07 Jan 09 Finding gold within the garbage; parts and knowledge a byproduct of our disposable society

Teaching your kids to make things is a wonderful part of being a parent. Teaching your kids to take things apart is (arguably) even more so. Of course you can find info on the web to read but nothing is better than getting your (and your kids’) hands dirty.

My mom received a new CD player/radio combo unit for a present this Christmas, and asked if I wanted her old (defective) unit as she was planning to throw it away. Being the penultimate pack-rat (just ask my wife), I naturally responded in the affirmative.

A few days later, my three sons and I were a little stir-crazy and wondering what to do. The radio popped into my head- and a few screwdrivers, pliers and wire cutters later, we were digging in with gusto.

I recommend reinforcing the difference between “taking apart” and “destroying”. Both have their place, but this was an inside activity – and I wanted it to be a bit educational as well, so I stressed being careful and not forcing or hammering unnecessarily.

This is the kind of learnin’ they don’t do in school. What the difference is between a Phillips and Standard screwdriver is, what a circuit board looks like and does.  Righty-Tighty, Lefty-Loosey. Capacitors;  diodes; transformers (no, not THAT kind); motors; switches… the list goes on and on. Most of this stuff my kids had never touched, seen or heard of.

During the disassembly we discussed the dangers of electricity, hand tools and sharp bits. I also tried to stress keeping things neat and orderly for those times (in the future) when we will delve into putting something back together.

When it was all said and done -almost 120 minutes of undivided attention later- we had a garbage bag full of cheap useless parts, a few motors and some LEDs – those will be saved (out of sight of the boss) for a hacker project TBD.

So the next time this disposable society rears it’s head and you are about to throw out that “useless automated bun warmer and back scratcher”, store it someplace to bring out later for a bit of down-home practical education.

Tags: Disassembly, Do-it-yourself, Electronics, Hand Tools, Make, Pack Rat, Scrounging