Last conducted at previous fieldsite, 2014

 Blinkybugs are simple little electro-mechanical insects that respond to movement, wind, and vibrations by blinking their LED (light-emitting diode) eyes.  Despite their simplicity, they have a strangely lifelike quality.

Skills learned by the girls we studied:

• Rudimentary programming-how to arrange a circuit
• Crafting-Designing Blinky Bug bodies and where to place LEDs (normally as eyes)
• Creativity (Aesthetics)-Deciding what Blinky Bug bodies should look like overall (pipe cleaners; copper wires; LED colors)
• Crafting-arranging Blinky Bug antennae (copper wires) properly
• Intermediate programming-steps leading to activating LEDs via copper wires.
• Two dimensional to three dimensional visual learning-Looking at directions represented on paper and then attempting to emulate steps and finished product.
• Bricolage-observing research team members building Blinky Bugs and then tinkering with their own Blinky Bugs, playing with circuit functions and aesthetic decisions.
• Collaboration-girls consulted one another and research team members as they built their Blinky Bugs throughout the process.
• Computational thinking-emergent.
• Design agency-emergent.

For more information: http://blinkybug.com