No matter what, I consider this a success. We’ll see if this changes over the next few days as the number of electricity-producing microbes in my MudWatt increases. Less good news: it’s still flashing, rather than flickering. Good news: after a few days my mudwatt-tea candle produces a warm yellow light that is powered by microbes. I then connected the LED back to the mudwatt circuit board. I then pierced the top and thread the LED through it. I used scrap paper from a talk and a paper towel roll to make the enclosure. In this way the Mudwatt vase can sit in a box below the candle the way that any good magic illusion can suggest a person’s head has been cut off. After playing around with things I had in the house, I decided to make a paper tea-candle proxy to plug the bulb into. This is not the aesthetic of a tea light I’m going for. Right now the mudwatt looks a bit like a small bomb attached to a vase of mud. The paper tea light holder I made from scrap paper and an old paper towel roll. Someday I’ll use this kit to learn to solder, but right now I will be borrowing one of the warm yellow LEDs in the kit. I purchased an LED Flickery Flame Soldering Kit from Evil Mad Scientist at my local Microcenter. My next step again relied on other groups who have done beautiful things in the education space. Invisible life forms are making my desk glow! Now I’d like to replace the red blinking light that reminds me of a smoke detector with a bulb that is reminiscent of a candle. THE MICROBES ARE MAKING POWER! No battery. I feel like yelling “IT’s ALIVE” in a nod to Mary Shelley’s work. I’ve never been so excited by a blinking light. The little red light is flashing (albeit, infrequently). World’s worst assistant, Puffin the adventure cat.Ī few days later it worked! The microbes are making electricity and it is being captured by the circuit. The kit I purchased contains an anode, a cathode, wires, a circuit board, a capacitor, a little red LED bulb and gloves. In a sense, these so-called “electrogenic” microbes are able to “breathe” metal compounds much like humans and other organisms breathe oxygen.” “ Among the diverse communities of microbes are particular species with unique metabolic abilities that enable them to expel electrons onto oxidized metal compounds, such as rust. In terms of the microbiology, I think it’s best summed up by the Muddwatt info packet: I appreciate that this information provided a helpful intro into a field I wish i knew more about. I have spent a career trying to hack together things in the rain forest and lab in a MacGyver-like fashion, but rarely has that included anything electronic. I unpacked the kit and was immediately impressed by the work done on the descriptions of microbiology, as well as the basics of electronics and circuits. My eventual goal is to make this look candle-like, so I purchased the kit without the vessel. The fantastic people at Magical Microbes have already created an easy way of harnessing the power of microbial electricity: The Mudwatt. So make economics (and international politics) part of your lesson plan! Apply some critical thinking to side-by-side comparisons of product design, component costs, manufacturing, user support, as well as the role of consumer feedback in the product development/improvement cycle.Īnd as a practical matter, you can get a great deal of classroom “mileage” out of a simple-to-assemble pumpkin light by examining the components individually, assembling the project on a breadboard, practicing soldering, etc., etc.The great news is that most of this work is already done for me. The future of technology in America (and education in that direction) depends on more than gadgets at the lowest possible cost and hit-or-miss design and quality. A sound investment for STEM/STEAM classes! The design, engineering, manufacturing, instructions, and packaging are absolutely first rate! And you can find necessary CR2032 batteries at bargain prices in dollar stores or online (as low as $0.30) at Radio Shack.īut if you are a technology teacher on a budget, you may have trouble rationalizing $6 per student for a pumpkin light kit when you can buy functionally similar flickering “tea lights” – already made and including batteries – at two for a dollar at a neighborhood store.
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