This seems to have become my M.O... Gathering all sorts of electronics junk and ripping it apart with 4-H'ers.

Not such a bad thing, come to think of it.

I've been doing a lot of electronics dissecting in Idaho. Last year, we had three dissection days, in total. One in Benewah County, one in Kootenai County, and the last in Custer County. Each were pretty successful, and had kids tearing apart all kinds of machines. Now, admittedly, some of them could have been saved. But what's the fun in that? Hah!

Truly, I think this workshop could actually be broken into two activities. The first being a "computer resurrection" activity to attempt to save computers that might otherwise be thought of as dead. The second part, then, being the dissection (read: destruction). That way, we're more effectively utilizing resources, and turning computers back into slightly more useful machines for those who wish to use them. Why would we want to do that? Well, there's no good sense in throwing out things that are still useful. While sluggish, those old computers could be used for a number of other things, like...

1. Portable internet access machines.
   • Use them for 4-H meetings to access ZSuite.
   • Use them for Teens Teach Tech activities.
   • Use them for Tech Changemakers activities.
2. "Lightweight" hacking machines.
   • Use them to teach programming skills, remotely.
   • Hand them out to youth who need to access a computer for a short time.
3. Can you think of other cool things to do with them? Leave me an idea in the comments...

But now... the dissection? That's a blast!!!

One thing, in particular, that's especially impactful for these opportunities is that they provide youth a chance to explore, get curious, and work with their hands. Is it always the most in-depth, or deeply-educational? Maybe... Maybe not. But it does give kids a chance to use a screwdriver, a hammer, and some pliers. Building those dexterity skills. Always fun!