Robots to the Rescue

Body Language...Coding...Robotics...Sumo Wrestling...So Much Fun!!

I. am. a. robot.

This month at SciGirls, we watched the episode "Robots to the Rescue."

Afterwards the girls were introduced to their experiment for the day.  The challenge was to cover their faces, and try to convey different emotions using body language, just as robots do (without facial expressions).  The SciGirls got into groups, brainstormed different emotions, and then took turns trying to stump their team members while acting out the emotions.  They found that expressing happiness, joy, and annoyance were pretty easy, while expressing other emotions such as embarrassed were difficult.  

Lunch time!

After lunch, Engineering 4 Kids came and gave each pair their own lap top and Lego robot.  The wonderful teachers taught the girls how to code the robots, and then gave them the challenge to create a sumo-bot, and knock their competitor out of the ring.  It was so much fun!  The girls competed in a friendly competition, sometimes redesigning their robots to improve their performance, and coming back to compete again.  I'm pretty sure almost all the girls wanted to take their cool robots home!  

It was a blast.  I loved this class because I felt that my own SciGirl was exposed to something that she wouldn't have otherwise been exposed to.  Now she knows that she has an interest in robotics and coding, that didn't interest her before.  How cool!!

Next month we'll meet up again and learn about how the make eco-conscious decisions in our day to day lives.