Bridges to build and DNA to observe!

It was another exciting day in the life of a STEM and robotics camper! The sea of green and blue shirts were an awesome sight and generated some great buzz amongst the faculty and staff on campus! The students are doing a great job using their manners and were great listeners today.

Vex Robotics

The groups finished building the Clawbots today and dove into learning to code on RobotC. Some have had a little bit of experience on RobotC, but most have not. RobotC is different than most of the students’ prior computer programming experience, so it takes a little bit to get the hang of it. They will dive deeper into the coding tomorrow and dig into some great challenges! Overall, they have really enjoyed getting to learn about a different robot and one that requires more building and understanding of moving parts than compared to the EV3 or NXT robots.

Robotics have nearly finished their bots and will begin coding soon!! #stemcamp2018 #seeblueseestem pic.twitter.com/2Qpcrjs5VN

— See Blue STEM Camp (@SeeBlueSTEMCamp) June 5, 2018

Red/Blue Groups

They spent half of their day with Dr. Testa extracting DNA from a strawberry! They were very careful scientists with their tools and were amazed at what the DNA looked like! They also explored different types of DNA and how scientists use DNA to look at what living things are made of.

Yellow/Green Groups

It was bridge building day with Dr. Thomas! For a creative warm up, the students had to build the tallest free-standing structure they could, with very limited supplies. Then they moved on to bridge building, where they talked about supply and demand and material costs. After weighing through all their options, they had to build the sturdiest bridge with the cheapest cost. We had some amazing, creative, and sturdy bridges today!

Robotics for Elementary

All the technology was working today, so the camp staff were extra-thrilled! They got into some cool building challenges and really are getting the hang of programming their robot to do different things. There was lots of dancing, high-fives, and positive words and excitement throughout the day as their confidence increased with programming.

Green group’s race cars are looking awesome so far!! #stemcamp2018 #seeblueseestem pic.twitter.com/YJYPoPR0eH

— See Blue STEM Camp (@SeeBlueSTEMCamp) June 5, 2018

In their words…

I learned that you can get DNA out of things.
That everything that is on the world is made of the things on the periodic table.
The middle [of a bridge] is not the strongest part.
I learned to proberly (properly) + creadivly (creatively) bild (build) a bridge.
if the bridg(e) falls you can all ways fix it.
I learned about strcutures. and also learned to keep trying
that evrybody (everybody) has divrint (different) DNa’s.
that you can all ways fix it.
How to desighsin (design) different things.
Yes [I would like to learn more], because I want to see other fruit and people’s DNA.

Conversation Starters…

Yellow/Green Groups

What do bridges need to be strong?
How did you decide what materials to use for your bridge?
How did you decide on your design for your bridge?
How did your bridge do when you tested it?
How tall was your tower you built?
What did you want your robot to do today? How did you get your robot to do what you wanted it to do?

Red/Blue Groups

What is DNA?
What things have DNA?
How did you extract DNA from the strawberry?
What did it look like?
What did you want your robot to do today? How did you get your robot to do what you wanted it to do?

Vex Robotics

How different was it to build the Clawbot compared to the EV3 (or other robot they’ve built)? What kind of tools did you have to use?
How are you feeling about programming in RobotC? What makes it different from other computer programming you’ve done?
What did you want your robot to do today? How did you get your robot to do what you wanted it to do?

Picture of the Day…

June 16, 2017June 16, 2017

Last day extravaganza!

It’s hard to believe the week is already over! The students were really sad, but we made sure they had a great time (and were worn out!) by the time they left us today. It’s truly been an exciting week of discovery, adventure, and curiosity. The students were awesome! They were inquisitive. They explored. They tinkered. They built. They programmed. They persevered through challenges and celebrated their successes. We loved seeing the transformations!

WKYT and the Herald Leader stopped by today for a visit. The students were so excited to show off their knowledge and show them how things are done in “STEM” 🙂

WKYT Videos – http://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Middle-school-students-code-robotics-and-study-DNA-at-UK-camp-428884543.html

Herald Leader Video – http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article156562794.html/video-embed

Red/Blue Groups

They were in a chemistry lab with Dr. Kenneth Graham, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, and his graduate students in the Don and Cathy Jacobs Science Building today and got to test out different types of solar panels and even created their own solar panel! They tested them inside and outside to see how much energy was needed to power a LED light. In robotics, they wrapped up the Green City Challenge…there were lots of cheering going on as there were many, many successes today!

