Week 3 - LEGO Engineering Camp

This week, the ELF students are working as camp counselors for the 24 kids (23 boys and 1 girl, grades 4-8) that are here for LEGO Engineeering Camp. So far, they're doing a great job as counselors! On Monday, they helped the kids build towers, sturdy cars, light-sensor controlled cars, and 2-touch-sensor controlled cars. Today, they worked hard to help the campers create mini-golf obstacles.

Day 8 - Friday, July 14

This morning the ELF students gave great presentations on their projects. They focused their remarks on their process of project construction -- i.e., how much ROBOLAB practice they had before beginning the project, how many hours they spent on the project, what they learned, what was difficult, how their final product differed from their initial vision. These presentations were well-received by the teachers. The teachers seemed to view the ELF students as examples of students in their own classrooms, and they asked several additional questions about the students' thought processes.

After the presentations, one last LEGO engineering challenge was posed to the ELF students: an NXT Line Follower Race. Both pairs of students succeeded in building and programming an NXT line-following robot.

We finished the afternoon with clean-up and preparations for Co-Ed Week LEGO camp. The ELF students seem to feel well prepared for their job as camp counselors.

Day 7 - Thursday, July 13

The highlight of today was creating "troubleshooting puzzles" for the teachers at the professional development workshop. We built cars with a series of wiring mistakes and gear trains with locked and mis-meshed gears, and then we challenged the teachers to uncover all of the problems and correct them. Through this exercise, both the ELF students and the teachers gained experience in teaching others about common LEGO engineering problems.

Today we also continued to work on challenges to share with the teachers. We'll give presentations on these projects tomorrow morning.

Day 6 - Wednesday, July 12

Our next task is to develop new "challenges" that teachers can present to their elementary-school students. We spent the morning working on these models. Maia and Sam worked on an amusement park "swinging ship" ride, Peter started a conveyor belt/elevator combination, and Sharmaine created a dancing "stick robot." In the afternoon, Professor Linda Beardsley from the Department of Education led a thought-provoking discussion on teaching in a camp setting. We talked about how the informal setting differs from the formal setting, how to develop a trusting relationship with campers, and how to ask good questions. We also learned that another way to describe LEGO Camp is as a "math and science workshop." Thanks, Linda!

Day 5 - Tuesday, July 11

In the morning, Noah and Adam gave us a mini-lesson on ROBOLAB containers, and then we went back to working on our NXT projects from yesterday. Before lunch, we observed the campers at Girls Week LEGO Camp, and then we and the girls shared our most recent projects with each other. After lunch and outside time with the girls, we helped them get started on their mini-golf obstacles. This was an instructive introduction to working with younger kids on LEGO engineering projects -- lots of food for thought on how best to help kids both learn and have fun!

Day 4 of ELF - Monday, July 10, 2006

NXT day! Today we introduced the NXT controller and LEGO Technics building techniques. So that the ELF fellows would be exposed to as many NXT and Robolab skills as possible, each fellow worked on a different challenge today. Maia built an NXT "Smart House" and learned how to program with Events. Peter built a crane boom controlled by an NXT rotation sensor and practiced with rotation sensor Wait-For icons. Sam worked very hard on a 2-touch-sensor remote-controlled car with pivoting front wheels. His programming included task splitting. It was a challenging day, but the ELF fellows made a great start at building their NXT and Technics expertise!

Day 3 - Friday

We started the day with a primarily programming-task: creating "Velociraptor" RCX cars that could find their way out of a black-outlined box. The next two activities were mainly building activities - 6-inch tall LEGO towers that could support the weight of a person, and "Mountain Rescue" cars that could ascend a 45-degree ramp. We ended the day with an introduction to ROBOLAB Investigator by making light meters and voting machines.

Day 2 - Thursday

This morning we introduced ROBOLAB music, touch sensors, and light sensors. We programmed cars to stop exactly on "Platform 9 3/4," in three different ways: through timing, touch sensors, and light sensors. Next we reviewed gear trains, and then we spent the rest of the day building amusement park rides with gears. They turned out great! Adam and Noah built a roller coaster with a rack and pinion system; Peter, Maia, and Sam built a rotating swings ride; Jen and Kathleen created a swing-type ride with vertical motion. Nice work! At the end of the afternoon, we began working with Inventor programming...more of that to come tomorrow.

Day 1 of ELF

It's great to have everyone here! We welcomed Maia, Peter, Sam, and Sharmaine from local greater-Boston-area high schools, and Adam and Noah arrived from New York City! After introductions and paperwork, we worked on sturdy LEGO building activities in the morning. The "sturdy walls" weren't so sturdy, but once we discussed LEGO building techniques, the miniature "chairs" were much improved. In the afternoon, we introduced the RCX and made sturdy cars that traveled forward for a specified distance.