Ted Talks – Thomas Suarez, Richard Turere, William Kamkwamba – Think Puzzle Explore

Thomas Suarez

I think that computer programming and the development of apps is a very complicated field of technology. Because of this, I think Thomas is very unique in wanting to learn more about this at such a young age. I also think that he was inspired to pursue his app-making because he was fascinated by computers and technology all of his life, and he got lots of encouragement and feedback about his apps from his family, friends, teachers, and the app store staff.

A question that I have is: Why is there nowhere for children like Thomas to learn how to make an app? Does Thomas want to extend his app club digitally so that kids from other schools can share their computer programming experiences and knowledge with him and his friends?

I can explore this topic by learning how to code using basic programming languages such as python and java on websites such as Code.org. I can also explore this by creating my own apps and games to share with my friends, who will hopefully give me feedback to improve them.

 

Richard Turere

I think that Richard’s passion for saving the animals on his farm from the wild predators is very interesting because at such a young age he is thinking and caring about the lives of others. I also think that Richard took a very systematic approach because he had many attempts at solving the issue such as adding more fencing, killing the lions, and scaring them away with fire and a scarecrow. Finally, he found his solution through experimenting, where he saw a possibility and drew out a detailed diagram of his plan before he installed the device into the fence.

A question that I have is: How could Richard be certain that his invention would stop the Lions forever? What would he have done if the Lions kept coming back? Would he try to modify his plan or would it start with something completely different? Does he want to create new ways of stopping the lions in the future?

I can explore this topic by researching in more detail about how Richard managed to create his invention despite him living in a poor country with extremely limited resources. In the future, I can apply his theory of using moving light to scare away predators in other situations, such as foxes who may be eating chickens.

 

William Kamkwamba

I think that defending his community against hunger is a huge goal that William had. However, I also think that William persisted through all of the challenges that he was faced with. Some of these include the lack of materials and resources that he had to build the windmill and the constant doubt from the people in his community.

A question that I have is: How was William able to understand the information in the books he read to be able to apply it to a real windmill when he couldn’t read English? How did the diagrams in the books give him enough information to build his windmill?

I can explore this topic by researching information in books about it like William did. Instead of making a life-size structure, I could make a model first and test it out. I can also explore this by looking at structures in other countries and applying this information to a similar structure that I can use to solve a problem in my own country.