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Logic is Elementary, Kindergartners are Elementary, Kindergartners are Logical

Kevin Torres, Michele Casey and David Loker

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College Creekside Christian School

Abstract

From an early age, children are introduced to and provided with opportunities to use a broad range of electronic equipment. Typically after examining such equipment their first question is “What makes it work”? The purpose of this paper is to answer just such a question. Kindergartners are at a very inquisitive age, but yet little is done to reach this group primarily because concepts are thought to be beyond their understanding. This age group of students process information very basically and logically. They are at a very teachable age to present basic concepts of digital logic and in turn answer their questions of why and how.

This paper outlines digital logic experiences specifically designed for kindergarten students. The experiences are hands-on experiments with the hope that kindergartners can learn at-their-level fundamental logic concepts. Basic knowledge of digital logic through experiences is the objective. This objective will be accomplished by a variety of activities that begin with a concept, followed by student predictions and problem solving. By providing Kindergarten students with these opportunities we are equipping them with knowledge that is applicable to equipment they interact with daily. In addition, they will have had a positive experience with engineering that will hopefully ignite an interest for further learning.

1.0 Introduction

In 2001 an outreach project was designed and implemented to provide kindergarten students with engineering technology experiences.1 In that project kindergarten students were introduced to current, voltage, batteries, conductors and insulators. The project was not only a success with kindergarten students but also with 1 st grade students.

The authors wanted to add another module to the kindergarten engineering curriculum. The topic of digital logic was decided upon. In an ASEE 2000 paper, Cooney and Mueller designed a digital logic circuits project for second and third grade children. 2 Our project would focus on the younger kindergarten students.

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright ã 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

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Casey, M., & Torres, K., & Loker, D. (2002, June), Logic Is Elementary, Kindergartners Are Elementary, Kindergartners Are Logical Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10082