Learning to Learn http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog Supporting inspiring education Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:48:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 en Abu Dhabi fuel cell cars! http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2012/01/27/abu-dhabi-fuel-cell-cars/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2012/01/27/abu-dhabi-fuel-cell-cars/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:42:07 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2012/01/27/abu-dhabi-fuel-cell-cars/ The workshops went really well, we had over 2500 children take part over 10 days. The furthest distance recorded was over 40m, which is well in excess of our previous records. We had a lot of fun and met a lot of other great science communicators.

Our new kits also performed really well, a definite improvement over our last equipment. One of the best bits for me was that by the end I felt I had so much practice in delivering the workshops, they were probably the best I’ve ever done!

DSC_0079

]]> http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2012/01/27/abu-dhabi-fuel-cell-cars/feed/ fuel cell car workshop at Abu Dhabi science festival http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/11/11/fuel-cell-car-workshop-at-abu-dhabi-science-festival/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/11/11/fuel-cell-car-workshop-at-abu-dhabi-science-festival/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:17:03 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/11/11/fuel-cell-car-workshop-at-abu-dhabi-science-festival/ We’re off in 2 days to the Abu Dhabi science festival! We’ve totally revamped the fuel cell car workshop with a new kit of parts and a new hydrogen refuelling station.

lego fuel cell car construction kit

We’ll be off for 14 days, running 80 workshops for over 2000 kids!

hydrogen refueller

]]> http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/11/11/fuel-cell-car-workshop-at-abu-dhabi-science-festival/feed/ wind tunnel upgrade! http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/06/17/wind-tunnel-upgrade/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/06/17/wind-tunnel-upgrade/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:44:54 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/06/17/wind-tunnel-upgrade/ wind tunnel controller v2

We’ve got another 24 workshops coming up over the next to weeks for SAUCE, and so we’ve taken the opportunity to upgrade the wind tunnel.

  • New motor with more rugged turbine fitting,
  • upgraded RPM and current sensing,
  • new PLC for fan control,
  • software updated for better RPM measurement and serial communications.

I’ve also posted the software for the PC and the microcontroller on my github pages. Thanks to Power Drive Service for rapid delivery of the new PLC!

]]> http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/06/17/wind-tunnel-upgrade/feed/ community wind turbine phone charger http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/06/13/community-wind-turbine-phone-charger/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/06/13/community-wind-turbine-phone-charger/#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:34:10 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/06/13/community-wind-turbine-phone-charger/ Personal Wind Power

I’ve been commissioned by the Calthorpe project to build a wind powered phone charging station. The majority or the build will be done on site with a group of young people, over 3 days.

The idea is to do some hands on renewables learning that results in something that’s useful to the garden’s visitors.

For those interested, I’ve posted some of the technical details on openrenewables.org.uk.

]]> http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/06/13/community-wind-turbine-phone-charger/feed/ fuel cell car workshop http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/03/21/fuel-cell-car-workshop/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/03/21/fuel-cell-car-workshop/#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:35:33 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/03/21/fuel-cell-car-workshop/ I’m pleased to announce the development of a new workshop for climate week! This project is a collaboration with Arcola Energy.

chassis

The aim of the workshop is to build a model car and compete with other groups to see who can go the furthest on 5ml of hydrogen. We’ve built a custom refuelling station and laser cut a set of parts for building the cars.

Students will use hot melt glue guns to put the pieces together.Because the workshop is designed to run in under an hour, we’ve given them a good head start by providing a motor, fuel cell, and hydrogen delivery system mounted on a chassis. Longer projects could involve the design and build of these components too.

hydrogen refueller

]]> http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/03/21/fuel-cell-car-workshop/feed/ Wind turbine workshops! http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/01/31/wind-turbine-workshops/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/01/31/wind-turbine-workshops/#comments Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:54:25 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/01/31/wind-turbine-workshops/ Our wind turbine workshops are a fantastic exploration of wind power. Students team up and compete to create the best wind turbine blades that they can test in our custom made wind tunnel.

“One of the best workshops I have seen in the last three years” - Teacher at South Camden Community School

We also have classroom resources for use after the wind workshops: wind turbines for teachers (keystage 3)

]]> http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2011/01/31/wind-turbine-workshops/feed/ Science of Snow - interactive exhibit http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/11/02/science-of-snow-interactive-exhibit/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/11/02/science-of-snow-interactive-exhibit/#comments Wed, 03 Nov 2010 05:38:34 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/11/02/science-of-snow-interactive-exhibit/ press image

“The science of snow” is an interactive exhibit that starts by illustrating how snowflakes form and ends with a unique snowflake postcard to take away. The snowflakes can then be used in arts and crafts projects.

The aim of the exhibit is to expose the beauty of nature, leads to greater appreciation and understanding. Everyone knows that snowflakes are unique – but why? By growing your own snowflake, manipulating the modelled environmental conditions; it becomes obvious that each snowflake is different because each travels through differing environmental conditions.

If you’re interested in having the exhibit at your school for a day, please get in contact with me at matt

]]> http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/11/02/science-of-snow-interactive-exhibit/feed/ Partnership with Arcola Theatre http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/10/28/partnership-with-arcola-theatre/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/10/28/partnership-with-arcola-theatre/#comments Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:33:46 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/10/28/partnership-with-arcola-theatre/ I’m pleased to announce a partnership with the Arcola Theatre in Dalston London!

We started working together on the SAUCE project, which worked so well that we’re now developing another 2 sustainability focused workshops to local schools in Hackney.

fuelcell car

The 2 new workshops are going to be:

  • Using fuel cells in model cars to initiate conversations and learning about efficiency and electrochemistry.
  • Making funky solar insects, (inspired by these photos) to get hands on with motors and solar panels.
]]> http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/10/28/partnership-with-arcola-theatre/feed/ near space project proposal http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/10/19/near-space-project-proposal/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/10/19/near-space-project-proposal/#comments Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:17:04 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/10/19/near-space-project-proposal/ I’m looking for a school to be a partner in bringing my ‘near space’ project to reality!nearspacepicWe’d need to raise about £1000 and have about 12 children between 12 and 16 to work with for 30 hours. All the details are in the near space proposal.

]]> http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/10/19/near-space-project-proposal/feed/ Winner of the SAUCE wind turbine project announced! http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/07/12/winner-of-the-sauce-wind-turbine-project-announced/ http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/07/12/winner-of-the-sauce-wind-turbine-project-announced/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:07:31 +0000 Matthew http://learning-to-learn.org.uk/blog/2010/07/12/winner-of-the-sauce-wind-turbine-project-announced/ Our competition to build the best wind turbine blades was won by Hillyfield primary school in London. They came first out of over 600 children. The winning blades generated 118mW of power in our windtunnel.

hracer 2 - small

The prize was a hydrogen fuelled robot car; it uses a tiny fuel cell to generate electricity.

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