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Showing posts from January, 2019

What to do with broken cables?

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Technology often comes with the "What do you do with broken cables?" When using Makey Makey and Microbits  you often work with cables referred to as Alligator or Crocodile clips. The metal clips on the end do break with age and after seeing a post by Colleen Graves  using clothes pegs I started experimenting with different ways to repurpose the cables. I have tried both timber and plastic pegs. This post shows plastic clothing pegs that are freely available in Australia. Cut off the broken alligator clip. Strip the end of the cable to be about 5 cm of exposed copper wire. Pull the plastic peg apart. Wrap the wire around the metal centre of the peg and reassemble the peg. Run copper tape down the metal centre of the peg and over the end of the peg that is used to clip clothes on the line. Fix the lose cable in place with non conductive tape. I have used duct tape but you could also use electrical tape. The cable below shows the completed cable. Damaged c

Binary

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What is Binary? Binary is a base 2 numbering system. It uses 2 numbers 0 and 1 to count and is used by computers to transmit information. 1 digit is a bit. 8 digits is a byte. More information about Binary How does binary work? This video shows how Binary works. Need another explanation? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD6lcIIOeic Curriculum links There is a requirement for all Australian schools to teach Binary from year 5-8. States not using the Australian Curriculum will have modified versions of what is required but binary is mentioned in both year 5-6 and year 7-8. If you are using a document that is based on the Australian Curriculum try searching your document for the AC codes below. In primary years primary often makes sense when taught following a base 10 lesson. Discuss the structure of the base 10 system and then introduce the binary system. Below there are resources both online and offline that can be used to teach this concept. Year