All-Girl Teams to Build LEGO Robots at UMass Amherst Computer Science Learning Event on Saturday, April 6

April 5, 2013
Contact: 
Janet Lathrop
Contact Phone: 
413/545-0444
 
***MEDIA ADVISORY***

DATE:      Saturday, April 6, 2013
TIME:       9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 3:45 p.m. is best for team robot competition
WHAT:     Girls’ team workshop to build and program LEGO NXT robots
WHERE:   UMass Amherst Computer Science Building, 140 Governor’s Drive
 
Dozens of middle school girls will converge on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus on Saturday, April 6, for the fourth annual “Girls Connect,” where they will learn how to build and program LEGO robots.
 
Eight teams of girls ages 9 to 13, in grades 4 to 8, from western Massachusetts towns with their adult coaches and chaperones will apply real-world math and science concepts to spark the girls’ interest in computing and technology. UMass college students will serve as mentors and roles models. All team robots complete a series of missions to end the day. Each team receives an award for its accomplishments.
 
“Girls build confidence in working together and solving problems. They also have a lot of fun,” says Renee Fall, program manager of the Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE), which is organizing the event. “They get introduced to computer science and engineering concepts, meet female computer science majors as mentors and role models.”
 
“Teachers and students who have attended in past years have gone on to form teams and compete in the FIRST LEGO League, which is what we hoped for,” says Fall. “Once students have a fun day with robotics, they want more in-depth experiences, which can help them imagine computer science as a potential career.”

In addition to CAITE, the event is co-sponsored by the UMass Amherst School of Computer Science, LEGO Education, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and Girls Incorporated of Holyoke.
 
FIRST LEGO League was founded to engage children in meaningful learning while helping them discover the fun in science and technology.
 
Contact: Janet Lathrop, 413/545-0444; jlathrop@admin.umass.edu
               Renee Fall, 413/577-4431;rfall@cs.umass.edu