Today we watched a video about the Coolala. This device offers air conditioning powered by the sun. It can be used almost anywhere, inside or out. The campers were asked, When and where do you think the Coolala would be used most? They had great ideas like the desert, anywhere near the equator, camping and more.
Our final day of Think Camp was fun filled and busy as can be! We had so much going on-with students sharing projects in every single class and one of the founders of Bloxels coming in to share their app and do a space themed game jam with us.
Bloxels
Robotics
Minecraft
littleBits
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To the parents of all Bloxels Think Campers: Bloxels has introduced a new Take Home program for families! Today we sent home an invite to purchase your child’s Bloxel account for $9.99, so that they can keep building on their own.
The home account is a lifetime account- it's paid for once and good forever!
Today’s Bloxels class was a lot of fun. The bits group spent the first half of class putting finishing touches on their games. They made sure everything was decorated and configured correctly, so the player would have the best experience playing their game. Then we shared our games on the arcade, where all Bloxels game designers post their work. We spent most of the second half of our class playing each others’ games. Everyone had at least one finished game to share, and they enjoyed having their fellow designers play their games.
bits: Students used all of the coding techniques they have learned over the course of the week to design their own code to meet their own objectives. They explored the lighting, sounds, movements, animations, and conditional responses, sometimes in a pattern or loop, to simply play and create. Also, they were able to add attachments to Dash to get him to play a xylophone, launch a catapult, or act as a news reporter.
bytes: Students used all the coding and building techniques they have learned over the course of the week to modify their robot to compete in a battle arena. They had to add a color sensor and code it to distinguish between the brightness of the arena and the brightness of the border. This allowed them to stay in the arena and run into the other robots. Additionally, students build attachments and weapons to improve their battle readiness. The used trial and error to determine which attachments worked best. While, flashy weapons controlled by the third motor were exciting to try, simple attachments that promoted stability were successful, as well.
bits: On our final day the teams wrapped up their amazing zoo projects and got to explore the wonderful world of Minecraft that we continue to build each year at Think Camp. They saw a Colosseum, a castle, mazes and roller coaster Theme Parks.
bytes: Today was the day for the students epic adventure in Hogwarts! The interns only managed to find 4 of the 14 hidden TNT blocks in the school so the students saved the day! They also got a chance to attack a castle that the interns had prepared. They were also successful in taking over the castle too!
The campers finished their projects with littleBits. The byte’s goal was to create a chain reaction contraption that caused a simple task to happen in an overly complicated way. The creations wowed everyone. The bit’s goal was to build then hack their playhouse with littleBits. We had a lot of fun creating and playing! View all the projects here.
Thursday, June 6th
We watched The Shoe That Grows today. This shoe is exactly what it sounds like, a shoe that grows up to five sizes with your child. The students were asked if they thought this shoe was a good idea and how many pairs of shoes they had in a year. They all agreed that the shoe was a great idea since it would help children stay healthy as well as be able to go to school. The campers said they would improve upon the design of the shoe because it would not be appropriate for all climates or all activities since it is a sandal type design.
The bytes had an opportunity to try out a Van De Graaff generator which produces static electricity and makes static electricity the same way you do when you rub your feet on the carpet and then touch a doorknob. Inside the generator is a giant rubber band that rubs across a piece of felt, stealing its electrons. The rubber band then spins around and the electrons travel up to the big metal ball on top. If you have a hand on the metal ball, the electrons will go into you. The electrons don’t like each other and are trying to get as far away from each other as possible. Usually this makes your hair stand up because it is filled with electrons that are repelling each other.
The bits had an opportunity to experiment with a plasma globe. The globe contains a gaseous mixture composed mainly of xenon. The base produces high frequency current that cause the gases to turn into plasma, an ionized gas. These ions (an atom with an electric charge) emit energy in the visible region that appears as colored “streamers”.
The plasma inside the glass globe responds to your touch. The plasma is attracted to your hand as it nears and touches the globe. You might feel a slight tingling sensation, which is caused by the vibrations on the glass globe as the electrons strike the surface.
Bloxels
Robotics
Minecraft
littleBits
STEM Challenge
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To the parents of all Bloxels Think Campers: Bloxels has introduced a new Take Home program for families! At the end of the week, you will receive an invite to purchase your child’s Bloxel account for $9.99, so that they can keep building on their own.
