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Outreach

FLL Software Workshop

FLL Software Workshop

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Five FLL teams attended our workshop on October 6, 2018. These five teams were created this year when we took the students of interest from our community and our camps. During this workshop, we introduced new FLL teams to the basics of the hardware and software aspects of FLL. While our team members were presenting this information, some of our coaches were talking to the parents about how the parents could help the teams and how they should successfully coach their teams. Throughout the presentation, our team asked questions to make sure the kids were paying attention.

Also, some of our team members had met before to build some robots, so as we were explaining some things, we passed around the robots so the kids could see the parts. After our informative presentation, we assigned a computer and robot to each team, as well as some of our team members. As we were passing out computers and robots, we realized we didn’t have enough. Luckily, one of our team members who lived in the neighborhood had a computer with the FLL programming software. We assigned the teams tasks to program, but since most of them did not know how to program, our team members taught them how to do it. After each task we assigned the groups, we gave them the solutions and asked if the teams had any questions or if they were confused about something. While the teams were programming, we talked to coaches and parents to promote the FLL program and offer to mentor the teams whenever they needed help. We were glad to help these students and hope to meet them again!

2016-2017 Season in Review – STEM Outreaches for Girls

2016-2017 Season in Review – STEM Outreaches for Girls

This season, the girls of our team – Rachael, Krittika, Sarah, and Susan - organized and ran numerous outreaches for other girls in our community to get hands-on experiences with building, programming, and driving metal and Lego robots.

            In October, we set up a booth at the first annual Harrisburg Girls World Expo, which is an event that promotes girls in STEM and the arts. Rachael and Sarah were part of the STEM Advisory Board, so they were able to secure a spot for our team to hold a robot demonstration. Our whole team worked together to design, build, and program a demo robot specifically for outreaches. Over one hundred girls from around the community were able to drive our robot and practice shooting balls into a goal, just like we did during FTC matches.

            Later, in February, we hosted a workshop at a local Girl Scouts Lock-In sleepover event for elementary- through high-school aged girls. As Rachael and Sarah are Girl Scouts and there are few STEM opportunities for Girl Scouts in central PA, they wanted to hold more outreaches for fellow Girl Scouts to learn about STEM. Here, around twenty to thirty girls of varying ages practiced building and programming Lego Mindstorms robots and learned how to drive metal FTC robots through an obstacle course.

            Our most recent robotics outreach for girls was a one-day Lego Mindstorms robotics camp on March 4th, 2017. In January, Rachael approached the Girl Scout Council of troop leaders in central PA to discuss expansion of STEM outreach for girls and pitched the idea of creating a one-day robotics camp for girls across the community, which the Council immediately approved and agreed to help advertise for. We planned the event from scratch, creating the curriculum, reserving the room, putting together the Lego robot kits, and serving as teachers for the camp, among many other responsibilities. The interest was so high among girls in our local community that the enrollment limit was reached within one week of advertising! We taught building concepts, such as the parts of a basic Lego robot, as well as EV3 programming concepts, such as different types of sensors used to navigate the environment. The camp was a hit, and we plan to hold the camp again next year.

            All in all, the 2016-2017 season was very successful year in terms of outreach, and we plan to expand our outreach next year, by possibly holding outreaches for high school girls and coordinating more robot demonstrations at venues around the community.

Robotics Camps for 2017 Summer

Robotics Camps for 2017 Summer

This is the 3rd time around for us, and we expect to make this an annual event. We started out in 2015 and had a small group that had a great time building robots with LEGO EV3 kits. Last year we had 2 camps: Beginners and Advanced to help keep the kids challenged. It was an amazing experience for the participants as well as the Camp Instructors. We have pictures that are worth a few thousand words. Go See!

The Javengers at the Girls Expo in Harrisburg

On October 2nd, the female Javengers on our FTC team traveled to the annual Girls World Expo in Harrisburg! This event’s mission is to “inspire girls everywhere to reach higher, go farther, and do more” [...].

CV High School Robotics Club

CV High School Robotics Club

The school many of us on the Javenger's team go to(Cumberland Valley HS) has after-school clubs for everything from Doctor Who to Archery… but something was missing: a Robotics Club! When our team demonstrated our robot and shared our FTC experience during school lunch periods, we observed a huge amount of interest and excitement from a significant portion of the student body [...]

Women in STEM

Women in STEM

I remember sitting in my 9th grade computer science classroom, wondering why I was one of only two girls present. Unfortunately, it's always been like this. Women have been making monumental contributions to science and technology throughout history, yet do not gain the approval of society or their peers. And despite society's immense progression, research shows that women are underrepresented in STEM fields, especially computer science and engineering [...]

Racing Robots at PACAR Aug 2016 Summer Camps!

Racing Robots at PACAR Aug 2016 Summer Camps!

Racing Robots at the PACAR Aug 2016 One day camps revs us up for the season!

Robots whirring? Kids solving real world problems? Learning and understanding complex team building techniques? The future? Nope, just the FLL program working its magic. On August 19, 2016, kids aged 9 to 14 experienced FLL to its finest, at the PACAR FLL boot camp. [...]