We Provide STEM Education for Kids!
Today we had a mostly free build period as the class went wild with their ideas in Lego digital designer. The ideas and designs presented by the students were all excellent and they built some truly impressive creations. As for the free build what ended up happening is that most of the students attempted to build a massive wall across the room. The kids definitely seemed to have fun in phase 2 and we hope to see them again in phase 3!
Today was a free build period and most of the class built cars, all with different propulsion systems. The kids appeared to have had a lot of fun during the semester and clearly demonstrated their knowledge in the free build. Thank you all for the wonderful semester, hope to see you all in Phase 2!
The first class went according to plan. It was a great way for the kids to understand the conduct of the class and also get to know each other. Everyone was able to finish their project and enjoy competing against each other at the end. The kids also made sure to enjoy their time in class which is important as well, as it will encourage deeper learning. Next week we will be working with more projects in the class that are similar to what was worked on Wednesday, but slightly more complicated.
Today we built the Crane and learned a bit more about the block and tackle which we had covered in previous lessons. The kids were determined to lift as much as they could today. Next week we will be building objects that the students designed in lego digital designer. Please help the students clean up after class.
Today we built the Dragster, which reinforces the concepts that we learned from the Flywheeler. The children had fun with their Dragsters today and raced them. Next week we will have a free build. Please help the children to clean up after class is over.
Today we started the kids on Lego Digital Designer (LDD) a 3D Computer Aided Design program that allows kids to design lego sets without having to purchase lego directly. The students initially had some problems locating the parts however they quickly started to grow accustomed to the menus and as it is their first time working with the program it will take time to get accustomed to it.
Next week we are building a crane
Today the children built fishing rods to hook various “fish” that were built from lego as well participating in a certain challenge to lift a heavier fish. The principles behind the fishing rod include ratchets,winches, and pulleys. However one of the kids built a block and tackle, a type of pulley that multiplies the force used to lift an object so I took the time to explain what it was and the advantages it has over a regular pulley system. The students enjoyed the activity and had fun attempting to grab the fish.
Next Friday (March 2nd) will be a free building class (I think)
The last and the most exciting section of the pneumatic system is the robot arm model. Two students worked as a group to build a robot arm, which composes pneumatic components including three cylinders, three air valves, one air tank, one manometer and one air pumps. Due to the students had already gained good understandings of all these pneumatic components in previous sections, they all finished the robot arm pretty smoothly.
The STEM information behind this section is also the application of pneumatic systems as well as the cylinder piston rod force output calculation. In this section, the students used three cylinders and three air valves, thus they can control three components of the robot arm to move independently for conducting objects grasping task. After four sections, the students all had good understandings of the pneumatic systems. And had a lot of fun especially in the last three application sections.
The topic of today is to build a screw using the LEGO Digital Designer (LDD). LDD is a freeware computer program produced by the Lego Group. It is available for macOS and Windows. The program allows users to build models using virtual Lego bricks, in a computer-aided design like manner. The usage of the LDD is pretty straightforward, and students get familiar enough with it after some instructions and practice. They were requested to build a screw model in LDD following a step by step booklet. The STEM information behind this section is the computer-aided designs, which is common in industry designs every day. All students got a good practice with LDD, and they were ready for the assignment to design a customized model.
The last class was a good exercise in teamwork and project management. While under supervision, the kids found it easy to divide the work among themselves, building the fish and the mechanical rod separately. At the end of the class they were happy to take their time to play. The next class will be the last session of this semester. It will be followed by a separate class for those who are interested in computer programming, where we will be teaching the Python programming language. Also, stage 2 classes will start next week.
