"You have five more minutes for chewing," announced Mr. Tim Walsh. The snacks ended and the teams' bins came out: it was time to hunker down and build robots. Vex Robotics at Julian had commenced and the students were all business.

OPEF's Vex Robotics program, now in its 6th year, gives students at both Julian and Brooks Middle Schools the opportunity to design, build, and program their own robots in teams and then to compete to test their mettle. Mr. Walsh, Julian science teacher, is the Vex Robotics team leader at Julian, along with colleague Jason Morrell. Mr. Walsh reminded the students of their task: "We take plastic and metal and bring our ingenuity to them to bring them to life."

Christopher B. agreed. "I like the feeling of building robots. It's like another person: it has a brain, arms, and wheels for legs." Conor J., his teammate, was working on a scoop mechanism for their robot. Also on this team is Jacob I., a 7th grader who has returned for his second year of Vex. He came back because "it's fun to figure out how to put things together and communicate with each other on how we are going to do this."

Tony C., a Julian 6th grader, said he joined the robotics club because he "likes building stuff." He added, "My Granddad and me build things together, and I wanted to do more activities at school, not just homework, to keep me active."

On this Wednesday afternoon, Tony and his teammates were excited since they finally had the motors working on their robot and were now working on the arm and the wheels. His teammate Mardy H. said the most challenging aspect for her so far has been how to get that arm to move--to extend and to move up and down. When these students compete against their Brooks counterparts in February, their robots will, via remote control, maneuver around a course, pick up plastic donuts, and place the donuts on posts scattered around the course. So, getting that robotic arm to move smoothly and accurately is key.

Another teammate, Mitchell P., says he has been working on programming for the remote control, which he said has been the most challenging task so far. Shirong L., also on this team, is new to Julian and to the United States, and is excited to be able to participate in a club like Vex Robotics.

Volunteer Mike Farrar said his oldest daughter did Vex while at Julian. "I am amazed at what kids can engineer. We give them a bunch of parts and they gotta start thinking."

Sam H., a freshman at OPRF and a Vex veteran, comes back to help out with the club at Julian. "Helping people do something I like motivates me to do what it was I was doing during the two years I was here," he said. Mr. Walsh emphasized to the current middle schoolers that these high school mentors know the "dos and don'ts" of building these robots and that it's important to listen to their advice.

Julian and Brooks will face off in the annual Vex Robotics competition on February 5, 2011 in the Julian gym. The competition will consist of an autonomous round, in which the robots are preprogrammed to navigate the course, and a remote-control round.

Click here to see Oak Park photographer David Kindler's photos of the Julian team preparing for the competition



 

After viewing photos of 100 famous structures around the world, Longfellow 5th graders each chose one that gave them the strongest emotional response. Working closely with volunteer architects from OPEF's Architecture Adventure program, students created detailed sketches of the buildings, learning about the buildings and how to draw realistically and in perspective. A reception was held for the student architects at Oak Park's mail library on Lake Street, where their work is now on display. Click here to see a slideshow of the exhibit by Oak Park photographer Paul Goyette.



 

When did you get involved with Global Village?

Seth Baker invited me to participate in 2005. My daughter was his student the previous year. Since then he has invited me back every year.

What has been your favorite Global Village project?

My favorite has been the field trip to the Indiana Dunes with the 6th graders (click here to see photos of last year's trip). We ask scientists from the EPA, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and Save the Dunes Conservation (a local nonprofit) to participate. The kids rotate through different stations where they get to try their hand at testing water chemistry, establishing stream bank condition, entomology, and geology, and last year we were lucky to see the construction of a stream restoration project. The kids leave charged up because they get to connect the dots between what we have been talking about in the class and doing it in the field.

On the other hand, what was the least successful project? What would you have done differently?

We built a Rain Garden in the spring of '06. It was a great experience creating it. The sixth-grade students helped with the design. Some students came up during their lunch to work on plant selection. We constructed it with each class of students (25-28 per class) coming in three waves. At one point I had a bit of a panic as I was looking at all the garden tools in motion, but we made it through with only the need for one band-aid. Just the simple act of being outside getting your hands in the dirt made a huge impact. I saw one boy look at the other and say "This is cool!!" "Yeah!" and then they both put their heads down and kept digging!

The part that I feel the most regret about is follow up. We really should have worked with building maintenance and other school programs to have some signage to keep it going. Some of the plants are there, but some got trampled and some I think might have been removed as weeds.

What area of scientific inquiry are you involved with as a professional?

I work for the Environmental Protection Agency. I have worked in Air enforcement and environmental analysis and am currently working in the Watersheds area. Basically I work with the state and nonprofits that are trying to protect their river, lake, or stream from sources of pollution that are not regulated. 60% of water pollution comes from unregulated sources. I have a BS in Biology and an MS in Environmental Health Science.

How did you get interested in science as a career?

I always loved math, science, and reading. I enjoyed learning how things work--the biological and chemical things, that is. I can also say that I had some wonderful teachers in high school who made Biology and Chemistry fun.

When I was finishing my undergraduate work, environmental science was a very new area of study (1989!), so I was very lucky to talk to the right professor at the right time who pointed me in this direction. Being out on the lake grabbing water samples on a beautiful day was a highlight.

Can you tell us about a particularly memorable experience with Global Village?

I had a girl come up to me during one lab and say "You know, I never thought about being a scientist until I met you." Wow--the fact that she saw a whole area of study open up to her--I felt honored to be a part of that.

Our kids live in a pretty urban environment, and as a result are surprisingly disconnected from nature. Oak Park is wonderful in that it a walkable community, but we have lost that connection to nature. So it's always interesting to listen to them talk all excited about getting in the water or mud, but then at the moment we are there they are shy and unsure. Once they get in though, it's all over--they are just sparking with excitement and fun. And keep in mind: This was not just on field trips, it was even in the back lot of the school just digging in the dirt. It is even when I bring dirt into the school for a lab on wetlands. The permission to get a little messy, well, it's intoxicating.