Final Project Initial Brainstorming

1. A lamp that turns brighter if it's brighter in the room or darker if it's darker
2. Robot that stays within a box and avoids touching anything
3. A clock that works through several gear chains
4. Mini-fridge
5. Recreate a primitive form of the Google Car
6. Light that turns off if there's no movement for a while
7. Robot that goes to retrieve something and toss it into the air
8. Surveillance robot that takes video footage but stops moving when it senses something moving
9. A handhold device that vibrates or chirps when the user shows it the end of a line in a book
10. A mini elevator

I would be most interested in visiting the ComputerPlace, Innovative Engineers, Math Moves, and Nanotechnology exhibits.  If there is additional time, I will visit the To the Moon, Conserve @ Home, and Catching the Wind exhibits.  By visiting these exhibits, I hope to find more inspiration for my final project in addition to understanding how the museum chooses to convey these concepts.  Breaking down certain processes to a level that children can understand will  provide me with a baseline to aim for when I design how my project will be taught to my targeted audience.  Furthermore, since all of  the exhibits have been created to be interactive, I will observe how people interact with the exhibits and what concepts are demonstrated.  It is important to understand how and why the exhibits were created for their targeted audience.  Although the concepts can be complex in nature, the exhibits have been created specifically for children and thus, choose certain concepts and designs over others.  In order to understand these concepts, I will spend some time observing how children interact with the exhibits and consider possible reasons for their actions.
I would be interested in learning about Peter's past experiences with designing the exhibits.  Specifically, if he has any experiences in which the exhibits did not perform as well as others and what he believes is the cause for those failures.  I would also ask him about any successful exhibits that he has created and what made them so successful.  It would also be worth asking him about the process he must take in order to create an exhibit and some of the questions that he asks himself when creating exhibits.  Finally, I would ask him for any tips or stories that he may have regarding his work and creating exhibits for others to use.