Sunday, August 2, 2009 10:29 PM CDT
Youngsters tinker with a purpose at College for Kids
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — Lake Land College computer systems instructor Scott Rhine was loving the “Eureka!” moments Thursday during a College for Kids summer class.
Working with Lego robot kits and computers, the students — some of whom won’t enter college for a decade — were showing that inspiration comes from all directions.
“Some come up with things I didn’t think they’d try,” said Rhine as two students did some fist bumps after their robot smacked a ping pong ball a long distance across a triangular range on the carpet in Webb Hall. “We thought they’d try launching them.”
The Lego kits offer students a variety of wheels, links and a motorized unit that can be adapted through computer programming. The challenges Thursday included the range for sending the ball a good distance, then carrying a ping pong ball while the unit hangs from a horizontal pole to a drop-off point.
But the toughest challenge by far was the steep climbing ramp that only measured a few feet but had angles approaching mountain terrain.
“They have to look at that ramp and figure out the wheel alignment, traction and speed they will need to go up it. It’s pretty tough for them,” said Rhine.
Two 13-year-olds, Colen Cole of Cumberland County and Austin Sudkamp of Casey, were trying to figure out how their robot could grasp the ball during the carrying challenge without losing the ball before it hit the designated drop point.
Cole loves fishing, hunting and baseball, as well as tinkering with things, while Sudkamp has a passion for computer games and creating things.
“Anything with electronics I can get my hands on I like to work with,” Sudkamp said.
“We’ve got 20 minutes to go,” said Cole, noting the time limit on meeting the challenges.
Nearby, another team that included 8-year-olds Matthew Miller of Charleston and Nathaniel Stoll of Mattoon was also working on the ball-carrier and noting certain concerns with their design.
“Hopefully, it won’t fall when it carries the ball forward,” said Stoll as Miller, wearing a “Just Do It” T-shirt, kept clicking on the laptop computer keyboard.
The big test came for Stoll and Miller. At first their robot wobbled along, causing the ball to easily fall out of the holder. When they fixed the stability problem, they could not get the ball to stick in place on the holder.
Cole and Sudkamp had a holder with a curve to it much like a pair of rabbit ears bent forward. Their model eventually met the challenge.
This class was not about winning, but more about teamwork and thinking things through.
“This is about teaching them logic on solving problems,” said Rhine. “We really want them to think outside the box.”
And students and teachers having fun while doing it is what College for Kids is all about.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
CLICK TO ENLARGE
|
|
|
