At a recent Ci Mobile Robotics Camp we hosted at the Atlanta Teach Them Diligently Homeschool Convention we were joined by Answers in Genesis’ (AiG) president Ken Ham! For a live Facebook video, he interviewed me about our Ci robotics workshops and then chatted with some of the kids and got them to show off their creations. The kids were having a great time and were eager to show off what they had made.
Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chwogggnZtY&feature=youtu.be
Ci Mobile camps are a great way of introducing kids to the excitement of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Research predicts that as many as 80% of future jobs will require STEM training so early exposure to STEM can be a wonderful asset to any young person. And what better way to learn than by building and programming your own robot!
At our robotics camp kids are divided into groups of three. Each group uses the latest Lego Mindstorm EV3 Robotics kit and software tutorial to build their own robot. They then use math and computer programming to program the robot to travel in a geometric pattern. They get exposure to both the hardware and software of robotics.
As they are building and programming the robot they are also learning teamwork and collaboration. These are considered essential skills in the 21st century job market. Kids are forced to collaborate and share ideas in order to get the robot to do what they want it to do. Feedback we’ve received from kids reflects that they really did learn teamwork from their activity, “We learned to work together and talk things out,” “I learned I’m not always right!,” “When one of us couldn’t figure something out, we would work together to fix the problem,” and “I learned that working together was a great way to accomplish things because each person thinks a different way.”
Not only do the kids learn about robots and teamwork, but they also learn about God, apologetics, and the gospel. They watch several Answers in Genesis’ videos and we have a group discussion about how everything we see was either made by our Creator or made by man from the things God has created. We reflect His image (Genesis 1:27) through our creativity.
After the students have worked hard to craft and program their robots we talk about how difficult it was just to get a robot to follow simple commands—imagine how much harder it would be to create just one system in the human body (i.e. hearing, sight, taste). Only an all-wise Creator could do that!
I then ask them how we could program the robot to love us. After discussing it the students eventually realize that you simply can’t program love. It’s a choice. This naturally leads into a discussion of Adam and Eve. God did not create them as robots that were programed to love Him. They had to decide whether or not to love and obey Him. Even though God knew that they would choose to disobey Him, He still created them. He does the same thing with us. He knows that we will not love Him—that we are born enemies of God (Romans 5:10)—and yet He still created us. And He showed us the full extent of His love by becoming a man and dying on the Cross in our place (John 13:1). We can choose to accept His love, repent of our sin, and trust in Christ or we can choose not to. The kids are powerfully confronted with the gospel of Jesus Christ at the end of their session.
Ci Mobile camps come to you for one to five days! If you are part of a Christian school or homeschool group with students in grades 3-12 then this workshop is for you. To learn more about Ci Mobile or to request an event visit our camps page