August 4 Camp helps inspire girls with science
EILEEN GODIN Times Leader Correspondent
WILKES-BARRE – Huddled around a computer with a calculator in hand, 12-year-olds Michelle Ortiz, Amber Gesek and Kaylee Sminkey work together to figure out the number of wheel rotations their Lego robot needed to make to cross a tile on the floor.
Sixty seventh- and eighth-grade area girls took on the challenge Wednesday.
The class was part of Wilkes University’s Women Empowered by Science Camp, running from July 25 through Friday.
The number of girls participating this year doubled from last year, event organizer Deb Chapman said.
The ultimate goal for the girls is to program their robots to dance to their favorite song by Friday. but before that, Dr. Peggy Sullivan, a visiting assistant professor of math at Wilkes, had to teach the girls how to program their robots to trace a square tile on the floor, avoid obstacles and find dark spots on the floor.
This is the third year the summer camp was held to inspire a better understanding of the sciences, Chapman said.
“in middle school, girls are even with boys in areas of math and science,” she said. “After this point, it changes. we do not know why.”
She hopes the girls will leave with a better understanding of investigative and critical thinking.
In deep conversation, Ortiz, of Hanover Township, Gesek, of Plymouth, and Sminkey, of Laurel run, tried to figure out the right number sequence for a right-angle turn.
Sminkey said the new robots and computer program they were using were easier than what her sister had last year.
Ortiz, who also participated last year, agreed. “I have had a fun time doing this,” she said.
The little square gray robot with black rubber tires sat on the table waiting for the girls to plug it into a USB cable to be downloaded with the new program. After the download, they placed the robot on the floor, carefully lining it up with the edge of a tile, and pushed go.
Across the square the robot went, turning left, but not quite at the right angle — so the girls went back to their computer to determine why.
Sullivan said she hopes the girls walk away with an understanding of a basic computer programming.
“Many of them know how to use the computer, but this teaches them how break something down and put it in basic instructions for a computer program,” she said.
Programming a robot was just part of what the girls learned. They also made hand sanitizer and learned to solve a crime using forensic science.
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