#thesis 1

[mishadoodles]

Character Design - Thesis I - Reina Expressions

[elee-thesis]

A Revelation? (Or Maybe What I Always Knew)

This week has been fairly productive! My illness somehow turned into something full-blown and I've been feeling pretty awful the whole weekend unfortunately, but at least sick days in bed mean that I don't have much else to do. This week I've begun experimenting with additional prompts from my "How might [INSERT TECH HERE] express [INSERT QUEER HERE]?" series:

1.  "How can Close Buttons express Connection ?"

I thought about the act of "closing", something I had incorporated into my MS2 project quite a bit as a ritualistic “ending” of a digital experience, or even a cleansing of sorts. Closing, especially in the context of the internet is done so casually, but also carries a lot of weight. An accidental closing of a page with information that might be lost can be devastating. This led me to think about the life cycle of a tab, or a browser window. I realize that I often carry some sort of sentimental feelings toward browser windows (hoarder tendencies?) and often hesitate to close tabs just in case their cumulative presence is meaningful to me in some ways. Though I don't think of them quite as anthropomorphically, what if they were? The image above depicts a scenario in which all browser windows were "named” and delivered a short message to you containing their last "memory" and a brief thank you for their birth and death. Would we feel indebted to them in some way? Would we adapt a new ritual around opening and closing windows?

2. Shutdown, Restart, *Sleep*

(Apologies for the horrible quality, tumblr and their gif size limits!!)

My second project didn't quite follow my format, but instead thought about what a bedtime ritual might look like, specfically for our desktop icons. What if, at the end of an evening, we quite literally "put our computers to sleep". In the above gif, I set my desktop background to depict a room with the sun setting. As my time on the computer came to an end, I took my icons (distributed amongst the virtual shelves, floor cushions, etc) and put them in their virtual bed, one by one. When all icons had been put in bed, I then reduced the brightness as low as possible, and closed my laptop.

3. How might Switches/Levers/Buttons(etc) express Purposelessness?

The above gif depicts an interface (I used a classic Windows 95 interface) and tried to render some of the visual input mechanics useless. What would it look like if the levers that existed were there for play? Or perhaps made people frustrated, or maybe laugh? What if these input systems didn't take in any meaningful input, or perhaps only dispensed meaningless output? How might that change the way we navigate our interfaces/ make decisions? What role would these input devices play?

4. How might Push Notifications express Promiscuity?

What if our push notifications, while containing information (something new is happening here!/ This number of new things are here for you to pay attention to!) also moved around freely amongst other push notifications to engage in some sort of intercourse. While, I didn't really try to define what that might look like in the above gift, I tried to capture the ways certain notifications might develop a relationship with other notifications, or perhaps how some might seek certain partners over others. How might we interact with these notifications that no longer provide information but instead live freely to be "intimate" with one another in a way that doesn't quite carry the stigma that it doesn’t among humans.

The Big WHY?

I think these projects gave me a bit of a grasp on the big why of my project and further convinced me that my methodology should continue to take the form of experimentation and play. Through these experiments I had the chance to think more deeply about how our relationships might change with the devices that help us navigate our journey on the computer. I think experimentation is so important regarding this topic because the radical reimagining of technology just doesn't have a concrete outcome. We can't be quite certain what would happen in world containing this kind of technology because of its impossibility (at this very moment); America operates under a capitalist system that necessitates technology that is speedy and efficient to ultimately commodify time. My project can't change that, and I don't expect it to, but my question, rather, lies in the what ifs? What *if* our technology purely mirrored our humanness, over its tool-ness? What would that look like? What effect might that have? Who might benefit from it? What problems might it tackle? Etc, etc, etc. I'm not sure if that is the *right* reason to pursue a project, but knowing that my thesis will not be complete in one year, but rather is the start of a life-long pursuit/ I think it makes sense that my thesis project grants me permission to investigate deeply and make freely. I understand that this might sound a bit cheesy, but you get the gist.

This leads me to my new question "How might queering our relationship with the internet begin to erode its oppressive tendencies?". My prototypes thus far don't quite focus on the internet (just yet), and they also don't really *focus* on their oppressive tendencies. Overall they aren't quite solution-focused at all, and I think that's ok!

