LAKEPORT, Calif. – Students in the after school program at the Konocti Christian Academy in Lakeport had three two-hour sessions with Lego robots on consecutive Fridays recently.

Volunteers from the Children’s Museum of Art and Science (CMAS) provided the kits and laptops for this unique hands-on learning opportunity.

Students ranged in age from first grade to eighth grade but all were engaged and successful in building, and then programming, the robots.

After completing many of the 12 possible projects, some students like Luke McQuiad created robots on their own. Luke made a car which he programmed to drive forward and back.

Two students, Benjamin Martin and Koby Nelson, improved on the spinning top design, to create a top that spun even faster.
         
The help of two eighth grade assistants, Joy Nowak and Cooper Dodd, was greatly appreciated.  

 

CMAS volunteers, Billy Gear, Kinene Barzin, John Burke and Ginger Ingersoll took turns as supervisors.
 
Students followed step-by-step directions on the computer which showed them which Lego pieces were needed next, and where they go.

The most frequently asked question asked by adults when kids were stuck: “Does your model look like what’s on the computer screen?”

Students had to pay close attention and follow the directions exactly. After the robot was completed, they used icons to create a program to run the robot.
 
CMAS provides these two-hour workshops free of charge to any after school program, public or private school classroom, or cluster of home schooled students in Lake County.

Call Billy Gear at 707-279-1514 to schedule a session.