Re: Has anyone build a set of gears in Etoys or any other freely available program?

Have you seen this ?
http://www.dmst.aueb.gr/dds/sw/ameso/

You can use stars morphs to simulate gears


Karl


On Fri, Jul 6, 2012 at 11:22 PM, Steve Thomas <sthomas1-gQhbkF4bah9Wk0Htik3J/[email protected]> wrote:
> I got I asked my class to play LightBot and then asked them:
>
> "How this is like and not like "programming"
>
>
> This lead into one kids responding its like "mabey small motors and gears"
> (wish I knew what was going on in her mind, I'll ask in the next class)
>
> So I responded:
>
> I was on the Battleship NJ (commissioned in 1943).  They had a "computer" on
> board to calculate the angle and direction of the big guns and could hit a
> target miles away within a few yards!!!  Pretty impressive when you have to
> consider they had to take into account the ships speed and direction, wind
> speed, waves and the recoil from the guns firing.  The whole "computer" was
> built using gears which controlled BIG motors to move the gun.
>
>
> Here's a pop quiz (you will be graded on this and it will go on your
> PERMANENT record :)
> What is the oldest computer we know about?
>
> I then asked them to think about and email me an answer to:
>
> What is a computer?
>
> I then added the caveat, non-biological computer, as a bunch came back with
> the answer "the brain".
>
>
> I found a nice video on a Lego version of the oldest know computer here.
>
> So I want to get them to try and build some adding machines (and I will see
> if we can find enough lego parts amonst us to do that as it would be best),
> but in case I can't, and just for fun.
>
> Has anyone build a set of gears in Etoys or any other freely available
> program?
>
> Thanks,
> Stephen
>
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