Green/Yellow Groups

They got to use mathematical modeling to build bridges with Dr. Jonathan Thomas, Associate Professor of Mathematics Education. They got to use a variety of materials to first build the tallest tower they could, and then they built a bridge. They had to keep track of costs though on the bridge building; the goal was to hold at least 8 pounds. There were some fabulous designs! The students used the design engineering process to design, build, test, tweak, test, etc. their products. In robotics, they wrapped up the Space Challenge…just like the other groups there were many successes and lots of high fives, big smiles and cheering going on!

In their words…

Red/Blue Groups

“Black Berries can make a solar panel!”
“Nylon is in tooth brush bristles.”
(Do you want to know more about his topic? )”yes so I could possibly make my house solar powered.”
“I liked making the solar cell”
“I learned what chemists did, how nylon was made, and how to make a solar panel.”
“You can make a solar panel out of a blackberry!”
“I learned the chimist are more inportant than I thought.”

Yellow/Green Groups

“Paperclips are a really strong building material.”
“I learnd that quality is not all about how it looks”
“how diffrent stuctures effect the strength of towers and bridges”
“I liked when we got to test our bridge”
“We got to build bridges”
“How to make sure a bridge works”
“how diffrent stuctures effect the strength of towers and bridges”

Conversation Starters…

Blue/Red Groups

What is solar energy? What can it do for us?
What did you measure today using your multimeter? What did you find out?
Was there a difference in the panels you looked at today?
How did you create your own solar panel? Could you create one for our home?
What did you get your robot to do today? How did you do that?
What do you want to be when you grow up? How do you think STEM will help you in your career?

Yellow/Green Groups

What do bridges need to be strong?
How did you decide what materials to use for your bridge?
How did you decide on your design for your bridge?
How did your bridge do when you tested it?
How tall was your tower you built?
What did you get your robot to do today? How did you do that?
What do you want to be when you grow up? How do you think STEM will help you in your career?

Photo of the Day…

June 6, 2017June 7, 2017

Motors, bridges, polymers and more!

It was a beautiful day outside and a perfect day for some intense explorations inside. The students have picked up on camp routines quickly and all were happy to wear their camp tshirts on campus. The groups switched presenters today, so they got to do some modeling, design engineering, and chemical engineering today.

Red/Blue Groups

The students split their time between Dr. Bruce Walcott and Dr. Isabel Escobar’s graduate students today. (If you like TED talks, you can view hers here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-wbHD77kMWE) In both sessions students were introduced to different fields of engineering and got to use their hands to design, build, explore, and test models just as engineers do. In Dr. Walcott’s group, students got to build simple motors and talk about what electrical engineers do. They also tested out their design engineering skills by building a boat out of aluminum foil and seeing how many pennies it held. Dr. Escobar’s graduate students led the students through some fascinating polymer explorations today. They took polymers found in disposable diapers and used hydrochloric acid to break it back down, finding its saturation point. The students loved getting to explore and test! Their favorite part was feeling the particles and getting to smash them.

Green/Yellow Groups

The students worked on design engineering and building models using their mathematical skills with Dr. Thomas. They had a variety of supplies to choose from, but there were stipulations so they really had to get creative. Boy, they really did get creative! From building the tallest tower they could, do discovering their bridge could not even hold an eight-pound infant, they had a lot of fun testing and learning about why bridges are built the way they are.

All four groups…

In robotics, students really dug deep into the programming today. They worked on the football challenge, getting their robot to perform certain tasks. The favorite was figuring out how to make the grabbers work using a different motor! Tomorrow they will start some new challenges and probably get into the Green City and Space Challenge building.

In their words…

Blue/Red Group

I learned about polymers, calculous, different types of engineers, and chemical enginee’s roles in everyday life.
Polymers can react in interesting ways. Concrete can float if thin and big. we got to actually try it with aluanimum foil.
polymers absorb water and a boat with mor volume can hold more wight
When some polymers interact with water they turn into jell, when they interact with acid they turn into liquid.
That being an engineer is fun
How to make a faraday flashlight.

