Re: [Fwd: Re: [seul-edu] Linux/Beowulf in k-12 environments]

[lp <prevettl@cochise.cc.az.us>]

Doug Loss wrote:
> 
> owner-seul-edu@seul.org wrote:
> Hi.  I am wondering if there is anyone on this list interested in developing
> a set of topics and apps that can be used as a showcase for teaching students
> in the k-12 (kindergarten+12 years) age group the benefits and uses of cluster
> based supercomputing ala Beowulf.
>
> I should have a 4-node cluster up and running sometime this week and then need
> to figure what kinds of apps I can run on it.
>
> Comments and suggestions for collaborations are most welcome.

We had a very positive experience using povray and pvmpov. Our
students kept notes of their keystrokes and I put them in the 
SEUL wiki.

http://www.seul.org:8080/wiki/edu/Linux%20Clusters

We were attempting to make some notes that would be easy to
follow (step 1, step 2, etc.) The notes probably need some
work but they might be a good place to start.

Povray is for ray-tracing and some of the scences take a long
time to render. pvmpov renders the scenes much more quickly.
The output is eye-popping graphics that kids (young and old)
really seem to like. (see http://www.povray.org)

I think the project we did is very appropriate for K-12 and
some of our local high schools have indicated interest.
Clustering projects are one of the best ways I can think of
to demonstrate how great Linux is.

L. Prevett
Mathematics Instructor
Cochise College, Sierra Vista, AZ, US
prevettl@cochise.cc.az.us