Currently, the classes are structured as after school programs in various elementary and private schools in Tampa Bay (Hillsborough, Pasco, Orange and Polk Counties). All of these, are held at the school and enrollment is for school attendees. However, we also hold classes in selected churches for home school groups which are open enrollment. Please see Schedule for more info.
It is an integrated science and math curriculum that uses LEGO elements including motors to help teach practical application of concepts through hands-on building. We also emphasize teamwork and problem solving. We introduce material which will lead to better robot building by concentrating on fundamentals and building on those concepts.
The classes have heavy emphasis on geometry and math as a means of becoming a better builder just like an architect uses geometry to design buildings.
The basic set for Elementary Engineering classes is an educational set which contain LEGO Technic elements and electric motors. However, in Elementary Engineering II, we also use custom models (not found in stores) which enhance the value of the lesson e.g. building a car with differential gears. Though children will be building projects with this kit, they will be learning a lot about simple machines which is a foundation for later classes. The ultimate goal is to train children so they can learn about robotics and build their own robots.
With a class of 12 children or less there will be one teacher or with more than 12, then a teacher and an aide, up to a maximum of 16 children. However, each child will be working in a team with one other child to promote teamwork.
Just like learning to read, a child learns uppercase letters then lowercase letters, then short vowel sounds and so on. The 3 core classes are meant to build up the foundation for children to get used to constructing in LEGO Technic ( LEGO MindStorm pieces) then we can work on the programming skills. We also introduce fundamentals like gear theory and gear analysis to allow children to be better robot builders.
Our observation in robotics competitions have shown that most of the problems is not in the programming but in the construction of the robot to meet the specific objectives.
