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3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Science fun Jul 20, 2008
By R. H. May
I gave this to my son for his sixth birthday. He is very interested in science, and electricity in particular. He liked it, and we wired up a potato, and orange, an apple, and a banana. Apples and potatoes worked best for us. It doesn't keep running for long on most things. You have to re-insert the electrodes at least every other day, depending on the fruit, and over time the electrodes collect some scum that needs to be cleaned off with a scouring pad. This is an inexpensive and classic bit of fun, and I do recommend it, but don't expect it to last or to be played with for long. It doesn't make a reliable clock, nor is is particularly durable. The display fades to almost invisible not long after you set it up, and it can be very frustrating having to re-set the clock every time it loses the circuit. It is truly powered by the fruit, there is no back-up battery.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Chemical battery and digital clock -- and all you need is the orange! Aug 22, 2008
By Marynna L. Kerce
Help your child understand the most basic how-it-works principles of chemical batteries.
This kit is all-in-one, easy to use, and great fun. -Any- child can put this together using the enclosed directions. It's up to the parent or teacher, however, to provide a solid explanation of the chemistry. Younger kids should receive adult monitoring to make sure they don't poke themselves with the stand, which has a sharp pointed tip (and comes with instructions -- yikes! -- to "stab" the fruit onto the spike). Adults may need to troubleshoot a bit as the initial spacing of the electrodes may take some trial and error -- however, this trouble-shooting is itself a valuable and satisfying exercise (in "why?" and "why not?") for young scientists.
Even for kids who don't receive instruction in the principles behind the clock's operation, this kit will be an awesome novelty that will help them learn how to assemble simple apparatus following a schematic. With instruction, this kit illustrates how chemical batteries work, and can serve as a focus from which to launch toward discussions of chemistry, physics, electromagnetism.
By the way, the visual display is quite durable, and can easily be read from across the room. Display can show hour, minutes, seconds, month, and date. In practical terms, it keeps time as reliably as our automated sky-scanning electronic gizmo. We've replaced used-up, desiccated fruit twice already during several months of use, and everything is still working just fine.
Kit includes zinc and copper electrodes, wire frame, and digital clock display.
This is an elegantly simple gem. Surprisingly effective, durable, fun, and educational. Well worthwhile. For ages perhaps 6 years and up.
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