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Serious toys: introducing sensors and sensor networks in pre-collegiate classrooms

Sensors have become pervasive throughout our daily activities. Virtually all appliances use one or more sensors. Networks of sensors are used to support home and medical monitoring, wildlife behavioral monitoring, military applications, and environmental management. Observing the value of sensors in computing, we developed the third in a series of serious toys for use in pre-collegiate classrooms. The "toy" is an embedded hardware device designed to enhance a lecture titled "Learning About Sensors and Sensor Networks." In this paper, we describe the curriculum module and its use in five classes from a local middle school, and four groups from a summer outreach program. We conclude with a summary of evaluation results that show the program produced positive results.