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Aras

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    Junk Drawer Robotics Curriculum plan

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I think with younger kids the timing will be more accurate and you have added some additional projects. My younger class also had 12 sessions and they will get through module 2 in book 2 just for reference. I added one additional outside activity just as you did.

     

    Also, a number of kids in my class had difficulties with the Cartesian coordinate/XYZ tic-tac-toe since many of them had not done any coordinate planes in their math programs (4B in Singapore, not sure where it falls in other math scope & sequences), but my class was 9-11 y.o.s. My teen class had no difficulty with that project so it was definitely a matter of math exposure. That is another activity that will not take a whole class period. I ended up adjusting that lesson to be Connect 4 in 3D for the younger class - it still got the point across and was a little bit easier to manage in the absence of more time to catch them up to speed on the math.

     

    Our only other glitch was that we couldn't get enough air pressure out of the syringes to make anything move and ended up working only with the balloons. Hopefully that will work better for you!

     

    Thanks for the input! :-D

     

    In the Robotics: DS&T book they have a robotic arm project where they use water inside of the syringes to make the arm move. In theory the water is less compressible than the air so I think liquid would better transfer the energy of the pistons. But… that project shows them exactly how to do one kind of arm, there is no creative struggle to think up their own ideas and try to implement them. So we are going to stick to the JDR curriculum and make a tweak if we have a problem with the air-filled syringes.

    Junk Drawer Robotics Curriculum plan

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    What ages are the students? We did Junk Drawer Robotics this semester at co-op and I felt that the time descriptions in the manual were often overly generous. Also for my teenagers, some of the activities in the first manual were too juvenile. The second manual has been better for this age range. Overall it has been a fun class to teach but I felt the timing was predicted for younger students. The balancing activity for example definitely took no more than 30 minutes. Do you have 30 minute or 50 minute classes?

     

    The ages for my coop class are 10-12, The 7-9 year olds are doing a Lego building class. I haven't had much interest in the teenagers who attend the coop. We have 50 minutes to work. I know that first level is intended to be for 3-5th graders. I found two homeschool bloggers who used the program and they said they wished they had more time for building. But I don't know what was the age range for their class. 

     

    I'm glad to know you and your kids thought the class was fun, I guess I will have to make sure I am prepared to move ahead if they finish faster.

    Junk Drawer Robotics Curriculum plan

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Hello Hive!

     

    This is my first year homeschooling and I have read some wonderful advice and links to lesson plans on here. I joined a great coop and I volunteered to teach a class next semester to middle schoolers. The kids want to eventually build and program robots. We don't have the money for Lego Mindstorm robots for the entire class and I think they should learn how the pieces of a robot work before they just take something out of a box and run with it. So I am calling the class Engineering ;) I thought I would share my schedule and ideas and see if anyone has some input.

     

    The spine is based on the Junk Drawer Robotics (JDR) curriculum from 4-H, with some reading and activities from Robotics: Discover the Science and Engineering of the Future (RS&T). The Junk Drawer Robotics curriculum has 3 levels, with it getting progressively harder each level. We will do the first level this spring and do levels 2 and 3 next year. Level 1 covers robotic hands arms and grippers, pneumatic systems, 3-D space and arm design. Level 2 covers legs, wheels, underwater robots, friction, basic electrical power, motors, gear systems, engineering constraints and buoyancy. 

     

    Level 1

    Session 1:

    JDR Activity A: Think like a scientist (20m)

    Identify and sort materials based on selected attributes and record data into charts and graphs.

    JDR Activity B: Communicate like an engineer (20m)

    Describe an object by drawing and writing a description of it.

    JDR Activity C: Build like a technician (20m)

    Learn about the engineering design process and complete a building challenge.

    Homework: Read Robotics S&T Intro: World of Robotics

     

    Session2:

    JDR Activity D: Marshmallow catapult design (20m)

    Plan and design a swinging arm trebuchet-style catapult to launch marshmallows.

    JDR Activity E: Marshmallow catapult build (30m)

    Implement design from Activity D.

    Homework: Read Robotics S&T Chapter 1: Development of Robotics

     

    Session 3:

    JDR Activity F: Sense of balance (50m)

    Torque, experiment with balancing unequal weights on a beam and moving pivot points.

    Homework: Read Robotics S&T Chapter 2: Robot Bodies

     

    Session 4:

    JDR Activity G: ABC….XYZ (20m)

    3-D space and Cartesian coordinates

    Homework: Read Robotics S&T Chapter 4: Effectors

     

    Session 5:

    JDR Activity H: Arm in arm design (20m)

    Design a robotic arm that uses levers to pick up and move a weight.

