DPS 35th Meeting, 1-6 September 2003
Session 42. Planetary Science for the Classroom II
Poster (Teacher Workshop), Highlighted on, Friday, September 5, 2003, 3:30-6:00pm, Sierra Ballroom I-II

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[42.03] Mars Robotics in the Elementary School

D. Bonett (Dickinson Independent School District)

Kenneth E. Little Elementary is a public school grades Pre-K to 5th in Bacliff, Texas. It has an ethnically diverse population of one-thousand boys and girls. It is a Title 1 school with eighty-six percent of the students receiving free or reduced meals. K.E. Little has a large at-risk population with a thirty-three percent transition rate.

The Young Astronauts @ K.E. Little is an on-going afterschool space science program in it's third year of operation. Thirty students,fourth and fifth grade, were involved in our spring robotics program. Each co-operative group was assigned a LEGO robotics kit to inventory,organize, and familiarize themselves with. Each team made decisions, by consensus, concerning the robots design and capabilities. Students used the Dell Computer Lab on campus to program their robots. Although time did not permit the construction of a simulated Martian landscape, future Young Astronauts will continue this project in January 2004.


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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35 #4
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.