About This Program
Students can build a radio in the classroom. Five parts, soldered to foil on paper, and suddenly you can send a signal that you can hear on a radio across the room. Slide a ferrite core to tune the frequency, change the battery voltage to push the signal farther, hear the math of LC resonance across the room - no wires, just the electromagnetic waves you control. Radio isn't magic, it's five components a 5th grader can solder and a physics concept that a high schooler can derive. Take the radio home and show the world that electronics and radio are within their grasp.
There's something magical about building a radio from scratch - one that can transmit morse code to any AM radio nearby! Students build working AM transmitters on paper using foil tape traces, soldering, and simple components.
We use our award-winning Feltronics system to demonstrate how circuits work - the magnetic components on felt circuit boards make everything visible and easy to understand. Then students apply what they've learned to build their own paper radios they can take home.
What Students Learn
- How radio waves carry information
- The electromagnetic spectrum
- AM transmission and morse code basics
- Oscillators, capacitors, and transistors
- Soldering and circuit building techniques
- Paper circuit construction with foil tape
The Feltronics System
Our award-winning Feltronics approach uses felt circuit boards with magnetic components that connect effortlessly. This makes circuits visible, tactile, and easy to understand - perfect for demonstrating electronics concepts before students build their own circuits on paper.
