1/30/2018. This week in iNEST, the girls continued building their Hummingbird robotics projects. The physical bots are beginning to take shape, and students are starting to tinker with the Scratch code to operate their robots. It was nice to see the girls helping each other out with code blocks today and how to set up if-then statements to work with Hummingbird sensors and effectors. At least two girls reported that this platform seemed challenging when we started a few weeks ago, but now they find it "easy" and "get it," so they seem to be picking it up quickly! Next week we should start seeing some moving parts and will share some video of the developing projects.
1/23/2018. After a couple of weeks working with Scratch games to get ready for their Hummingbird robotics unit, the girls in the maker club started Hummingbird projects today. Jennifer demonstrated an owl she built over the weekend with a distance sensor, two servos for moveable wings, and two tri-color LEDs. She also showed her underlying Scratch code to illustrate how the robot is programmed. Dr. Oliver distributed and went over a handout he made that overviews the Hummingbird parts, Scratch code that goes with each part, and how to get started wiring a Hummingbird circuit board. Students in teams of 2-3 were given a planning sheet to plan their robot's function, select sensors and effectors for their robot, sketch their robot, and label their sketch with materials needed to build their robots. Students ran their plans by Jennifer and Kevin who then distributed the requested sensors and effectors to each team. Most teams got started wiring and programming their robots in class today, and some divided work and began to construct the physical surround for their robots. We're excited to see where the students' plans take them, and how they add on to their robots after this first round of programming and building. The best student robots will be exhibited at North Carolina's state technology conference, NC-TIES, on March 1st, at a student showcase session the club had accepted to present. In other news, the girls began returning their permission slips today to participate in a club field trip to Washington DC and the USA Science and Engineering Festival.
1/16/2018. In the iNEST maker club this week, students continued working with our Scratch coding cards to learn basic programming behind their forthcoming Hummingbird robotics projects. Deborah began today's meeting by showing several sample videos of what students can build with Hummingbird. Kevin and Jennifer sorted the Hummingbird materials into bags (one part per bag) that will be doled out next week when students start working with the equipment. Club mentors also finished loading the Bird Brain Robot Server and Scratch 2.0 programs on selected laptops that students will need next week when working with the Hummingbird kits. Next week, students will receive a template asking them to design and sketch their robot, selecting at least one sensor and one effector for the robot, and indicating the Scratch code blocks that will be needed to program the robot.
1/9/2018. Today in the maker club, we started our first unit of 2018--Hummingbird Robotics. The day kicked off with Dr. Oliver describing Hummingbird parts and showing a short video from an 8th grade classroom with lots of example Hummingbird projects to peak the girls' interest. To prepare the girls for the programming needed to operate the robotics kits, we next had them work with Scratch coding cards to make simple animations, stories, and games. This work will prepare them for interacting with Scratch in a few weeks when we attach Hummingbird circuit boards to the laptops that require programming to operate the various sensors and effectors. The maker club's proposal to the state technology conference, NC-TIES, was accepted, meaning some of the girls from the club will be invited to present their work with the Hummingbird platform at a student showcase session at the conference. We're excited to have our club present at NC-TIES for the second consecutive year, giving the girls an opportunity to develop their leadership, presentation, and communication skills.
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Purpose:Dr. Oliver's weekly update of activities in the iNEST Maker Club. Archives
April 2019
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