Day 1
As with most inquiry based lessons, the key is to provide a hook - something that will spark the students interest as well as presenting a problem that needs solving.
The introduction is ideally done on Friday, so the students will have three nights to do the challenge.
Prep Work:
It may be desired to provide a listing of 10,000 - 50,000 watt stations as a jumping off point for the students. A list generated by the Montgomery County Public Schools can be found here. In addition, another list of Clear Air stations, provided by the AC6V Amateur Radio & DX Reference Guide, can be found here.
There is actually a hobby called DXing that involves doing just this! The site DXing.COM by Universal Radio Research provides a brief overview of the hobby and gives some hints for AM band DXing. A much more detailed description is given in Long Distance Medium Wave DXing. You can even join The National Radio Club.
It would be a VERY good idea for the teacher to obtain a radio well before starting this lesson and try to receive far away stations at night and during the day. Have a short list of example stations appropriate for your area in you back pocket!
Materials Required:
- Blank "AM Radio Challenge" worksheet for each student (Click here for a downloadable sample table.)
- Radio (as a prop and example.....more will be done with it on Day Two and Day Three)
Class Outline:
This first day of the unit can be as short as the last five minutes of class. It will fit nicely either at the conclusion of an exam or the end of a section.
A challenge is offered to the students: Each student is to try and get in the furthest AM station they can. (As well as, maybe, the most out-of-state stations.) This, hopefully, will feed on their competitive nature and get the students to actively participate in this out of class activity. To further fuel their competitive desires, a reward can be offered to the student who finds the furthest station and who finds the most.
It is up to the teacher as to whether or not they want to provide a listing of selected stations from the clear air radio station lists from the links in the Prep Work section.
It should be mentioned to the class that the AM signal band goes from 535 kHz to 1705 kHz. Ask the class if they know what this means.......just get their ides for now. The answer to this question will be provided to the students later in the lesson.
Homework assignment:
The results should be placed in their daily log or in the log sheet, if you decide to provide one. They will need to make a table that lists the call letters of the station, the stations frequency, and the city the station is in. They should also leave a blank column for entering the distance from their home to the station. (This information can either be determined as part of the homework assignment or, as described in the Daytime Radio Challenge lesson, during the next class period.)
Students should be encouraged to work in groups.
Students, if at all possible, should bring in to class the radio they used.
TEACHERS' EXPERIENCES
- "I decided to send out my ninth graders cold and see what they came up with. From Reading, MA, my students pulled in stations from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and (supposedly!) Washington!" - Jeffrey Yuhas, Reading (MA) Memorial High School