i-STEM

i-STEM Summer Institutes started back in 2010 I believe. At least that was the first year my colleagues and I attended. Since that first amazing trip to North Idaho College with my grade level colleagues, I have participated in i-STEM Summer Institute as a participant or a strand provider, except for 2016 when  was finishing my dissertation. i-STEM Summer Institute is a week-long professional development that trains you on the particular materials for the strand you register for and provides you with $200 worth of those materials to take back to your classroom. So, just to recap, not only do you learn how to use the materials in your classroom, you also get to take those materials back with you.

This summer, the Idaho STEM Action Center took over the institutes and continued on the tradition of teaching educators how to use materials in their classroom and the materials.  The Idaho STEM Action Center opened up the opportunity to formal and informal educators and allowed educators from outside the state to participate. 

https://stem.idaho.gov/istem/

Below are pictures from the various years attending i-STEM at both North Idaho College and College of Western Idaho.

 

Junior Botball

My colleague and I are in our second year of offering Junior Botball after school for students. Last year, we received a grant through the Idaho STEM Action Center that provided training and robots. We started working with students back in September. We have several 3rd grade students, one 5th grade, and two 6th grade. We have only four girls out of the 16 students participating.

This year, we had students stay for two hours after school on one day rather than doing two days a week for an hour after school.  It makes for long days for the teachers and students, but the students are able to complete more programming with less setup and cleanup time. 

We will wrap up the learning process on December 4 with a culminating challenge. Emmett Middle School will be joining us with their students who are participating in Junior Botball. We will have pizza and water for attendees and celebrate all the students' hard work.

In late January or early February, we will start up again with students that are ready to commit to making plans for GCER in the summer of 2018. We will work to further develop students' programming skills and begin fund raising to help with the cost of the trip.

I would recommend Junior Botball for any student. It is amazing what students can do while coding in C++. They really begin to understand the importance of spelling, formatting, critical thinking, and problem solving. It is so much fun to be a part of and watch the growth.

Day 1 #NASAMgUE

The schedule was a full the entire week, but no one seemed to mind with all the amazing experiences and learning that took place.

Day 1 Schedule - Notice the early muster time

Learning about the future of space suits

Free Expedition App provides guided tours of the ISS

On the floor of the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility

Making sure the SLED will attach to the launch pad on the Precision Air Bearing Floor (PABF)

i-Nerds of Martian Gravity with our mentor Jessica

Week 2 NASAMgUE Teams

Preparing the SLED for testing on Tuesday

It had shipped almost a month earlier to Houston

Lots of great ideas

Each team had to give a Technical Safety Review (TSR)

 

This process reviewed the safety of the device and surrounding people and equipment

The servo arm holds the crossbow in position until it is time to deploy the satellite

We passed our TSR

i-Nerds of Martian Gravity

 

#NASAMgUE Updates from #iNerdsMG

The team is in the final preparations. The updated technical proposal has been submitted. Testing of our SLEDs hinge on the Safety Evaluation section in the updated document. We actually ended up with two designs the team would like to ship to #JohnsonSpaceCenter.

Our initial design, after receiving the materials kit from NASA, did not have a stable frame to support the design. The cardboard paper towel rolls were not stable enough even with the addition of craft sticks taped to the inside of the cardboard frame.

First Design

As the team was looking for ways to shore up the stability of the structure, they came across the box the "satellite" came it. A light bulb suddenly went on that the students could use the box for the frame of their structure. Magnets were attached to the satellite and the front of the SLED to hold the satellite in place until deployment. This design utilizes a servo motor to close the claw. The claw pushes the satellite away launching it towards Mars' orbit. The challenge was generating enough force to successfully deploy the satellite. Even though the team was moving on to a third iteration, we didn't want to take apart a working design in case the next design didn't function.

Second Design: Claw SLED

 The third iteration was designed to produce more force. It still uses the same robotics components by Junior Botball, but the deployment device is a sort of crossbow. The force produced is greater. However, this device still has some programming issues to get the servo motor performing as desired.

Third Design: Crossbow SLED

SLEDs will be shipping this Friday, March 10.

Week 7 #iNerdsMG with #NASAMgUE

Students made good progress this week by creating a working design modified from their original blueprint. As issues develop with the design, additional modifications are made. The team hopes to begin testing the design with the simulator next week. The design may not have enough parts from the NASA kit with the addition of the Junior Botball components. NASA components should be 90% of the materials used with only 10% from outside the kit materials. Teachers meet with the Junior Botball mentors Monday on Skype and await additional guidance from the NASA mentor #JohnsonSpaceCenter who has been monitoring the engineering design process.

SLED Development