This week I plan to work on the narrative of my thesis midterm presentation and work on discussing it in a structured, engaging way, finish my paper, and then finally start to recover from my illnesses. My birthday is on Friday and I hope to feel a bit lighter by then :)

[elenaleegold]

Week 2 - One Step Back

Typically, I love brainstorming activities. Although I sometimes struggle to come up with ideas, I find it easy to give myself over to the ~*process*~ and try to make connections quickly without thinking too deeply about it. I realized during the brainstorming activity in class that rather than focusing on my thesis questions, I accidentally started to move far beyond the scope of my initial question. Instead my brainstorming turned into a dumping-out-my-brain-onto-the-table activity unintentionally. This led me to coming up with categories that initially felt far away from my more specific, initial brainstorming question regarding pleasure and joy in our everyday technologies more specifically. While this initially left me feeling frustrated and with a fair amount of confusion, I decided to home in on a few questions: 

- How did the larger picture represented through my brainstorming encapsulate my initial question? 

- Why did I find focusing on my initial question less exciting? Or more generally, why did I move away from it?

- How might I move forward? 

To categorize the broad strokes of this particular exercise, it mostly brought up intimacy, safety, searching, love, and spirituality. As time ticked down in our brainstorming session I became overwhelmed realizing I couldn't quite categorize the results of the exercise within the framework of my original question. Though this felt like a challenge at the time, I decided to let the two exercises sit with me and percolate. In the meantime I turned to my other favorite brainstorming activity: research. 

Through research I found a great article by Adrienne Shaw and Katherine Sender entitled "Queer technologies: affordances, affect, ambivalence". My MS2 project last year thought a lot about technology through the lens of queerness, and part of my final product was motivated by the drive to "queer" technology, and render it less effective in a capitalistic sense, but more “effective” in a human sense. Two questions the two authors posed are: 

- How can taken-for-granted technologies express queerness? 

- How can hacking and resistance of heteronormative technologies offer alternative forms of engagement and experience?

 It dawned on me that these two questions hit the mark when it came to what my MS2 project was attempting to do, and also encapsulates the overarching theme of my thesis questions. Originally focusing on this idea of joy over the addiction-triggered pleasure in our everyday technologies is, ultimately, an attempt to queer these technologies. The pleasure component is largely engineered into design interfaces to increase face-time users have with the app, platform, etc. This tends to be in service of gaining capital, rather than, or at least over, serving the service's user base. Queerness in this context instead takes a critical look at design features that go unquestioned. Ultimately I'd love to have my thesis focus on a particular technology or technologies, and dismantle and rework core design principles that we take for granted. While I think the questions above may generally encapsulate my design questions for the semester, I'd like to combine and tailor them to fit exactly what I'm interested in pursuing. 

Though this feels like a step back in some ways, and I know we were told that specificity is a greater than generality, I think it’s really important for me personally to identify what it is that is driving these questions. In order to move forward, in this case, I need to take a step back.

Below is my venn diagram or what I'm calling a "venn-map" with my more general question in mind:

I decided to focus on three domains: Queerness, Internet, and Intimacy/Connectedness. I'm not totally sure about "Intimacy/Connectedness" as my third domain but, because it appeared so strongly in my initial brainstorm, I thought it might make sense to include it for this particular map. I found this format especially challenging, as I wish I had a way of processing the positive and negative elements of each domain and how they might interact in a clearer manner. Right now, there's no distinction between the two which makes the map a bit hard to read. This exercise was helpful in some way, though! I think it really helped me think deeply about aspects of my domains that I hadn't quite connected the dots with yet. In future brainstorming exercises I think it’ll be useful to dive into this map and pick out specifics of each domain at random to create “what-if” scenarios. I also think that having this information out there percolating now will yield some good. 

Having these three “puzzle-pieces” that I can mix and match has actually brought me an immense sense of relief. I no longer feel quite as trapped within my thesis topic, confused about where to go next, but rather, like I can easily explore within the confines that I have now set up for myself. I’m really happy with the progress I made this week, and I hope that I can continue to face the frustrations and challenges that arise during thesis by taking a breather, and maybe taking a step back, as difficult as it might feel. 

GOALS FOR WEEK 2 

My goal for this week is to confirm "the internet" as my technology or dig into other taken-for-granted technologies or elements of technology. Luckily I found a massive archive from the article referenced above and I feel confident that looking and reading through that will help give me an idea of what interests me. I also plan to come up with a series of questions that think about queering various technology within the framework of intimacy/connectedness. Ultimately I think the technology that I choose will inform the third domain and what I plan to focus on queering within that specific technology. So, if I complete my first task, hopefully I can make a list of aspects of the tech that I find ripe for hacking , radicalizing, etc!

