TEAM 4201 (Feb. 2014) | Page 23

First

Lego

League

Some of the Team 4201 members helped out at 2013 FLL “Nature’s Fury.” The members acted as judges and referees and extra eyes on the field. It was amazing for the kids to be able to see FRC members helping out their own robots in FLL. All the kids were very excited to hear about FRC and talk about what they could be doing when they are older. Many FLL participants said that they wanted to do FRC when they went to high school. The entire event was fantastic for Team 4201. They were very glad of the experience and are looking forward to helping with future FLL events.

Da Vinci Science Summer Camp

Da Vinci Science held its first annual DV Science Summer Camp in 2013. The camp was math, science, and engineering-oriented. Children in grades 2-5 spent their day from 8:30AM to 12PM learning math and engineering skills. The summer camp was comprised of four rooms, each with different activities. The four rooms were Lego Robotics, Fun Math, Snap Circuits, and Engineering Challenge. Each interactive project taught students useful skills while demonstrating that math, science, and engineering are fun. The summer camp lasted four days and then started over again the following week with a new group of kids. It was great to know that a handful of kids loved it so much that they came back for Week 2.

The Lego Robotics Room, where many of our team members worked, had a new activity

every day. The first day’s assignment was to build spinning birds that required no programming. The children were taught that spinning gears used a series of gears to move. In addition, they learned how the different sizes of gears helped move the birds. Every day, the activities increased in difficulty. On day two, Lego Programming was introduced. The program was easy to follow and even included its own instructions, which made it fun and appealing to the kids. On the third day, they built a roaring lion. The mentors guided them but did not complete the work for children. Watching the campers use problem solving skills to meet their goals was more than rewarding to Team 4201. Grins, from ear to ear, were on all the kids’ faces when they saw their imagination realized – and on our faces as well.

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