Monday June 20, 2005 at Barboursville Library
June 21, 2005
June 22, 2005
June 23, 2005
In the News June 24, 2005
Note by Rover Mail
On the web
On Monday, June 20th, the Nick J. Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute's K-12 LEGO Robotics outreach, headed by Linda Hamilton, went to Barboursville Library for a LEGO demonstration. Following the demonstration,we visited the 4-H camp in Cabell County where Nila Cobb greeted us warmly and showed us where to set up. This 4-H camp was not just any 4-H camp, but a very exciting experience for the LEGO participants and the 4-H campers because special visitors were attending the camp from Norway and Sweden. Tomas Gunnarsson and his son Jonas, 12 years of age, live in Norway. Joakim, also 12, cousin of Jonas is from Sweden. The Gunnarssons began their "tour" Monday, meeting us at the library with other students for the LEGO demonstration. There, they showed the students attending a movie of the the Robotic challenges they had done for FIRST LEGO League Scandinavia. At the 4H camp, Jonas and Joakim worked very closely building and perfecting their LEGO Robot over the course of the three days. Tomas worked as a volunteer and offered insight and ideas to all the children working on the LEGO Robotics. The Gunnarssons found out about the 4H camp in Barboursville by visiting Linda Hamilton's website and contacting her for information. Through her help, they were able to come to the U.S. and attend the 4H camp in Barboursville, West Virginia. Tomas Gunnarsson and his wife are the leaders of their 4-H club, Nardo 4H, which is their First LEGO League team in Trondheim, Norway. First LEGO League is an international robotics competition and it is Gunnarsson's hope, with his new friends here in West Virginia, to have his team in Norway collaborate with a team here in West Virginia on the First LEGO League research presentation. While visiting 4H camp in Barboursville, the Gunnarassons introduced the American students to their country and culture by presenting them with information about Norway and Sweden. On the Tuesday all the campers received 4H pins from Norway as a gift from the Gunnarsson's. Following the 4H camp, the Gunnarsson's were going to make their way to our nation's capital to meet up with some 4H friends from Tomas�s youth. Tomas has been active in 4H since he was a child. He traveled to the United States as a student in 4-H and now has introduced 4H to his children. He told us that the combination of 4H with LEGO is a great experience and would be good for his children as well as for himself. On Tuesday, the groups rolled in at 10 A. M. full of enthusiasm. We began with two groups of boys and girls that started with an introduction to the computer programming they would be learning for the Aquabot challenges. The programs would tell their LEGO robot how to function. There were 12 different challenges that they could try and then had to find a way to program the robot to get through the challenge. Some kids were trying to get a robot to pick up and deliver an airplane, while others were going around a track to avoid the shipwreck. Other kids were fascinated by the giant squid their robot had to pick up and rescue. Our Norwegian friends jumped into the fun just as enthusiastically and presented ideas that they had used in their previous LEGO building experiences. After the tutorial on Tuesday, the students jumped right into their projects on Wednesday and Thursday. Some students worked on mini-challenges that took 20-30 minutes, while other students worked on more detailed challenges that took the entire two days. The students working on the more detailed challenges worked with an ocean theme. For students participating in the FIRST LEGO League this year, the international theme is Ocean Odyssey. Students face the challenge of finding "solutions that will sustain the health, biodiversity, and productivity of the world's oceans for present and future generations." On Thursday, our last day at the 4H camp, we were visited by Barbara Roberts, Program Coordinator of RTI, as well as reporters from The Herald Dispatch, Huntington's local newspaper. The children were eager to display their projects and accomplishments and answer questions for the newspaper. Our Norwegian friends presented Linda Hamilton with a T-shirt from Norway and upon our departure we shook hands symbolizing hopes for continued communication. The students and directors of the 4H camp were pleased with the LEGO experience and we look forward to attending again next year.