Hypothermia Goes Back to School

This article was originally written in 1999. We have made this a permanent part of Hypothermia by spending as much time as possible every year to bring computers to the classroom in a way that children can relate to. We have a blast interacting with the kids and showing them the latest in technology whether it be game making tools or the latest in water cooling your computer. This is something that we would like to see everyone do in their own community. It is easier than you would think, just pick up the phone, call the school district and offer your services. Are you a good mechanic? Take your HotRod to school and talk to the kids. Are you a fantastic musician, offer your services. No matter what you can do, even if it is volunteering a couple days a week in the cafeteria, the best thing you can do for our kids today is lead by example, and show them that you can be whatever you want in life...and still be cool.

I had the opportunity today to do one of the coolest things on the planet...go back to school....grade school. My wife and I made plans for me to spend the day with one of our local elementary schools to speak to kids about computers.  I know what you are thinking, surely computers would BORE most kids to tears. Normally you might be right, so I brought the worlds greatest visual aid, my neon lighted, water cooled, 1300MHz, clear case MONSTA computer with me, to get the children's attention. 

Now that I had their attention, I quickly learned that keeping their attention would be another matter all together. So we talked about a subject ALL kids, from every walk of life, really understand : VIDEO GAMES.

I set up my presentation in the music room, and had each classroom brought in to me for 45 minutes at a time and we had a blast talking about games. At first I was a tad bit nervous, but all nervousness was gone within minutes of talking to my first classroom.  If you've ever entertained the idea of doing something like this, but had no idea what to say, let me give you a few tips. 

"How many of you have a computer at home?"  ( some hands raise ) 

"How many have a Sony PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64?" ( more hands raise )

"How many of you like to play games?" ( all hands raise ). 

"Well, my name is Steve, and I make cool stuff for games with computers and I am here to show you how to do that.  Have you ever imagined being the star of your own video game? Ever wanted to control or make your own video game? I can show you how to do all of those things."  

"Making games isn't always about computers. How many people like MATH? How many people like GEOMETRY and shapes? Who here likes ART? What about MUSIC? Playing on a team?  The reason I asked all of these questions is because if you like to do any of these things, you can make games.

I took the next 20min. walking the kids through different technology demos, showed them how computer models worked and were made. I explained how everything was made using triangles in a 3D games, even circles ( emphasizing shapes and math ).

Then we talked about how the models are textured and skinned ( emphasizing art ). This is the part where a person takes a blank model like the one we see above and literally "paints" it to become anything they want. You can make your game character look like anything you want...even look just like yourself.

Next, we talked about people who like music and participated in band, orchestra or choir and how sound effects and music are used in a gaming environment ( leaning on the musical aspects of game development ). 

During the different demos, I explained the differences in "light reflection" and "light refraction". . pretty boring stuff until you use stuff like Crytek's  T-Rex demo. . . cool stuff, and the kids love it. Most children do not understand the difference between light reflection and refraction, but given basic examples makes it very easy to comprehend.

Our T-Rex before the demonstration

T-Rex showing light reflection

T-Rex showing light refraction

After showing the kids our T-Rex looks like he is made of chrome when we apply light reflection, we explain in simple terms this effect is created by reflecting light and images back towards the viewer. Then I asked the class what some examples of light reflection are used in our homes everyday ( like a mirror ). We spoke about the effects of bending light or "refraction" and the way it makes the T-Rex look see through. We demonstrated light refraction by passing around a prism and letting the kids look through it. 

I spent a little time going over parts of the computer, I had brought with me an old hard drive, a motherboard with a processor in it, and the heatsink. I held up the different parts and asked if anyone could name them, the answers were pretty darn funny. I explained the individual components like the computer mainboard. Basic explanations like motherboards are called that because everything plugs into them made it easy for most kids to understood. Explaining the CPU was the "brain" of the computer. . . etc.

I moved on to Thermal Dynamics, covering the three ways of heat transfer. I saw a LOT of blank faces out there until I started in with:

"Anyone know what the 3 ways of transferring heat are?" ( no hands ). 

Conduction, Convection and Radiation.
 

I explained that processors get very hot, so they needed to be cooled ( holding up the heatsink and fan ): 

Conduction is when two surfaces touch each other to transfer the heat / energy ( I placed the heatsink on the CPU to demonstrate ). When you touch something and feel heat or cold, that is conduction. 

Does anyone know what convection is? When you hold your hand over the toaster and you feel the warm air rising out. . . that is convection. 

Radiation is when you put your hand around something that is really hot or cold WITHOUT touching it and you can FEEL the heat. When you feel heat from a campfire, that is heat radiating. Radiation isn't the kind of radiation you see on T.V. with green fluid and gunk.

After about the fourth classroom, I had my whole presentation down pat and my mild "ask and answer" session was smooth as silk. I was fielding questions like a pro, showing the kids how to mix match and make models for games, how to see 

The end of each session was topped off by a lot of encouragement to the kids. I explained that even if MATH isn't your strong subject. . . or GEOMETRY isn't your cup of tea, ARTIST and MUSICIANS also play a huge role in making games. What if you aren't very good at math, geometry, art or music...but you like to be part of a team. Teamwork and learning to finish what you start is essential in making games. Being able to lead a team, or be part of a team is very important to being successful to making games.

We had a whole lot of fun explaining to the kids that people that use computers are "cool" too. I had a blast explaining to kids that I am proud to be a computer nerd / geek and I love what I do. When I asked the kids what it "looked" like I did for a living, most kids thought I was a professional wrestler, a boxer or a bodybuilder. No one thought I looked like a computer geek...so we spent some time talking about "being cool isn't about what you look like".

And the big ending to every class was this:

You can make games... if you're good at math

You can make games... if you're good at geometry

You can make games... if you like art

You can make games... if you play music

You can make games... if you're a great team player

.....but you can't make games if you don't finish school. An education is what gives you a fantastic head start into making the best games in the world. Without an education, you'll be stuck PLAYING games, because you won't have the knowledge to MAKE games.

I encourage every one to take the time and do the same, you'd be surprised how eager your school district is to do the same, and have someone come in and share the knowledge.