The home account is a lifetime account- it's paid for once and good forever!
bits: Today, the bits group added some extra complexity to their video games by animating art. Some campers made spinning coins and another created blinking bones to collect. Tomorrow we will finalize our games and share them to the Bloxels’ Arcade.
bytes: Each day think campers learn new elements to add to their game. In addition to animating art, today’s focus was to spend time customizing decorations and backgrounds to make their games truly unique. The bytes group did not want to stop working on their games today. Several campers asked to have more time to work. Tomorrow, games will be finalized and shared to the Bloxels Arcade.
bits: Using what they learned about “conditionals” the day before, students built their own mazes and designed code for Dash to complete the maze. They started by having Dash drive himself out of the maze with simple drive commands. However, the goal was to have Dash drive himself out of the maze by responding to the maze itself. This required conditional commands like, if Dash senses an object behind him, move forward. This type of thinking was a real challenge, but clearing the maze was a fun accomplishment. bytes: Students added sensors to their robot to allow it to respond to outside stimulus. They choose either a touch or an ultraviolet sensor to add to their robot. The touch sensor allowed their robot to change directions every time the button was pressed. The ultraviolet sensor allowed the robot to maintain a specific distance away from the wall by self-adjusting its course.
bits: Today the Red team built a panda enclosure, a rainforest for ocelots and parrots. Today the blue team built a chicken coop and learned not to put a hole in the fence otherwise all the chickens escape! They also built a seed farm, sheep, pig and cow farm and put paths to connect all of the attractions. Tomorrow both teams will get to explore the zoo and the wider Minecraft world that students have been working on.
bytes: Students worked really hard discovering all the nooks and crannies of Hogwarts! They have built traps and made it as tricky as possible for Voldemort’s team to find the hidden TNT blocks. Tomorrow they will get the opportunity to defend Hogwarts and attack a castle that the interns have worked on!
Campers in both the bits & bytes put the final touches on their designs today. They are getting ready to present their new creations to the group tomorrow. We will share videos with you of finished projects..
bits: In the bits group, we have many homes that are inviting and fun. The campers are excited about the many electric working parts of their homes and favorites are doorbells and lighting. We are having fun letting our imaginations push our thinking and tinkering. There was a lot of laughter as the kids played together, explored each other’s homes, and even delivered mail to each other.
bytes: In the bytes group, we have many chain reaction contraptions that have overengineered solutions to do such tasks as feed your cat, turn on an alarm clock, feed your dog, or just simply startle the person who started the chain reactions. One quote that was heard often today was, “The physics is real!” There was a lot of excitement as the designs began to really come together.
100th Floor Cathedral Students were challenged to create a tower that was capable of holding three different weights at three different heights. They were given cups, string, rubber bands, foil, index cards, and more in order to build their tower. They found some success quickly as the first height or two were somewhat easily achieved. However, their third and final stretch of tower proved much more challenging. Students had to work together and share ideas. Most groups who were successful needed help from all members and every minute allotted to achieve this goal.
Wednesday, June 5th
Today’s video was both educational and disgusting. The campers watched Bug Milk, and learned that a South African company is leading the charge in making milk out of fly larvae. Not only is this milk nutritious and tasty, but it is also easier on the environment than the production of cow’s milk and cost-effective.
The campers were asked, Would you drink this dairy alternative? Do you think it is important that we make alternative dairy sources? We had a few daring campers who said they would definitely try the bug milk and several who said they would try it if they didn’t know what it was. They did think it was important to find alternative dairy sources as they said it would be better for the environment and many of the animals.
Bloxels
Robotics
Minecraft
littleBits
STEM Challenge
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To the parents of all Bloxels Think Campers: Bloxels has introduced a new Take Home program for families! At the end of the week, you will receive an invite to purchase your child’s Bloxel account for $9.99, so that they can keep building on their own.
The home account is a lifetime account- it's paid for once and good forever!
bits:The bits continued to work on adding a story element to their game. They needed to develop a final objective or end boss for their game. By the end of the class today, everyone had two fully decorated and configured rooms and at least one story block. The story block gives the opportunity to provide directions to the player and tell the story as the player moves through the game.
bytes: Today the bytes group continued working on their games. Many of the campers have multiple levels, and they were eager to get to work on creating more. Today’s focus was on creating and animating art to add to their game. Many of the students created art to share with the rest of the campers.
bits: Class was very loud today as we tested Dash’s ability to respond to voice commands and played recorded sounds as part of a dance sequence. We continued learning how to create ongoing sequences of actions with “repeat” blocks and “If/Else” conditionals. These were combined with Dash’s ability to listen and respond to voice commands. Dash ran away from the loud noise, and tried to scare us back with some recorded yelling of his own.
