At least, that’s what the students who participate say!
The LABRATS Robotics & Engineering After-School program has been a
favorite of students in grades K-8 for many years. Participation has only been
limited by the amount of equipment available.
However, thanks to the generous support of several corporate sponsors,
and the historic fundraising by the 2011-12 competition team, we have expanded
our LEGO education into the classrooms and after school, and will prepare for
another year of underwater robotics in the spring!
For anyone who wasn’t here last spring, the First Lego League
competition team was honored by an invitation to the National North American
Championship games at LEGOLAND in Carlsbad, CA.
We had just over 2 months to raise the money needed to send the team to
the games, and we did it!!
There are still fun stories being told about the bajillion tacos,
homemade chili, and spaghetti dinners that helped fund the trip. But the real
support came from the generosity of our Redd School families, staff, and
community. If I haven’t already told you: Thanks for all you did to make it
happenJ
We now have
26 students in the after school program, and 4 on the competition team. And,
we’ve added new programs to the school curriculum!
Our
youngest roboticists are the K-3 JR.ROBOTICS. This enthusiastic group enjoys creative,
open-ended constructions with a theme. They just finished several weeks of
building community service structures. Then, they create a story to go with
their work. The idea is to link developing Language Arts skills with something
they enjoy- building with LEGOS!
The 4th-
8th Grade EARLY Robotics program engages students in building simple
machines that work. Developmental challenges move them through building that
teaches progressive skills in how machines work, and why.
The NXT
ROBOTICS elective for students in grades 6-8 raises the bar for design and
engineering with building and programming of
autonomous
robots. The competition team is made up from students in this group.
As I
mentioned earlier, we’ve added 2 new LEGO programs into the classroom. I’ve
traditionally used LEGOS in Middle School for teaching about alternative energy
and force/motion. This year I’ve added a new program into the 5th
Grade studies: LEGOS in Space!
Students
use the newest version of the Simple Machines kits, along with a special
Spaceport component to build machinery- tools and machines that astronauts use
in space. After construction, they test their machinery to see how it works on
Earth.
Then,
astronauts from the ISS space station guide the students through lessons and
demonstrations FROM the space station to see how their constructions work in
space!
Another new
program is the WeDo Robotics for grades 2-4. Ms. Aurora Clarke has integrated
this LEGO program into our technology education classes to introduce young
students to beginning programming as well as beginning engineering skills. WeDo
gives students early experiences in data collection using Excel and provides exciting
themes for creating photo storybooks using publisher or Word.
Our newest
competition team has a Qualifying meet on Dec 15.
They’ve
been hard at work since September working on their research and game. My next
post will focus on their newest challenge and provide more information on the
upcoming tournament!
Check back!!
Lollie
Lollie
