Project 3 : Theremin
.1 What is a theremin?
The thereamin is a musical instrument made over a 100 years ago. It was made with
vaccum tubes and everything. It is basically a clock circuit controlled by a
large capacitor. The large capacitors capacitance is changed by moving ones
hand closer or further away from the plate. This changes the frequency of the
clock cirtuit and is outputted as noise.
.2 how is it being used as a learning tool?
The interaction of the childs hand with the plate gives the child an idea
about capacitors. It is explained to them that their hand atracts more charge
and this results in the energy stored to change. By playin with the theramin
they get a visual, motor and aural idea of how the capacitance changes with
the distance they move their hands.
.3 what age group are we looking at here?
The targe age for this activity is 10.
.4 what supplies are needed?
The plans for making the unit is on arts page arts page. There was no cost for the unit as
all the parts from tech were free.
Modifications are all in my portfolio(tushith's).
.5 how does it meet these following requirements?
<> engage the children in an engineering activity,
<> appeal to all types of children,
<> be safe, durable, and suitable for an indoor space,
<> employ principles of universal design, and
<> use supplies that can be purchased easily and cheaply.
On the whole, children seemed to enjoy the activity, and most went back with
a sortof decent idea of what was goin on. Some were quite interested with the
whole workings of the theremin. Even if the explanations didnt really get to
all the children because they werent payin attention, they still got a feel
for the theremin, which in turn gave them a mental picture of how to relate
hand movement with the aural output. The activity was safe and very much an
indoor activity. The design is easy to build and all the parts were standard
parts that people can get in regular electornic stores.
Photo's