bytes: Having completed building their robots yesterday, students were able to focus on coding their robot today. Their first challenge was to measure the length covered in a single rotation of their robot’s wheels. This was important information for their big challenge today. Students had to use measurements and estimation to develop a code that would allow their robot to drive through a maze taped on the floor.
bits: Today we showed the work that both teams have accomplished this week to inspire future creativity. The Red Team completed their stables, a cow shed, started a panda enclosure and other fun attractions. The Blue Team finished their aquarium, a water fountain, gift shop and stable! Tomorrow will be the last day to work on their zoo as on Friday they will get to explore and test out their zoo!
bytes: The students got to complete their castles today and the Blue Team had to defend their castle from the Red Team! They also got to visit Hogwarts which they will be defending on Friday from Voldemort’s team! Both teams will also get the opportunity to attack a castle on Friday too!
bits: The bits worked on creating their interactive homes. Campers added doorbells, lights, and even a whoopee cushion prank to their designs. They pushed their creativity and thinking by adding more than one path to their circuit. There was a lot of laughter as they explored each other’s designs. Many campers have also asked if they can take home their cardboard boxes at the end of the week. Please discuss this possibility with your child. They may take their creations home, but know they are rather large since they are constructed out of appliance boxes.
bytes: The bytes continued to refine their designs today. They had to problem solve and work with the littleBits to get to their desired outcome. They have great ideas and showed a lot of grit as they design, redesign, and redesign some more. Campers have been working hard to get parts to work in order to push their creations.
Students were challenged to create the longest lasting unpoppable bubble using a mixture of water, corn syrup, and liquid dish detergent. They mixed quantities until they found the perfect solution. They blew bubbles with their wands made from pipe cleaners. Some found they really enjoyed making bubbles with their hands. Hint, if you want to make this at home, we found that 3 C water, ½ C corn syrup, & 1 C dish detergent works well.
Tuesday, June 4th
Today’s inspirational video was all about making tasks easier for humans. We watched as the exoskeleton helped assembly line workers in Ford’s plants lift their arms and heavy items for hours without fatigue. The campers were asked, Who else could this help besides assembly line workers? Do you think humans will always work better than robots?
The campers had so many good ideas! They said the exoskeleton could help older people and construction workers. The campers were split on whether humans will always work better than robots. They know robots never get tired and don’t need breaks, but they also argued that humans make robots so that makes us better. It was an interesting conversation for sure!
Bloxels
Robotics
Minecraft
littleBits
STEM Challenge
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To the parents of all Bloxels Think Campers: Bloxels has introduced a new Take Home program for families! At the end of the week, you will receive an invite to purchase your child’s Bloxel account for $9.99, so that they can keep building on their own.
The home account is a lifetime accounts- it's paid for once and good forever!
bits: The bits began thinking of a story to tell with their game. They thought of other games that tell a story as the main character moves through the levels/rooms. Then, they had some think time to develop their own story to tell through the creation of their Bloxels game. They learned how to use story blocks and checkpoints as a way to tell the story and give the player directions and objectives. We will continue developing this tomorrow.
Towards the end of our session today, the group learned how to decorate their game to make it look like a real game and to add challenges for the player. They learned the difference between animations and boards when decorating and thought about how to effectively tie rooms together. Tomorrow we will continue to develop our stories and we will think backwards from the final objectives.
bytes: The bytes also thought of a story, learned how to use story blocks and checkpoints, and learned how to animate their characters. In addition, these campers tested out other Bloxels games as research in their quest to design the most fun game ever. After testing games, the bytes made notes and discussed things they liked and didn’t like about the games they played.
bits: Students explored the capabilities of a “Repeat Forever” block today. Whereas they designed individual lines of code yesterday, a “Repeat” block allows them to created a simple pattern that can solve a complex task, when repeated. They started simple with creating a continuous lights and sounds show. They had the freedom to choose how their show would look. At the end of the class, they had to move three evenly spaced cups from one side of a square to the other. The challenge required students to be able to move forward, backtrack, and repeat in a different position. This was a tough challenge, but students’ creative thinking and problem solving allowed them to create a workable solution.
bytes: Students worked on completing their drivable robot base. They followed a plan to create the base we will use the rest of the week. In the remaining days students will add sensors and attachments to the base in order to complete progressively more difficult tasks. They will be able to code their robots three motors and sensors using Lego Mindstorms EV3 programing software. While students appreciated the instructions after Day One’s open ended box challenge, they quickly realized that building a drivable bot requires top notch spatial reasoning.