[mishadoodles]

Character Design - Thesis I - Reina Turnaround

My snarky, aloof fire witch, Reina. Custom luxury fashion only!

[alexiscaudle-blog]

The 808er's Club Concept

I am creating a physical computation and music curriculum that caters to underserved children of color (ages 10–14). I want to address the lack of minority representation in the technology industry by introducing kids to basic physical computing concepts through a five-day workshop, low-cost take-home kit, set of additional activities, and sharing platform in hopes of sparking an interest in computer science. By children of color, I am referring to Black, Hispanic, and Native American children. The children will learn about electricity, circuitry, microcontrollers; and will create a drum machine that they can play with and take home at the end of the workshop. I will provide low-cost materials in the workshop in order to eliminate the financial barrier of entry that other physical computing play sets have.

The domains I am studying are sociology, education, technology, and music. Regarding sociology, I am specifically studying how economic inequality affects diversity within the technology industry. Within education, I am studying informal learning environments and curriculum development. An informal learning environment is where trial and error are encouraged, the pressure of standardized tests is absent, and there is room to be creative and expressive. In the domain of technology, I am researching physical computation and how to create a device that can trigger sounds. Regarding the domain of music, I am researching drum machines and looping machines in order to mimic their functionality for the machines the kids will be building.

The major questions I seek to answer are: what is the cause of the lack of diversity in the technology industry, how can I help to increase minority representation in the technology industry, how can I provide an informative and fun experience for the children I am serving, and how can I decrease the economic barrier of entry to technology education tools?

There are many precedents that either teach physical computation, or teach music synthesis like Black Girls Code, which targets Black girls; Scrapyard Challenge, which teaches music synthesis and p. comp; blink blink, which provides p. comp kits specifically to young girls; and Makey Makey, which provides p. comp kits to kids. However, Black Girls Code does not provide a sharing platform for the kid’s creations; blink blink and Makey Makey are expensive kits; and Scrapyard Challenge doesn’t specifically target the audience that I am targeting. Even though there are many programs and products that teach kids creative technology skills, the problem of underrepresentation still exists, which means there is still work to be done to make the maker movement more inclusive.

Once I figured out that I wanted to create a physical computation and music instrumentation workshop, I began research ways to create a low-fi instrument with low-cost materials. I programed a piezo buzzer to play notes and built a cardboard instrument that had seven touchpoint. The buzzer played a note when a touch was sensed.

On two separate occasions, I tested the physical construction (not the electronics) of the cardboard instrument with two kids who are in my target audience. These tests helped me to streamline the process of construction. The kids enjoyed the process and were engaged throughout. They asked repeatedly if they could take their instruments home, which led me to think of ways to enable this.

I received feedback from Louisa Campbell, who suggested using Play-Doh as a conductor instead of aluminum foil. Play-Doh would give the kids more room to customize their instrument and have more fun during the making process. I created a prototype that uses the Play-doh keys using an inexpensive Teensy microcontroller that acts as a keyboard and utilizes a piano Scratch program. Whenever the circuit is complete, a key is pressed and the Scratch program plays a note that corresponds with the pressed key. I have been working with Yvonne Thevenot of STEM Kids NYC, where I have been invited to test my curriculum. On December 12, I will test the precursory activities of the workshop with children at a STEM Kids NYC workshop in New Jersey. Later in the month, I will be testing the instrument using Raspberry Pi, so that kids who don’t have access to a computer can still use the instrument. I will need to refine the additional activities and package everything. I will also reach out to Lower East Side Girls Club, DreamYard, Global Kids, and Willie Mae Rock Camp to possibly implement the workshop in those locations. For the website development, I am working with a student from UA Maker Academy who has experience with web coding.

[alexiscaudle-blog]

Thesis Studio 1 Evaluation

Throughout the thesis process, I can say that I remained true to what I set out to do— design something that would benefit people of color. Although, the design process presented challenges, I had people around me who saw the potential in what I was doing and encouraged me to continue working. So far, my experience of the thesis process can be summed up in two words: challenging and rewarding.

Coming into Thesis Studio 1, I had three ideas to benefit people of color: increase access to mental health services, increase access to technology education, and address the lack of minority representation in technology. The latter two ideas morphed into a singular idea, which became a curriculum that taught technology skills to underserved minority children who do not have regular access to computers. This idea was broad, and I had to differentiate my idea from the various programs that are already doing the same thing.

