2006 CS Summer Camp
06-26-2006
Middle school students wanting more than just another lazy day of summer were revved up for the 2006 Computer Science Summer Camps. Beginner and advanced camps took place between June 18 and June 24 in the Computer Science building on the Purdue West Lafayette campus. Campers learned basic computer science concepts through programming web pages and robotics and learned what computer scientists do in the workplace. Plus they formed new friendships and Computer Science Summer Camp is always a great place to have a lot of fun.
Beginner level campers arrived at Purdue on Sunday, June 18. After checking in, camp instructors gave the campers a lab orientation and then played games to get to know each other. Campers began their CS experience by designing their own web site, and they furthered their computing abilities by programming a lego robot. The hard work of all the campers was then put to the ultimate test on Wednesday in the Lego Bowling Challenge where only one team would be the victor. In addition to all their hard work, campers were treated to a fun night at Bruno's Pizzeria and then a screening of the movie Cars. They also got to tour the Purdue Athletic facilities to get a first hand look of where the Boilermakers play. The last day of camp came quickly for these eager, young scientist, but campers were excited to strut their stuff for mom and dad at the Project Showcase Parent Luncheon.
Because Beginner Camp is never enough, Computer Science Advanced Camp welcomed back some familiar faces. Advanced Camp had a primary focus on Robotics. Campers were challenged to create a Boogie Bot. The Boogie Bot needed to be built and programmed to do the quadra bop and a signature dance move while playing it's own music for the Lego Robotics challenge. Campers also got the opportunity to work with faculty member, Dr. Gustavo Rodriguez-Rivera to program the ER 1 robots. And campers got some hands-on experience programming robots during their field trip to Beckman Coulter. Middle school students at the camp gained some experience with the Alice programming language and created their own 3-d worlds. Fun night for advanced campers was at Bruno's Pizzeria and they watched a screening of the movie Nacho Libre. The Project Showcase Parent Luncheon wrapped everything up for advanced campers on June 24.
Campers stayed at Cary Quadrangle resident hall, and most meals were in Ford dining court. For more information on Computer Science Summer Camps visit the Purdue Computer Science Outreach section.