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--- friendship-detector [2025/03/27 01:43]
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+++ friendship-detector [2025/03/28 16:56] (current)
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-  * Lesson 1: [[Crack_The_Circuit| Crack The Circuit]]
+====== Friendship Detector Project ======
-  * Lesson 2: [[Parallel_and_Series_Switches|Parallel and Series Switches]]
-  * Lesson 3: [[Dotsy]]: A Game of Luck and Logic
+The Friendship Detector project introduces students to electrical circuits and the use of sensors and switches to process information. The binary conditions (on-off) of a simple electrical switch open up the concepts of Boolean Logic and the principles on which computer circuitry is made. The finished product is a low-voltage device that mirrors the complex logic we use to decide who might make a good friend.
-  * Lesson 4: [[Friendship_Logic| Friendship Logic]]
-  * Lesson 5: [[Qualities]] Common in Friendship
+This project was described in detail in The Science Teacher magazine ([[https://my.nsta.org/resource/8017/the-friendship-detector|direct link]]) and is available for free to NSTA members. Since publication, I added significant instructional resources to this project, and offer them here.
-  * [[Reflection_Prompts_FD]]
-  * [[Striving_FD]]
+=== Phase One: Introduce Electrical Switches ===
+Electrical circuits often employ binary logic with switches, which are either off (no current flows) or on (current flows). Most appliances operate with one energy supply, one load (which converts the electrical energy into some other form, like light, heat, or motion), and a loop of conductive material (like wires) which can be interrupted with one switch. Computer logic, however, relies on multiple switches (or sensors) to govern the flow of energy through a loop.
+The "[[fd-staircase-switches|Staircase Switches]]" activity will help students see the loops in basic electrical circuits, and the different ways switches can be employed.
+=== Phase Two: Learn the Rules of "Dotsy" ===
+To introduce the idea of multiple switches, start with a game called "Dotsy", an adaptation of the Milton Bradley game "Yahtzee". The goal here is to introduce students to the Boolean logic of AND, OR, and NOT, which is the foundation of computer technology. (I learned Dotsy from a set of lesson plans in the 1990s dealing with basic computer technology. I have lost track of the source and cannot find it online. Any clues to track down the source would be greatly appreciated!) In "Dotsy", students are asked to evaluate a roll of five dice as a "Good Roll" or "Bad Roll" according to a set of conditions. If the desired condition is "a 5 AND a 3", students will look for these two numbers, and seeing only one is not good enough. If the condition is "a 5 OR a 3", students will be more likely to have a "Good Roll", since only one of these numbers is necessary to meet the condition. If the condition is "NOT a 5", then any roll with a 5 will be a "Bad Roll".
+The interactive at "[[dotsy-circuits|Dotsy Circuits]]" is how I would introduce students to these concepts of logic. It would work well as a teacher-led presentation (where students can be called up to decide if it is a "Good Roll" or a "Bad Roll". It could also be assigned to students as an individual mastery assessment, as it registers a streak of correct evaluations.
+=== Phase Three: Play "Dotsy: Tic-Tac-Toe" ===
+Once the rules of "Dotsy" (and basic Boolean logic) are mastered, students can develop greater proficiency by playing "[[dotsy-tic-tac-toe|Dotsy: Tic-Tac-Toe]]", in which each square in the tic-tac-toe grid has a logical condition to be met. You may want to play an X in the center square, but may not be able to do so if you do not get a roll that meets the center-square condition. This adds an element of strategy and luck to tic-tac-toe, making it an engaging game, either for the full class divided into two teams, or small groups playing against each other on student laptops.
+=== Phase Four: Introduce Friendship Questions ===
+Most of your online activity is monitored by some sort of AI algorithm that is trying to figure out what kind of person you are. What advertisers might pay to reach you? What feeds can the app suggest to keep you on the system? What political candidates might have a chance to secure your vote? What charities might convince you to donate? The Friendship Detector is an honest attempt to figure out whether the user might be someone you would like to meet--kind of like a match.com or Bumble, but for friendship instead of romance.
+In this activity, students are encouraged to generate ideas about what they look for in a friend. What personal qualities, what common interests, what "turn-offs" are most important to them? Some of the ideas on this list can eventually become part of their friendship detector.
+[[fd-jalens-detector|Jalen's Friendship Detector]] shows how these considerations can be converted into an electrical circuit, and how the process gets more complex as you add more conditions.
+=== Phase Five: ===
+  * [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UPvalRJlQc-4tEr34dbi5OyMfMa-NAXrYqMNG9HnpQE/edit?tab=t.0|Staircase Switches]]
+  * [[Parallel_and_Series_Switches|Parallel and Series Switches]]
+  * [[friendship-qualities|Find your "Friendship Qualities"]]
   * [[fd-basic-friendship-logic|Basic Friendship Logic]]
   * [[fd-five-friendship-scenarios|Five Friendship Scenarios]]
   * [[fd-car-window-locks|Car Window Locks]]
   * [[fd-robodoc|AI and RoboDocs]]
-  * [[fd-jalens-detector|Jalen's Friendship Detector]]
+----
+Scraps
+  * [[Friendship_Logic| Friendship Logic]]
+  * [[Reflection_Prompts_FD]]
+  * [[Striving_FD]]
+  * [[Crack_The_Circuit| Crack The Circuit]]
+  *  [[Dotsy]]: A Game of Luck and Logic (Archive)

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