Lab Name Percent, Decimal & Fraction Using Experiment Connecting Distance and Wireless Signal Strength.
Subject Area Mathematics
Grade 6
Topic Percent, Decimal & Fractions.
Experiment Title Measuring the Strength of different Signals changing locations (indoor & outdoor) and using the data gathered by analyzing the results.
Hardware Transmitter & receiver with Adalm-Pluto, additional transmitters like walkie-talkie, wireless microphone, baby monitors, car keys, radio control toys.
Software GNU Radio, COSMOS toolkit framework
Number of Sessions to teach the topic 5 - 6 sessions.
Educational standards to be addressed 6.RP.A.1
Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities.

6.RP.A.3
Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.

6.EE.9
Use variables to represent two quantities in a real-world problem that change in relationship to one another; write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable.
COSMOS concepts to be used for the lab Wireless signals, attenuation of the signal over the air, signal strength indoor/outdoor, relationship between signal strength and distance.
K12 Educational Goals (How the educational goals are achieved through teaching using the experiment, how the topic is connected to the COSMOS concepts used) Teaching percent, decimals, fractions by observing the relationship between signal strength and distance.

Example: Teacher will use two different points to show the percentage of decrease or increase from one point to another and convert it to fractions and decimals.
Short Description and Walk-through of the experiment
  • Outdoor:
    • Transmit the signal through a Pluto SDR and receive it through another SDR.
    • Repeat the same experiment using different distances, collect the results and analyze them.
  • Indoor:
    • Repeat the same experiment or the same procedure.
    • Repeat the over-all procedure using different transmitters( walkie-talkie, baby monitors, etc)
Testbed mapping of the experiment The experiment can be extended by executing it into a testbed (ORBIT/COSMOS) through the following steps:
We define a particular node as the receiver and we change the nodes we use as transmitters. In this way, we perform the experiment using nodes in different locations and we observe the relationship between signal strength and distance or even more in the presence of external interference moving obstacles in the area like cars, etc.

Experiment Execution

Select the appropriate function or the node (i.e., Transmitter or Receiver) and press START to begin the experiment. In order to terminate the experiment press STOP.

Transmitter Receiver

Experiment Material

NGSS Lesson Plan
Worksheet
Other

© 2018 COSMOS Project. Created by Juditha Capa Damiao, Joseph F. Lamb School
Melissa Sanchez, Urban Assembly Academy for Future Leaders
Deidre Walker, New York Harbor School