bits: Students reflected on what they built yesterday and what they might change to improve their zoo. The Red team built stables, a polar bear enclosure, a splash pad and a dolphin enclosure! The Blue team started building an aquarium and learned chemical formulas in order to make helium balloons and glow sticks!
bytes: Students decided to continue building traps and defenses and working on strategies for protecting their castle. They were given the opportunity to learn chemical formulas in order to have additional abilities not available in the normal Minecraft game. Tomorrow they are testing out their teamwork!
bits: The bits continued to develop a littleBits City. They used large boxes to make a town. Campers have placed their houses in various locations including St. Louis, California, London, and Italy. Many of the homes have secret passages, and all made doors that open and close. Other features include doggie doors, welcome mats, mailboxes, curtains, and gardens. Tomorrow they are going to add littleBits and start making things that work. Ideas include doorbells, lights, a piano, and even a fun house full of pranks for their guests. They were very creative and we are all very excited to see what will be created by the end of the week.
bytes: The campers were introduced to the “Engineering Process” where they defined a problem, imagined different solutions for that problem, made a plan through sketches with labels, created a prototype to test their design, and adjusted their design by making improvements. Many quickly discovered that this is not a linear process, but one that continues until they develop something that solves the defined problem. As campers worked on their projects, many discovered that changes had to be made to get it function as they wished. They were very positive as they found success from some failures in their designs. It was wonderful seeing the brainstorming happening by the campers and the redesign process taking place as they created their self-directed projects. So far, we are seeing a ferris wheel, a plant watering device, and many ramps with balls rolling that require multiple steps to make them work.
Today’s STEM Challenge was a perfect way to let students work together while also getting to know one another. The campers were put into groups and tasked with making the longest chain using only one piece of newspaper. Using the design thinking process, campers brainstormed an idea, tested it, and then, if needed, started over with a new idea. It was great watching kids that just met yesterday collaborate.
Monday, June 3rd
To kick off Think Camp, each camper was presented with their very own Idea Book to collect all their wonderful thoughts, observations, plans and more throughout the week. We viewed the notebooks of many famous thinkers, such as Einstein, Edison, Khalo, Lewis and Clark, and more. They all agreed that sometimes if you don’t write or sketch your idea it’s gone forever.
Each day we show the campers a video that we find inspiring. Today we watched Automatic Dog Petter. Each video is accompanied by a question and answered however they like in their Idea Books. Today’s question was, Do you think dogs would like this? How would you improve this product? The campers had some wonderful ideas, like making the dog petting machine automatically adjustable to the height of the dog and adding a soft surface to the petting hand, such as carpet.
Every day the campers can choose a variety of activity during Think Centers. This year our centers include:
Circuit Works: Snap Circuits gives your child a hands-on education to discover how electrical circuits -- like those found in everyday devices kids are familiar with -- function and operate.
Brain Games with Breakout EDU: Similar to an escape room game, “breakouts” teach teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking, and troubleshooting by presenting participants with challenges that ignite their natural drive to problem-solve. We have two Breakout Challenges this week. For the bits we have “Road Trip Rescue” For the bytes, we have “Summer Road Trip.” In both games, campers must figure out ways to unlock the central box that contains numerous locks. There are clues hidden all over the room that need to be pieced together through teamwork. Some are in plain sight, and others are less obvious. Teamwork and thinking are the keys to success.
Roaming Bots with Bee Bot and Pro Bot: Award winning programmable floor robots, perfect for teaching control, directional language and programming to young children.
Making with Makey Makeys: It’s an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It's a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything in between.
Build. Design. Solve: Campers use manipulatives, such as gears, K’Nex, and Legos to design and build.
Osmo: Osmo enables the iPad to merge the power of physical play with the digital advantages of real-time feedback. Playing beyond the screen invites kids to collaborate on tables or floors while manipulating tangible game pieces such as number tiles, letter tiles, and coding blocks.
What’s Inside?: Use tools to take apart broken electronics and to explore what’s inside.
Hexbug Nano: Use track sets with tons of building options to design unique roadways for the nano.
Friendship Bracelets: Making a friendship bracelet is making decisions – what colors should I use, what pattern am I going to tackle? This is also hands-on experience of problem solving and trying again until it comes out right with lots of opportunities for collaborative learning.
Origami: Origami develops hand eye coordination, sequencing skills, maths reasoning, spatial skills, memory, but also patience and attention skills.
