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"Nuts and bolts":
interactive exibits
Exhibit
development & fabrication
Designs
& performance specifications
Discovery
Disks: mobile mini-interactives
'Beam Cam' projecting video microscope
Underwater
Street Discovery Centre
Moscow
Planetarium
Sellafield
Visitor Centre
'Alternative
energy'
Earth
Science
Fixed
Discovery Disks, Glasgow
Air-table,
telescope, moon-phases
Astronomy
exhibits for Valencia
Biometrics
Magnetic
field exhibit for CERN, Geneva
Tabletop
Discovery Disks: magnetism
Tabletop
Discovery Disks: Light
More
Light interactives
"Academic"
interactives: The Energy Enzyme
"Academic
interactives": Electron beams
"Academic
interactives": Mantle geology
Working
canal-lock model
Virtual
exhibit: Ich bin einmalig
Chemistry
interactives: Chirality
Video
microscopes: Melting crystal
Push-button
quiz: Breath of life
Environmental
& biological
Cookbook
outlines of my 1992 "classical" Great Explorations interactives
Talk to me!
UK phone/fax
+44 (0) 1663 743794
Email ian@interactives.co.uk
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'Alternative
energy' interactive exhibits
Wave power
We are quite delighted with this new design. Waggle the red knob to make waves. The round, grey float bobs up and down. It causes a red and blue magnet to move above a coil of copper wire. The alternating electric current is indicated by the needle of an analogue, centre-zero milliammeter. This version is 90cm long, it fits into one of our flight cases, if necessary and is suitable for use as a mobile exhibit.
Water power
Here is another new design that seems to work really well. Use the red lever to punp water into the upper tank. When it reaches a certain level it automatically begins to siphon onto the turbine wheel. The small generator is connected to an analogue milliammeter. This exhibit also fits into one of our flight cases, so it is also suitable for travelling.
Design
a wind turbine
This is a simple, robust, table-top mini-interactive, where
the challenge is to design an efficient wind turbine. Users can use scissors
to cut out their own 'vanes' from sheets of Correx plastic (resembling
corrugated cardboard from old packaging, which can also be recycled for
this purpose). Six smooth brass rods project from the turbine's hub and
these push easily into the holes in the edge of the Correx or corrugated
cardboard 'vanes'. To make your wind turbine spin as fast as possible,
it is necessary to experiment with the angle of the vanes, the size and
shape of the vanes, and the number of vanes...
The wind comes from a well-protected fan, operated by a
push button and connected to a safe, low-voltage power supply.
We also have a slightly larger version where the turbine
incorporates a small electrical generator connected to a sensitive ammeter.
Simple
generator
This is another of our most popular, conceptually simple,
mini-interactives.
Can you make an electric current by moving the magnet near
the coil?
You will need to close the circuit, using the loose wire.
The small, black diode near the loose wire only lets current flow in one
direction. What difference does it make if you touch the wire against
the screws at either end of the diode?
Heat
pump & electrical power
The Heat
Pump mini-interactive makes half your hand warm and the other half
cool, depending which direction you crank the handle. It incorporates
two Peltier Cells.
The Elecrical
Power mini-interactive lights up a selection of lamps, selected by
push buttons. You clearly FEEL the increased effort needed to crank the
handle when you switch on lamps with different power ratings. One of them
is a high-efficiency LED which is dazzlingly bright yet requires surprisingly
little effort. The circuit also includes an analogue ammeter.
Photovoltaic
panels
By holding your hand above the photovoltaic panels on the roof of the
model house, you can change the reading on the ammeter and vary the speed
of a 'spinner' in the model.
Other
'alternative energy' interactives
Many other
'alternative energy' interactives are possible. I am always delighted
to discuss new ideas.
Classroom
activities
Also take
a look at some 'alternative energy' classroom
activities I have developed.
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