STEM Kick-off
The inaugural STEM Summer Boot Camp got off to a fast start today with a non-stop slate of events starting with introductions to the camp and expected outcomes. Campers were split into teams of four or five with each team competing against the other in a series of robotics challenges for top prizes. Prizes include Android tablets, iPod Shuffles, and Skull Candy headphones along with other assorted rewards given throughout the week.
- Be Proactive
- Begin with the End in Mind
- Put First Things First
- Think Win-Win
- Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen the Saw
Ms. Collins expounded upon all of the habits, giving the students valuable guiding principles to employ during the camp and throughout life. The lesson culminated in a group exercise revolving around the third habit, "Put First Things First", where campers were challenged to combine two full bowls of multi-colored stones into just one of the bowls. The first bowl held the largest rocks, representing the most important things one should tend to in life. The other was filled with tiny pebbles, representing those things that tend to distract us from the more important tasks. With some thought, all campers were able to successfully combine the stones but only after fully understanding the guiding principle of the lesson.
Robotics Class: Motion Programming
Things really moved into high gear when computer science professor Chantain Greer took center stage to introduce students to robotics programming techniques utilizing the PBASIC programming language and Parallax Boe-Bots.
The students quickly engaged in this work and programmed their robots to perform maneuvers including moving forward, backward, turning clockwise and counterclockwise.
Building upon this information, campers were then challenged to instruct their robots to perform a series of movements to navigate through a maze.
Their commitment to completing the task spilled over into lunch, where campers contemplated the best ways to accomplish this feat.
CONNECT w/ Brian Heath (CenturyLink)
After lunch, corporate strategist Brian Heath of CenturyLink introduced students to the wide open world of the "Internet of Things (IoT)". Through examples including a dog collar that alerts owners through SMS of its temperature and risk of exhaustion, to sensors placed on cows that report their location and vital signs, Mr. Heath illustrated that anything that can be connected to the Internet will indeed be connected at some point in the future. The data gathered from technologies like these can be very useful and he encouraged all students to peer into the future and envision the next great invention utilizing Internet technology. The students are to present their ideas and marketing plan at the end of the week.
Introduction to Cyber Science and Prezis
To cap off a full day of learning and experimentation, liberal arts instructor Ashlee Bell, English instructor at West Monroe High School, engaged the students in a thought provoking talk on the benefits and pitfalls of technology. Her timely talk reminded the students that as they try to solve the the challenges of the future, they must also be mindful of the negative fallout the technologies may produce. She then segued into an overview of a relatively new zooming presentation technology, Prezi.
In all, campers had a full day of discovery and exploration. More to come on Day 2...
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