A Lego robot will provide a fun way to learn for students at Open Door Christian School. (Photo by David Rupkalvis)
Robotics class to be offered at Open Door
by David Rupkalvis
(Posted 7/27/2010 04:33 pm)
editor@grahamleader.com
Junior High students at Open Door Christian School will have an opportunity to become technological wizards thanks to a new program being offered when school starts next month.
Junior high teacher Mitzi Morrison announced this week that Open Door would be offering a Lego robotics class to seventh and eighth graders at the school. The class will also be offered to ninth graders in a new Christian high school started by former Open Door principal Linda Sims.
Morrison said she became interested in the Lego course after hearing about one being offered at Graham Junior High.
“It seemed like such an exceptional program so we decided this next year we’d put it in at Open Door,” she said.
Open Door purchased four robotics kits from Lego, and Morrison sought out the help of engineer Mike Winslow.
“Middle school is where I think students’ life-long motivation is started,” Winslow said. “The point here it to pique the interest of these youngsters, give them motivation to explore further. I think the program Mitzi has started will further that motivation. Not all of them will pick it up, but a few of them will.”
In the class, students will build a Lego robot — a process likely finished in one day — and will spend the rest of the year programming the robot to do different tasks.
“Using logic and programming skills, you can develop a program for this robot,” Winslow said. “The beauty of this program is to program it to do what you want it to do.”
Winslow and Morrison have built and programmed their own robot this summer so they can understand the process. That understanding will help Morrison teach the class.
“We’ve developed an 18-week curriculum,” Winslow said. “The first two weeks are understanding the system. Once you understand the program tools, the possibilities are infinite. This is designed as robotics 101.”
Winslow said the robots can be programmed to start, stop, turn and more. The students will be tasked with programming the robots to maneuver through mazes that will get more difficult as the year progresses. Winslow said he learned much of these elements as a sophomore in college.
Morrison said as word has leaked out about the class, interest has begun to grow at Open Door.
“The kids are so excited,” she said. “They’re calling me already. The kids we’re targeting are junior high and high school kids.”
Morrison said the Lego class will expand the learning opportunities at Open Door.
“We’re trying to give them more choices,” she said. “At school, you can do music and you can do art. Now you can do this.”
Morrison said one of her challenges will be to teach students who have more technological knowledge than she does.
“We’re going to start out playing games with the kids where they have a limited number of commands,” she said. “The hardest part when you’re doing this is trying to get the kids to sit down and read.”
The robots use four sensors and the computer programming to do as much or little as commanded.
Winslow said the user controls every facet about the machine and has the ability to command it to do many different tasks.
The sensors use touch, light and sound to move around as programmed.
During the first semester, students will follow the curriculum prepared by Morrison and Winslow.
In the second semster, they will have more freedom to teach the robots advanced skills.
At the end of the year, Open Door hopes to take the students on a field trip to visit either the Lockheed Martin plant or the Ford plant to see real robots in action.
Junior high students who are interested in taking the class are urged to call the school office before classes begin.
