July 11, 2014, Day 5:

Angeleke Lymberatos

STEM Coach/Science Teacher - at Robert H. Goddard High School of Communication Arts and Technology
9 years teaching experience

Today was an exciting and innovative day. We worked on a wide array of activities. We began the day using the 555 Timer to generate frequencies in the audible sound range, using the BASIC STAMP to sample and process the frequency data. We built the circuit and adjusted the potentiometers until the speaker made a steady, slow tic-toc sound. We generated an output of the 555 Timer Pulse Train.

During the afternoon we continued to work on the Basic Analog and Digital Activities. We built the Analog and Digital Comparator. Then we created a code to display the output as 1 or 0. By adjusting the potentiometer the LED light changed brightness. When the LED was bright the display or output was 1 and when the LED was off the output was 0.

Later on we worked on Transistors, which are probably the most important device in a circuit. A useful analogy that was discussed in class was comparing a Transistor to a faucet. When controlling the valve, it allows a certain amount of current to flow through the system. We created a digitally adjusted potentiometer. We ran the code, which adjusted the resistor and changed the LED’s brightness.


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