Week 4 Activities 🖥️

Hi BirchBot Fans, this is our weekly update! This week was a unique and engaging experience as we collaborated with the admissions team to work directly with students, introducing them to a variety of fun, educational activities. Our goal was to highlight key concepts in coding, design, and structural integrity in a hands-on and interactive way. Alex and Ayesha led a particularly intriguing activity with the students, where they worked through a maze that demonstrated the importance of clear communication and direction—much like the relationship between coding and problem-solving. One participant was blindfolded, while their partner guided them through the maze, mimicking how in programming, developers write the code to control actions and outcomes. This exercise was a wonderful way for the students to experience firsthand how essential guidance and instructions are when creating and debugging code. Meanwhile, Matthew and Tori engaged the students in a SketchUp activity, providing them with a deeper understanding of digital design and 3D modeling. Through this hands-on experience, the students gained insight into the functionality of SketchUp, a powerful tool used for designing everything from architectural blueprints to intricate models. It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to apply creative thinking to technology and design. Eliza rounded out the day’s activities by leading a challenge in which students were tasked with constructing the tallest structure possible using just marshmallows and spaghetti. This activity was a fun way to demonstrate the importance of structural integrity and problem-solving under constraints. The students quickly learned that successful design isn’t just about creativity but also about building something that stands the test of time—or, in this case, gravity! We’re excited about how the students engaged with each of these activities, and we hope that this week’s lessons will help them appreciate the value of teamwork, critical thinking, and the application of STEM concepts in everyday challenges. Thank you for following along, and we look forward to more exciting developments in the coming weeks!