Yellow/Green Group

How to build a bridge with Posterboard, Popsickle sticks, and tape
That paperclips are super strong
Tape and sticks can be very strong
I learned about different types of bridges, and how they support weight.
Simple structures can Hold a lot of weight.
That triangles are a key to architexture.

Conversation Starters…

Red/Blue – Drs. Walcott and Escobar:

Is there a particular field of engineering that you think might interest you?
How many pennies did your boat hold? If you could build it again, what would you do differently?
What happened when you mixed the powder and water and turned it upside down?
What did the polymers feel like when you touched them? What happened when you tried to smash them?
What did you want your robot to do today? How did you get your robot to do what you wanted it to do?

Yellow/Green Groups:

What do bridges need to be strong?
How did you decide what materials to use for your bridge?
How did you decide on your design for your bridge?
How did your bridge do when you tested it?
How tall was your tower you built?
What did you want your robot to do today? How did you get your robot to do what you wanted it to do?

Picture of the Day…

Click the picture to access the rest of camp photos

June 5, 2017

Week 1 Rainy Day Kick Off!

Even with the rainy start today the day, there was quite the excitement and buzz in the air to kick off the first of our two weeks of 2017 UK See Blue STEM Camp! We are very excited to welcome 228 campers this year! One hundred twenty-eight of them started today! Registration went very well this morning and we really appreciate everyone’s patience as we had to move things inside because of the rain. You all are awesome!

Just a note about the consent and assent forms that we ask for every year. Our camp is subsidized by an NSF grant that requires research and reporting to the agency. The purpose of the research is to develop a camp model that promotes STEM careers to adolescents and can be replicated. We also look at students attitudes towards STEM and the impact of our activities. Without this grant and consent and assent to participate the camp simply would not exist. We never report any names or any individual data…it’s always aggregated together! You can read about some of our work here.

We will post a blog post each night this week with some highlights from the day and some conversation starters. The conversation starters are meant to help you get over the “What did you learn today?” “Nothin’” or <shrugging the shoulders> we often see at the adolescent age. We’ll also post a link to the photos we are taking throughout the week (NOTE: my camera battery died tonight so most of the pictures will be uploading in the morning 🙂 ). If at any time you want a photo removed that is of your child, please let us know and we’ll be happy to take it down.

Yellow/Green Groups

Today the students split their time between Dr. Bruce Walcott and Dr. Isabel Escobar’s graduate students today. (If you like TED talks, you can view hers here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-wbHD77kMWE) In both sessions students were immersed in the wonderful world of engineering…using their hands to build and explore just as engineers do. In Dr. Walcott’s group, students got to build simple motors and talk about what electrical engineers do. They also tested out their design engineering skills by building a boat out of aluminum foil and seeing how many pennies it held. Dr. Escobar’s graduate students led the students through some fascinating polymer explorations today. They took polymers found in disposable diapers and used hydrochloric acid to break it back down, finding its saturation point. The students loved getting to explore and test!

Red/Blue Groups

Today the students got to experience mathematical modeling and bridge building with Dr. Thomas! They had a variety of supplies to choose from, but there were stipulations so they really had to get creative. Boy, they really did get creative! They got to test out their bridges as well.

All four groups…

In robotics, students started by engineering their robots. They got to build their robot and get to know it. They then start on some basic challenges of getting to move their robots…on a UK football field this year! They had to move their footballs forwards and backwards.

In their words… Each day we’ll post some excerpts from the students’ reflections of what they learned each day at the STEM Content session. We don’t correct for spelling or grammar in these 🙂

BLUE & RED – Dr. Thomas

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

I learned about how bridges support weight and how to hold up a tower.
I learned about structures and the best way to support budlings.
I learned that you always need to have a foundation.
How a beam can affect the rigidity of a bridge

the weight of a paper clip can make a big difference
sometimes simpler things work better
I learned that a bridge need a strong cord.

