Space Exploration: Design-Build Challenges with LEGO Robotics (Rising 4th to 7th Grade)

From the venue:

This is a week long camp for rising 4th to 7th grade students that runs from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily. This camp is being held at Georgia Tech's College of Design, 245 4th St NW, Atlanta, GA 30332. Are you curious about space? Have you ever wondered what’s out there? Do you ever think about what kinds of robots explore space and how we could live on an alien planet? Then imagine being able to prototype the design of a robot that could explore space at MODA’s Space Exploration: Design-Build Challenges with LEGO Robotics camp! Join us for a week of prototyping, imagining, and designing robots for space exploration using LEGO Robotics! Camp participants will learn the basics of LEGO Robotics (or expand on the knowledge they already have). LEGO Robotics is a tool that allows young designers to create robots using various LEGO bricks and sensors. Campers will learn to adopt design and engineering mindsets as they take on the various complex challenges that scientists face when trying to send robots into space. Young designers will learn about the principles of astrophysics as well as past, current and upcoming projects that have been or could be launched into space. We will discuss the possibility of alien planets and how scientists speculate if extra-planetary habitation is feasible. Space exploration topics to be discussed include the Curiosity Rover that went to Mars, Cassini which was deployed to study Saturn, and TRAPPIST-1 among others. Campers will also explore the types of sensors and mechanics behind particular launches and projects, and how we can use our LEGO NXT kits to create prototypes! Throughout the week, campers will work individually and in design teams to solve problems in collaboration. They will use design thinking to develop robot prototypes and refine their designs as they continue to learn more about the challenges their robots face. Along the way campers will also learn how to code using the Common Block Palette, the base of LEGO Robotics programming, as they work through their challenges.