Summer SAVY Session 2, Day 5 – Robotic Engineering
Day 5: As a community, we discussed time management as not only a life skill but a group skill. We talked about ways to break up big projects and why having clearly defined roles and tasks is important, making sure there are checkpoints along the way, and when to ask for help. We also explored how to handle a project when everyone is interested in the same kind of work or, worse, there are tasks no one wants to complete. We talked about how compromise can help sort out the work and build consensus. These strategies were certainly put to the test today!
On our last day of camp, we had our “Invention Convention.” This was an opportunity for students to take everything they learned through the week and apply it to their prototype. Each company was challenged to plan, build, program, test, and iterate its prototype using the engineering design process. They were also asked to create a compelling sales presentation to pitch their inventions to potential “investors” (classmates).
What an impressive group of creations we had! But I would expect nothing less from this amazing group of creative thinkers. Projects included Forklift 4000, a mining elevator, Lyla (trash) Bot 3000, Car Bot 2000, and Bob the presidential security guard.
Ask your child to explain how they applied the engineering design process to create their final projects. How did they use their engineering notebooks throughout the week? (They brought it home today!) If they had time to make one more improvement to their final project, what would that have been? How did their team break up the work? In which areas did their team excel?
Best wishes to all of our campers! Good luck with future group projects – use those strategies – and keep building, coding, and iterating.