Sciensations: making sense of science by designing with sensors

In this paper we propose a way to motivate children to learn about science by creating a design process scenario where the children are the designers who have to learn about the material provided for their new products. The material in this case is technology embedded in the children's own toys, two of the main sensors of the video game console Nintendo Wii; the accelerometer and the IR sensor. Through embodied interactions with analogue physical models, in activities called Sciensations, we want to encourage a deeper understanding of the functioning of the technology and also of some related natural science phenomena. An elementary school class of twenty-five students in ages 10--11 was studied while engaged in a design process that ran from startup to prototype evaluation. The resulting design concepts showed several innovative usages of the sensing technologies that indicates an understanding both of the technology and the corresponding natural phenomena. The activities also encouraged discussions and reflections around these abstract concepts.