Monday, November 28, 2011

First class after Thanksgiving!

I was so excited to see the girls again after school today. They worked hard to finish their robots- and to my surprise both groups are almost done building! Next Monday I want them to finish up the basic structure so we can play around with programming directly on the NXT brick. I want to show them how motors and sensors works so they get a feel for their robots. Then I am going to show them how to log onto their LabView software in the lab.

We will probably finish up next Monday with a quick writing assignment or reading lesson about programming. Then the hard stuff will begin before we leave for Christmas break! Wow...this semester has gone by quickly.

Over the holiday break I will be planning out our last lessons and some cool programming options, as well as my final presentation and speech. I will also be stringing my research papers together to form some sort of finished thesis paper.

Keep reading! I am so proud of the girls- and how this project is going. I know Ashley Hall is already working on developing a LEGO robotics curriculum for next year! See you next Monday!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Brilliant Builders!

Today we broke into pairs again and began building the LEGO NXT robot! I can tell that it is going to take us 2 or 3 classes to finish our robots before I can introduce programming on the computer. We eat a lot of skittles...I am going to have to refuel my candy supply. But, this is food for thought so I am willing to pay the way through this year in candy!!

At the end of class I showed the girls the IDEO shopping cart video and had them write down a few things they learned. This youtube video shows how the shopping cart was redesigned--it also shows the workplace of an engineer: a free thinking office, where team work and communication are essential.

Monday, November 7, 2011

First LEGO Class- A Success!







Today I met with Ann, Meaghan (6th grade), Jessica, and Carly (5th grade). We discussed the layout of the class, I gave them their folders with engineering articles, and directions for their Engineering Journal. They are enthusiastic and smart young ladies--I have a great group and look forward to working with them this year!!

We talked about the Engineering Design Process, and how the journal keeping would facilitate communication and group work. Then we did the parachute design! Their designs were better than I hoped! (and better than my own at home). Ann and Meaghan's parachute hit the ground last (so technically they won!)However, all got a candy prize.

Next week we are discussing the IDEO shopping cart video (youtube--an idea I got from the Tufts Symposium), and the articles I gave to them. We begin building our robots next week! I showed them the one I made with the program I built from LabView 2010 last night! That got alot of cheers from the girls, who look forward to making the robot sing an original song. This will be a programming challenge for me of course, as well as the girls!! All in all it was a great day! See you all next week.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

November 6, 2011--Class Begins Tomorrow!


This past week has been very busy preparing the finishing touches to my lesson for tomorrow's class. I confirmed that all four 6th grade girls are going to be working with me this year (Monday's from 3:30 to 4:40.) Tomorrow we are going to be doing the activities posted on my lesson plan. (See 1st lesson plan from Oct. 10th blog link). I also finished building my own robot at home! I worked some of the building kinks out so the girls should be able to have a smooth build over a period of 2 or 3 weeks. The girls will build their robots in partners. Then we will begin programming. This weekend I am going through the LabView tutorial to start building my own program that I will teach the girls.

Mrs. Kainz ordered "Blocks to Robots" by Bers, and "Educate NXT" by Chris Bracken, Rob Torok, Damien Kee, and Chris Rogers. I met Rob, Damien, and Chris Rogers (my mentor) when I went to my internship at Tufts University Center for Engineering Education. These books are a great addition to the Ashley Hall STEM program! I look forward to citing them in my research and using ideas for the classroom activities.