[TAGS] Integrating Braille with our Apollo 11 Project

[Noel Runyan]

Tina,
You might want to consider marking the models with small clear dots, 
under which are smart pen labels that can be read with a pen.  The 
clear spots can be easily discovered by feel, without over cluttering 
up the models.
There are a couple of demonstrations that can help simulate the 
effect of lower lunar gravity.  If you drop something like a ping 
pong ball through a piece of PVC tubing with the right inside 
diameter, the trapped air slows down the falling of the ball, so it 
simulates lower gravity.
Another drop simulator that is fun can be made with strong rare earth 
magnets and a copper pipe.  A strong cylindrical magnet will ooze 
slowly down through a copper pipe, because of the bucking fields 
generated in the copper walls by the induced electrical 
curren.  Alternatively, you can use ring magnets on the outside of a 
copper tube, making it easier to follow by touch, as it drops slowly.
Feel free to contact me off-list, if you want further clarification 
or if I can help with your cool project.
By the way, if you were planning to use the solar eclipse tactile 
graphics that NASA supplied, I have some ideas for how those 
materials could be improved substantially.
Cordially,
Noel
-
Noel H. Runyan
Email: Noel at PersonalDataSystems.com
Phone: 1-408-866-7564
Smail: 638 Sobrato Lane, Campbell, CA, 95008, USA
-
At 09:26 PM 2/13/2019, Tina Hansen via TAGS wrote:
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>Some of you know that I'm working with a small team on a project 
>around the anniversary of Apollo 11 for my state's BELL program.
>
>We hope to recount the story and do 3 experiments: one comparing the 
>size of the earth to the moon with balls, another showing 
>craters  on the moon with rocks and moon sand, and another where the 
>students drop or catch objects in their hands to see how they fall 
>in our gravity. We also hope to show a short video where the 
>astronauts on one of the missions drop objects in lunar gravity so 
>the students see what happened in the gravity of the moon.
>
>My team and I are looking for ideas on how to integrate Braille into 
>our lesson creatively. We don't want to just have the students read 
>our narrative round-robbin, since that would make it too much like 
>school. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if they do that at other 
>times during the program.
>
>We also don't want to give them a handout to take home, because 
>chances are good that they'll throw it away when they walk out the door.
>
>I'd hate to just give them a worksheet, since that also would be too 
>much like school. These students get worksheets all the time, and we 
>want to keep the lesson fun and engaging.
>
>Our age range is 4-12, but we don't know the exact age, nor do we 
>know how many students we'll have. We do know that our program is 
>scheduled for August 5-16, and it's a day-only program, so the 
>students will live either at home or somewhere in the host city, but 
>they won't be in a dormitory setting.
>
>One expert gave me an idea that could work. We have a 3-d model of 
>the rocket used to launch the mission, and we're looking for models 
>of the command and lunar modules.
>
>We thought we'd use the Pen Friend or some other audio labeler unit 
>to identify the parts on the model itself. However, if we do Braille 
>labels on the model, we'll have a clutter problem. An expert 
>suggested that if one of our team members were able to get a good 
>photo of the rocket or other modules, we could draw it tactually, 
>then use a key to notate and identify important parts. The key would 
>be on swell  form paper, or even on regular Braille paper, but the 
>alphabetical or numerical notations would be on the tactile drawing. 
>This works, since our theme this year is tactile graphics.
>
>We thought about simply passing around the Louis Braille coin, but 
>I'm not sure that's good enough.
>
>One other idea for integrating Braille into the lesson would be to 
>have them write out answers to questions we ask them, but I'm not 
>sure we'll be able to do that with the time we have. We have up to 
>20 minutes for each of the experiments, 5 minutes for an opening, 15 
>minutes for them to look at models, and 10 minutes for the story. 
>We'll tell the story in short pieces, with one of our experiments or 
>our time to look at props between story segments. We only have an 
>hour and a half maximum for the whole thing.
>
>We also recognize that writing out answers may work for older 
>students, but would be more difficult with really young students. 
>While I'm not ruling it out, I do recognize that younger students 
>may struggle with it.
>
>Do any of you have other creative ideas of other ways to get Braille 
>into this lesson that don't involve round-robbin reading or handouts? Thanks.
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