GREEN & YELLOW -Drs. Walcott and Escobar

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

That polymer could be your hair.
You can find the N and S pole of a magnet using a compass.
Polymers are molucules with repeating units.
That we can make polymer out of anything
that polymers are created from monomers linked together to make a pattern
That you could make a motor with wire, batteries, and magnets.

Conversation Starters… We know that your child is getting to the age where it might be like pulling teeth to get them to talk about their day beyond “It was fine.” “It was fun.” Each day we’ll post some suggested conversation starters centered on camp activities or STEM-related themes.

Yellow/Green – Drs. Walcott and Escobar:

Tell me about how you assembled your robot. Did you follow instructions? Did you just try to figure out what parts went together?
Is there a particular field of engineering that you think might interest you?
How many pennies did your boat hold? If you could build it again, what would you do differently?
What happened when you mixed the powder and water and turned it upside down?

Red/Blue Groups:

What do bridges need to be strong?
How did you decide what materials to use for your bridge?
How did you decide on your design for your bridge?
How did your bridge do when you tested it?
Tell me about how you assembled your robot. Did you follow instructions? Did you just try to figure out what parts went together?

Photo of the Day… Each day we’ll post a camp highlight. Click here to go to the pictures. Please note that we try to capture pictures of all the campers, but we cannot guarantee that we will get every single one. We try our very best to though! Also we are STEM teachers and not full time photographers, so our pictures are not perfect and we leave them unedited, so if you love to edit photos…feel free!

June 25, 2014

We made it through Hump Day!

It was yet another busy, fun-filled, informative day at the See Blue STEM Camp! The Yellow and Green Groups loaded up the buses and headed out to the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) today while the red and blue groups remained on campus for a day of robotics and mathematical modeling with Dr. Cindy Jong. The yellow and green groups really enjoyed their time at CAER and learned A LOT. They came home with some paving stones that they made themselves and learned about the chemical reactions between concrete and cement…be sure to ask them about it! If the stones start to crack put a little water on them as that should help it as it cures. Since they were out at CAER today there was no robotics for them.

The red and blue groups had a great time doing some mathematical modeling with Dr. Cindy Jong. I always love having the students experience “pure mathematics” because most come in sullen that they “have to do” mathematics and then they realize that math can be engaging and fun! They first talked about 3D structures and had the opportunity to build with some sticks and balls manipulatives trying to figure out the varying strengths of different configurations. Then they learned what origami had to do with math. They made origami cubes and some even got to the crane today. They were all very excited by the end!

In robotics they worked on programming. They learned how to do a 180 degree turn, complete the parking lot challenge and the square challenge. They learned that not all robots are created equal and had fun figuring out which variables (math!) had to be changed in order to get their robot to do what they wanted it to do. That completes the basics for them so tomorrow they will start on the Green City Challenge.

Tomorrow we’ll all be back together on campus…we have deemed tomorrow Engineering Day! The students will spend most of their time in the engineering complex tomorrow…it’s usually one of the favorites!

In their words…

Mathematical Modeling (red and blue groups):

I learned about polyhedrons.
I liked doing the origami crane.
I really liked that my bridge didn’t break.
I liked how we got to build 3D shapes.
Yes, because I would like to build bridges when I grow up.

CAER (yellow and green groups):

Seaweed can be made into fuel and is edible.
A lot of the information we learned today could benefit us in the real world. Some of the information we learned could inspire us to be scientist
I find this very applicable to real life situations.
Yes, because I like science and I wish to work here one day.
About how many biofuels like algae can consume carbon-dioxide and create any fuel.
I liked learning these things today because It will help my future.

Conversation Starters…

Yellow and Green Groups:

What did you learn on your energy walk today?
Where does Kentucky rank in comparison to the other states in energy usage? Why is our ranking so high when we have such a low population?
What in the world is Flocculation?
I always thought that cement dried…what happens to it if it doesn’t dry? What is it actually doing?
What was your favorite part of going to the Center for Applied Energy Research?

Red and Blue Groups:

What does origami have to do with math?
What kind of shapes did you use in building your bridge?
How did you get your cube together without using tape or glue?
Why is mathematical modeling important?

Picture of the Day… Don’t forget that clicking the picture will take you to all the pictures we took today!