Halfway Through!

Another fantastic day with this group is in the books! We cannot get over how wonderful the weather has been. We’re usually battling nearly 100 degrees by now and so this has been a welcomed change for our groups this week. While they’re at camp, students get a small flavor of college life by walking to their different sessions. Some walks are longer than others, but they are enjoying being outside and getting some exercise in between sessions. We wish we had a playground for them during the day, but college campus’ just don’t have them 🙂

The red and blue groups today were with Dr. Jonathan Thomas where they did some physics. They learned about airplanes and the different forces that help them fly. They then created all different types of paper airplanes to test out the different types of forces and what affected them. They had a lot of fun testing out their different designs. In the purple and brown groups, they were with Doug Klein in the College of Engineering’s Makerspace lab. They got to see the 3D printers in action, the lasercutter, and other equipment available to the UK students to use to design their products and prototypes for their projects. They got to use some of the software that UK students use to help design the projects. Most came home with a 3-d printed cube. In robotics, they designed race cars and tested them out. We had different kinds of races – who could go the fastest. Who could go the slowest, but still move. Who could go in a straight line. There were some very creative race cars out there! They are really enjoying the robotics, especially the lego-building part. They are doing really well with the coding – it’s really amazing how fast kids pick it up and use it!

In the yellow and green groups, they had fun with Dr. Robin Cooper and his graduate students today. They conducted some small experiments about how the body uses its different senses and communicates them to the brain. They got to hold a brain and spinal cord (if they wanted) and other organs. The students were amazed at what they looked like and felt like! In robotics, they continued with their challenges. One of the favorites today was the C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS Mat – The groups are really doing a great job!

In their own words…

  • Glider planes need to stay at a downward pich.
  • How to make a Ufo
  • I DiDn’t now Some planes Dont need enigines to fly
  • That you can 3D modle dnt lazer cuter
  • How machines printed on wood, metal, and plastic
  • I liked that we got to make 3D objects on the computer.
  • I didn’t know what Brains were like.
  • we have tail!!!!!!!
  • I learned about how the nerves and how they differ in the body.
  • Crayfish have an attack stance.
  • I didn’t know that crayfish use sensors And motor sense just like humans but Just with their tails
  • I would like to learn more about neurons, because one of my dream jobs is a neurologist.
  • I liked that we got to see crawfish, two human hearts, a human lung, and a human brain.

Conversation Starters…

Red/Blue Groups

  • What are the 4 forces of flight?
  • How does an airplane fly in the air?
  • What different materials did you use to build your airplane today? Did your designs work the way you thought they would? What was frustrating about building your airplane? What was fun about designing your airplane?
  • What kind of car did you build today? What kind of code did you use to make it go? Did your car move the way you wanted it to?

Purple/Brown Groups

  • What was your favorite machine today? How did it work?
  • What would you like to create with one of the machines?
  • What is a 3d printer? How did it work?
  • What kind of car did you build today? What kind of code did you use to make it go? Did your car move the way you wanted it to?

Yellow/Green Groups

  • How do our senses work with our nerves in our body?
  • Why do we study crayfish? Why is the tail so important?
  • Were you able to taste the cinnamon today?
  • Did you hold any of the organs? What did they look like? What did they feel like? Did you think they would look different than they did?
  • What did you get your robot to do today? What is challenging about coding with your robot?

Picture of the Day…

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