Middletown >> There was a happy and excited buzz in Ms. Brummel’s fourth and fifth grade room as her students at the Lake County International Charter School (LCICS) in Middletown spent two hours creating and programming Lego robots as part of a free workshop was offered by the Children’s Museum of Art and Science (CMAS).
Three adult volunteers from CMAS guided students who were “stuck,” helped to find missing parts, and led a hearty round of applause when the teams of two got their robots to function successfully. One team comprised of Christian Wofford and Livia Ross was able to complete 8 of the 12 possible robots during the session. This was an all-time record for workshop participants who usually manage to complete up to four models in the 2 hour time frame. Christian said, “This workshop was amazing! It was really fun.”
This was the first workshop in which the CMAS volunteers saw two teams co-operate on one task. One team created the “goal kicker” and another team created the “goalie”. A wadded up paper towel served as the ball and was successfully kicked through the goal posts. Students cheered each score.
At the end of the session students sat in a circle and expressed compliments and gratitude for the opportunity to use the robot kits.
Younger students in grades 2-3 had a workshop after their lunch.
CMAS will schedule a free robot workshop when invited by any teacher, after school program, Scout group or other cluster of (minimum) 6-8 students in Lake County. Robots kits are appropriate for students in grades 2-8. Call Billy at 279-1514 to reserve a date.