After weeks of ideating and feeling like I was getting nowhere, I briefly shifted my idea to a narrative game for kids about Black history that uses music from specific time periods to talk about the contemporary events that were taking place. I even spoke with Allan Evans, a music historian who was very excited about my new idea. However, Anezka advised me not give up so easily and to return to my original idea because she saw the passion I had for it.

I returned to my original idea, but I was still faced with the fact that I was not creating anything that was new or innovative. Again, I spent a great deal of time researching technology education programs that already exist, which of those programs target minorities, and new ways to approach technology education. I decided to keep the musical element from the game idea and combine it with technology education because music connects with most people. All cultures have a form of music. I also wanted to combine learning with expression, so I decided to create an experience that allowed kids to make musical instruments using physical computing materials, and have an opportunity to compose songs. However, I was again faced with the issue of differentiation because there are also programs that teach p. comp and combine it with music. I came up with a new idea, and posed it as a paper instrument workshop. I began testing the construction of the instrument with kids in my target audience, but that was not enough. The kids wouldn’t be supported after the workshop because they wouldn’t be able to take the microcontrollers home.

I began looking at programs and toolkits that were similar to the one I wanted to create. I compile a list of the characteristics of each of the similar programs and toolkits, and asked myself, “What aren’t they doing that I could do with my experience?” I noticed that many of the workshops do not specifically target the community I was targeting. That was one way to differentiate my experience. I also noticed that the p.comp toolkits that are available are expensive, which could be a barrier of entry for some people. I decided to offer an inexpensive toolkit along with the workshop.

My experience was finally coming together. I knew that I wanted to create a p.comp and music workshop for kids of color that allowed them to build and play a musical instrument (which is now a drum machine), and take the parts home with them to make other devices. I began to craft the curriculum for the workshop. To support the kids after the workshop was over, I created additional activities that can be made with the same materials from the drum machine. I also wanted to provide an incentive to keep creating, so I wanted to create a website that allowed them to record and share the creations they make with their materials. This would also be a good place to host the additional activities and the workshop curriculum.

Now that the experience I want to create is clear to me, I can work on facilitating it—procuring funding and supplies, locating a space to work in, partnering with an existing technology education organization, packaging the experience, testing all of the elements of the workshop, and building the website.

Since the final Thesis Studio 1 presentation, I have tested the beginning portion of the curriculum with members of my target audience. We went through the lesson on electricity and conductivity, and we built paper circuits. In the month of January, I will work on making the drum machine with a Raspberry Pi, so that laptops or desktop computers are not necessary.

Other ways that I can improve my thesis are to stop doubting the ideas that I come up with and be more confident in my knowledge and skills. I would also like to reach out to more people who work in the domains in which I am also working. They will be fundamental in helping me to take this concept from a thesis to a real experience that benefits kids of color.

[alexiscaudle-blog]

Final Presentation

[alexiscaudle-blog]

User Case

BACKGROUND: Roseline aka Rosie

Identify who is going to be using the workshop.

8 years old

From South Bronx

Attends PS 43

Black and Canarsee (Native American) heritage

Favorite subjects are art and chorus

Spends most of her time drawing and listening to music on her mom’s old iPhone

Technology she uses most: iPhone 4, computers at school

Define what that user wants to do at your workshop.

Make a musical instrument

The user’s end goal

Learn a cool way of making music

Have an instrument to take home

Make more projects with art, music, and technology

For each use case, decide on the normal course of events when that user is using the workshop.

