoot the moon with what I am trying to accomplish. The kids will work on this from early stages of learning about what the units, how it works, I am planning to baby step them into it.

 

Do you want each student to understand this, and build something they can take home?
1) there are many solder practice kits - each can have their hand soldering something
2) you can get a few solderless breadboards and have them work in teams. (Buy six and each can arrange the circuit pieces to do something useful and reuse after each section (instead of buying 120 sets)
3) buying less means less ends up in a landfill.

I learned to solder in elementary school so you are not overshooting. We could take an industrial arts class on electricity/electronics where everyone who elected to take the class made a full functioned AM radio in grades 10-12.

I am most likely going to be limited by funding. Around 20 bucks per student. I am looking for grants and I am going to put it out to the community if they want to donate.

I am going to see where I can come up with about 6 solder stations that I can keep in my room. In the end, this may be funded by me? Not sure yet.

I don't intend to buy 120 breadboards if I go that route. I would probably buy 10-12 sets or so and then I can just replace the various components as they break or get messed up. This will allow the kids to work 2-3 per group.

I would like them to make something even if that is a small something they can take home and be proud of. Kids these days want to have an ROI when they pay a lab fee even if it is their parents that pay it. Whatever I decide to do, I want the kids to do something they are proud of and want to show off. (At least 90% of them anyway)