There is a neat, family owned and operated company on the web known as Teacher Geek. This company was started by a technology teacher by the name of Darren Coon, who was having trouble finding suitable products to challenge, engage, and instruct his students, so he began developing his own resources. This eventually lead to the birth of his company, Teacher Geek.
Teacher Geek has a long lists of products available including the two given to the members of TOS crew for review, Catch the Bug and the Hydraulic Arm. Along with the learning products, Teacher Geek also offers tools to help with your project.
My family was given Catch the Bug which retails for $22.98. When I opened this packet I was truly amazed at all that was included. In addition to the parts needed for the bug (wires, batteries, tubing, motor, etc) there was also a brand new, still in the pack, soldering tool! Maybe it’s because I’m a girl and don’t own tools but this really impressed the socks off me. My son now has his very own soldering iron!
Although most boys and many girls will love them, Teacher Geek’s products are not toys and should be supervised at all times by an adult. This project was very well laid out and the instructions were easy to follow but my son would not be able to do this without his dad’s assistance. Most dad’s will love this as much as their children anyway so why not do it together.
Catch the Bug had three steps involved in putting it together:
Building the Body this involved putting the parts together and forming the bug.
The Bug Lab this step included lots of learning and experimenting with the wires. Among other things this step taught about voltage, resistors, and short circuits.
Final Wiring this is where the finishing touches were performed, wires were soldered, and the bug was made a bug for good.
I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to review Catch the Bug. I have three boys who are all very different and each one of them enjoys doing projects like this. However, I have one son who really seems to ‘get it’ when it comes to doing anything with his hands. Teacher Geek is right up his ally and I love that we have this resource available for our homeschool.
**Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge, in exchange for my honest opinion/review. For more honest reviews from real homeschoolers, visit the TOS Crew website.