Discuss what electricity is

Where it can be found—in nature and man-made objects

How it moves

Discuss what a circuit is

Demonstrate how to make a circuit

Demonstrate conductivity and insulation

Discuss how a microcontroller works

What it is

How it works

What it is capable of doing

Discuss how electricity and circuitry are used to make the Play-Doh instrument

How to build the circuits

What the code is doing

DAY IN THE LIFE SCENARIO OUTLINE

Mom wakes Rosie up at 6:30 a.m. on a Monday morning

Fights with older sister, Nicki, 16, to get in the bathroom

Gets dressed in her white and black polka dot shirt and red pants

The polka dots make her happy

She likes to be bold with her fashion choices

Grabs a honey bun from the cabinet before leaving for school with Nicki

Nicki walks to the bus stop, Rosie walks 15 minutes to school, PS 43

Arrives to Mrs. Alvarez’ 3rd-grade class

First subject is Reading

Reads What Do You Do With an Idea? for 15 minutes

Class discusses how they think of ideas

Rosie shares her idea for a new drawing of her neighborhood park

Switches to Math class

Learns about the distributive property

Rosie doesn’t understand it initially

Asks Mrs. Alvarez for help

Gets a better understanding

Works on worksheet

Goes to lunch

Sits with Nandi, her best friend

Talk about new music they heard over the weekend

Switches to Music class

Learns how to play “Hole in the Middle of the Sea” on the recorder before the other students

Mr. Kenzo asks Rosie to help her classmates learn it

Before the class goes back to Mrs. Alvarez’ room, Mr. Kenzo stops to talk to Rosie about a music workshop the school is sponsoring about music, technology, and building things with your hands

The class will be offered in two weeks, on Saturday

He gives Rosie a flyer about the workshop to show her mom

Switches to P.E.

Tells Nandi about Mr. Kenzo’s recommendation

Tells Nandi ask for a flyer from Mr. Kenzo

Nicki meets Rosie at school

Walks past the neighborhood playground, Nicki gives Rosie 20 minutes to play

Plays on swings and jungle gym

Leaves playground, arrives home

Does chores

Sweep kitchen

Clean bathroom

Does homework

Math worksheet

Reading

Mom arrives home at 5:30 p.m.

Shows mom homework and the workshop flyer from Mr. Kenzo

Mom checks homework

Mom goes to website on flyer and registers herself and Rosie for the workshop in 2 weeks

Mom serves dinner around 6:15 p.m. she picked up on the way home—Chinese food   

Rosie, Nicki, and mom sit down for dinner

Rosie tells Nicki about the workshop she’s going to

Tells Mom about her desire to draw the neighborhood playground

Watches tv for 1.5 hours

Listens to music on her mom’s old iPhone before bed

Goes to sleep at 9:30 p.m.

THE NEXT DAY

The next day at school during lunchtime, Rosie tells Nandi that she’s going to the workshop

Asks Nandi if she’s going to the workshop

Nandi says she picked up a flyer from Mr. Kenzo and gave it to her mom, but her mom has to take her brother to his football game that Saturday. Her mom says she may be able to drop her off on the way to the game.

TWO WEEKS LATER: Saturday morning

Mom wakes Rosie up at 9:30 a.m.

Rosie gets dressed in her orange and white striped top

Mom makes a turkey sandwich for Rosie and herself

They leave at 11 a.m. to go to the workshop in Harlem

Workshop is from noon–4 p.m.

Arrives to workshop

Counts 10 kids in attendance, including Nandi and herself

Sees Nandi, who wasn’t sure she could come

Sits next to Nandi

Miss Alexis, the instructor introduces herself and welcomes everyone to the workshop

Asks students and company to circle up and introduce themselves

“Tell us your name and two hobbies you like.”

When it’s Nandi’s turn…

“Hi I’m Nandi. Umm… I like dance and play video games.”

Miss Alexis: “What games do you play?”

Nandi: “Minecraft and the Sims.”

It’s Rosie’s turn

“I’m Roseline, but everyone calls me Rosie. I like to draw and I like music.”

Miss Alexis: “What do you like about music? Do you like to listen to it, write, play an instrument, or sing?”

Rosie: “I like to listen and I’m learning how to play the recorder.”

Miss Alexis: In this workshop, you’re going to learn what electricity is, what a circuit is, what a microcontroller is, and you’ll use those things to make a musical instrument out of Play-Doh.

Miss Alexis asks the class about electricity

“Where can you find electricity? What uses electricity?”

Rosie: in a microwave

Miss Alexis: Yes. What else?

Nandi: “A lamp”

Good. What about a sweater? Have you ever been wearing a sweater, touched someone else, and got shocked? That what’s called static electricity. It’s when electricity is built up.

Miss Alexis: Do you think electricity is important?

Class: Yes.

Miss Alexis: Why?

Nandi: because we wouldn’t be able to do lots of things like see in the dark or play video games.

Miss Alexis: That’s right.

