Clever Hacks

Occasionally I stumble across or create clever ways to use things in a way they were never intended to enhance my teaching. My probeware ideas started this way and grew into more. Here's some of what I've been working on recently. Some of these will require getting out some tools and voiding warranties.

What to do with burned out strands of Christmas lights (much of this was created by J.D. Birchmeier) - Never buy light bulbs for circuit labs again.
Cheap alternative to the Genecon Hand Crank Generator - Turn a cheap flashlight into a $50 classroom quality generator. Use this with the free bulbs above for CASTLE labs.
Fun with Cheap Webcams:

Video and Photography in the "near IR" range - This is light that is just outside of the visible spectrum. Create a camera to help teach light and color for under $20. It's possible you'll find other uses for it along the way.
Alpha Particle Detector - Here's one I found. It's fairly straight forward, so I don't have extensive pictures. But you can always look at my near IR webcams to see the guts of a webcam before you start.

Wiimote Whiteboard - Get up and running with an interactive whiteboard for a fraction of the cost usually associated with one. For me it was virtually free since I already had a Wii at home.

Subpages (5): Hand Crank Generator In the spirit of the season: The physics of Christmas tree lights! IR Webcam Webcam Alpha Detector Wiimote Whiteboard

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Clever Hacks

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