    JDR Activity I: Arm in arm build (40m)

    Build arm, using plans from Activity H.

     

    Session 6:

    JDR Activity J: Pumped up (30m)

    Explore the moving of objects with balloons, plastic bottles and syringes.

    Jack it Up! Lift a Load Using Hydraulics, sciencebuddies.org 

     

    Session 7:

    JDR Activity K: Just add air design (20m)

    Design a pneumatic power source to move arm built in Activity I.

    JDR Activity L: Just add air build (40m)

    Implement design from Activity K.

     

    Session 8:

    Mechanical Hand out of Fast Food Straws

    http://www.instructables.com/id/Mechanical-Hand-using-only-fast-food-straws-Stra/

     

    Session 9:

    JDR Activity M: Chopsticks (15m)

    Use chopsticks and straws to explore gripping an object using leverage and pressure.

    JDR Activity N: Just a pinch (20m)

    Explore various types of end effectors that lift, hold, cut or squeeze objects.

    Robotics S&T: BYO Soft Robotic Gripper

     

    Session 10:

    JDR Activity O: Hold on (20m)

    Experiment with grippers to select the best one to lift an object.

    JDR Activity P: One for the gripper design (20m)

    Design a gripper that will attach to previously built arm and grip a light object.

     

    Session 11:

    JDR Activity Q: One for the gripper build (50m)

    Build gripper designed in Activity P

     

    Session 12:

    JDR Activity R: Twist of the wrist design (20m)

    Design a way to attach the gripper to the arm

    JDR Activity S: Twist of the wrist build (30m)

    Implement the design in Activity R

     

     

     

    Bad experience at Cub Scouts camping trip?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    You are not overreacting. That man's behavior was inexcusable at a Scouting event. 

     

    My family has been in cub scouts for 3 years at 3 different packs (we move a lot because of the military). We have always been active in the pack, either as parent volunteers and as assistant Den Leader. We have been in 2 great packs and one awful pack. We tried to stick it out at the awful one and change things from the inside. It did not change and it wasn't worth the heartache and frustration for my son and my husband.

     

    If you have another pack nearby that you can transfer to I would do that. The transfer fee is only $1. 

    Need Help Ordering Singapore Math Standard Same Level for 2 kids

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My kids are in the same grade but one tested a semester beyond the other. So I bought the series with all of the supplements, had all the spines cut off and hole punched the books. I put the pages we are going to go over into sheet protectors and I let them use water based markers to write on them. When ds is done with his pages I put them back into the binder to save for my dd. My dd really likes it because she just wipes away her mistakes and start over. I even put plain white paper into a sheet protector for scratch work. 

     

    I know you said your children are on the same level, but it could help if they don't work at the same pace.

    incentive system for school work?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    My kids would be zombies in front of the tv or Minecraft game if I let them. This is our first year homeschooling and it was getting out of hand. They wanted screen time every spare moment. So I told them they could have a half and hour a day no matter what. They could also earn 15 minutes of electronics time every time we get through an hour of schoolwork. So far it seems to be working well.

    What would your library wish list look like?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    My local library is creating a section for homeschoolers in their children's library. The library is going to place an order for books and asked for input from some of their homeschool patrons. Their only request is that the books not have worksheets that can be pulled out.

     

    When they asked me for suggestions I was speechless because I have a huge wish list and because I'm afraid to suggest books that I haven't looked at myself. I suggested TWTM, SOTW, Hakim's History of US, Beast Academy, Life of Fred, Sir Cumference series, and MCT.

     

    What would your wish list look like?

    MIT OpenCourseware Physics - which version?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I watched the whole semester of Lewin lectures for the mechanics course and the electro-mag course. I loved them! The demonstrations are wonderful! They help me get over some conceptual humps while I was taking university physics. I didn't do the quizzes and test provided because I was already taking a physics class; I used the courses as a supplement instead. I ended up leading study groups because of my understanding of the concepts. 

     

    Hope this helps!

     

    Sara

    Central Missouri

    in Parents' Forum Networking Board

    Posted

    Hello,

     

    My family is new to homeschooling. I'm excited and scared at the same time about this upcoming year. It will be our grand adventure! I have a son who is 10 and a daughter who is 9. We are really interested in the sciences and Lego robotics. Are there any WTMers in the FLW, Waynesville, or Rolla area? I'm so glad this forum exists, it has given me so many ideas. Thanks everyone!

     

    Sara

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