Miss Alexis explains electricity

Electricity is made of different elements (tiny particles)

Electrons, which are negatively charged

Protons, which are positively charged

Neutrons, which have no charge

Electricity is the interaction of electrons (-) and protons (+)

Electricity is made of electric currents

The movement of electrons from atom to atom

Miss Alexis: A circuit is a pathway that electrons can flow through. It’s how power moves from one place to another.

CLASS DOES THE CIRCUIT ACTIVITY

connect one alligator clip to the positive end of the battery

connect another alligator clip to the negative end of the battery

attach each clip to a jumper wire

arrange the circuit on the breadboard

Miss Alexis explain how breadboards work

Rows are connected

Columns of outer positive and negative rails are connected

Connect negative leg to negative rail

Connect resistor between positive jumper wire and positive leg of LED

Miss Alexis explains a resistor and power source

A resistor limits the amount of electricity that flow through the circuit

The 9V battery by itself produces more power than the LED can handle, so if all of the power flows to the LED without a resistor, it will blow the light

Connect positive leg of LED to positive rail

The battery is our power source that provides electricity

The LED is our outlet that shows us electricity is flowing in the circuit

Miss Alexis: The reason the LED lit up was because the power or electricity from the battery was able to pass through the alligator clips, through the jumper wire, through the breadboard and make contact with the positive side of the LED, flow to the negative side of the LED. the negative jumper wire, and the negative alligator clip, completing the circuit.

It makes a closed circuit

When one of the components becomes detached, that creates an open circuit. Electricity cannot flow to all the components and complete the circuit.

All of the materials we used to make our circuit allow the flow of electricity to continue

Materials that allow electricity to flow through them are known as conductors

There is metal on the inside of the wires and clips. Metal is conductive.

There are also materials that stop electrical current from flowing. Those materials are called insulators

The plastic coating on the outside of the wires and clips are insulators. They keep us from being exposed to the flow of electricity, which can be dangerous at high voltages

DOES CONDUCTIVE/INSULATING ACTIVITY

Use the circuit from the previous activity

Miss Alexis: Now I'm going to show you how electricity, building, and code can be combined. It's combine in physical computing, which is interactive physical things that use of software (computer programs) and hardware (physical devices) that can sense and respond to the world.

Physical computing projects use a special purpose computer called a microcontroller.

Special purpose computer means they do one thing well.

They contain a processor core (the brain), memory (storage), and input/output peripherals (places to add attachments, accessories)

it processes information from code and performs commands specified by the code

code = set of instructions to follow

Tells microcontroller what to do, when to do it, and how long to do it

What can a microcontroller do?

process input information (information from the peripherals is sent to the microcontroller)

process output information (information from the microcontroller is sent to the peripherals)

INTERACTIVE ACTIVITY DEMONSTRATING INPUT/OUTPUT

Teacher is the programmer

One student is the code (passes the commands to the microcontroller)

One student is the microcontroller (processes commands)

One student is the outlet (LED)

Other students are circuit

SMALL ACTIVITY BUILDING CIRCUIT TO COMMUNICATE WITH MICROCONTROLLER

Connect positive leg of LED to pin #

Connect negative leg of LED to ground

Write code that makes LED turn on for one second then turn off for one second

Now that you know what electricity, a circuit, and a microcontroller are, it's time to put all of this knowledge together to build something cool. You'll be making a musical instrument using Play-Doh

Connect one wire to 5V pin

Connect 5V wire to a row on the breadboard

Connect 8 wires to pins 1–8

Connect each pin wire to its own row on the breadboard

Connect one resistor from 5V wire to each pin’s row (5V to pin 1, 5V to pin 2, etc.)

Connect one wire to ground pin

Connect a clip to the end of the ground wire

In each pin row on the breadboard, insert an additional wire (one wire in pin row 1, one wire in pin row 2, etc.)

Attach an alligator clip to the additional wires

Lay out the wire so they are in consecutive order (pin 1, pin 2, pin 3, etc.)

Write code for keypress

Compile the code, upload to microcontroller

Open Scratch environments for each instrument sound (guitar, piano, drums)

Test instrument by using the ground wire to touch the pin clips

Make Play-Doh shapes and attach to pin clips

Test instrument again by using the ground wire to touch the Play-Doh

Now that you have your instruments, it’s time to have fun with them. Create a song and use the Play-Doh shapes you created to illustrate the sheet music to your sound. You’ll be able to perform your song for the class and your parents when they come.

Rosie plays “Hole in the Middle of the Sea” and creates sheet music based on the shapes and their corresponding note