Paper Airplane Design & Build: Design and build paper airplanes to fly as far as possible and/or to stay in the air as long as possible.
Turing Tumble: Turing Tumble is a revolutionary new game where players build mechanical computers powered by marbles to solve logic puzzles. (grades 4-6 only)
3D Pens: With a 3D pen you can draw a raised graphic on a piece of paper or any flat surface. But what makes a 3D pen truly unique is its ability to “draw” in mid-air, allowing you to instantly form 3D structures right in front of you, which you can pick up and hold in your hand.
Bloxels
Robotics
Minecraft
littleBits
STEM Challenge
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Both groups learned many of the possibilities of Bloxels Game Design. Each group had the opportunity to try out a pre-built game from the arcade. In playing this game, campers began to understand what they could do with Bloxels. After trying out a game with a stock character, campers had the opportunity to design, build, and animate their own character. They made decisions about their character’s appearance when idle, walking, and jumping. Each camper manipulated frame rate and examined how it changed their character’s animation. They tested their character in the pre-built test room to see how it looked in action.
At the end of our session, we introduced the idea of building the first room of our game. Students learned how to put their own character into the first room of their game. Tomorrow, we will dive deeper into our game design, explore tying rooms together, and develop an overall story.
bits: Students met Dash the robot today. Dash is funny, silly, and sometimes has a mind of his own. However, everyone learned that they are the boss of Dash. They used creative coding to help Dash light up with all the colors of the rainbow and dance in celebration. Then, things became much more serious. One of Dash’s less animated friends, a stuffy of their choice, was in trouble. They had to code Dash to drive around their stuffy blaring his siren to scare off any dangers. Campers even choose to protect more stuffies in their protective circles or with figure eight patterns. bytes: Students began learning the basics of Lego Mindstorms building and coding. They learned about the sensors and motors used in the EV3 system. Their task today was to build a box complete with a lid that opens with the push of a button. The first challenge was building a box without instructions. While challenging at first, campers soon began to discover what was possible with the Mindstorms Lego blocks. The next challenge was developing the code to receive the input of a pressed touch sensor and convert that into rotations of a motor. They had to have the math sense to estimate degrees of a circle needed to open and close the box lid on command. All groups experienced different levels of “success.” However, everyone gained a greater understanding of the building and coding needed for a Lego robot.
bits: Students were split into 2 teams - Red & Blue. They were challenged to build a World Class Zoo in Minecraft. They were introduced to a variety of different animals and brainstormed what animals they would like to add. The Red Team worked on a pig sty, mooshroom enclosure and a spooky stable. The Blue Team worked on a polar bear enclosure and a tropical rainforest for their parrots & ocelots. The students have realized the importance of creating a strong enclosure to ensure their animals do not escape!
bytes: Students were split into 2 teams - Red & Blue. They were given a castle that they had to defend. They researched traps to protect their castle, started modifying the layout of the castle to confuse the other team. Tomorrow they will test their team strategy out and see if they can protect their treasure! If they want to THINK about other options, they can use the following websites.
The campers were introduced to littleBits Electronics. In case you are curious, you can watch the What is littleBits? video to see what it is all about. The campers were engaged in design challenges that made them think through how inputs and outputs work together to create different functioning circuits. They also had free experimentation with the littleBits to deepen understanding of what they can do. Through this, campers learned that order matters in a circuit and that each bit has a function. Starting with a battery, wire, and power bit, the campers then found countless number of combinations to make things light up, move, and produce sound. Once they understood the basics of what bits can do, they were given a special challenge.
bits: The bits special challenge is to create a structure out of large appliance boxes. They had fun making windows and doors and decorating their boxes with welcome mats, flowers, and more! Tomorrow, they will continue their creation and start to think about which circuits they want to add.
bytes: The bytes special challenge is to create a chain reaction contraption, also known as a Rube Goldberg machine. We learned a bit about Rube Goldberg, looked at his cartoons, and watched a small clip of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure to see one in action. Campers then started designing and building their very own creation. They quickly realized that they need to over engineer a simple task that is broken down into steps that cause a chain reaction. There was a lot of laughter and thinking out loud as they started building. Tomorrow we will see where their creativity and knowledge take them!
Balloon Rockets Students were challenged to modify a balloon rocket with different payloads to see the effect it had on flying. By experimenting they had to place the payload in different places to land their balloon rockets on specific targets. They had to test and retest each design to see how accurate and how far they could get their rocket balloon to travel.
