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U of M climate experts help hundreds of middle schoolers prepare for robotics competition
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 10/14/2008 ) -- More than 250 students, ages 9 to 14 from across Minnesota, will participate in hands-on sessions at the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, to learn more about global climate issues and begin preparing for "Climate Connections," the 2008 Minnesota FIRST LEGO League robotics competition. Examples of more than a dozen interactive sessions for the kids include: - Cloud Cover and Climate Change--8:45-9:45 a.m. and 10:45-11:45 a.m., Rooms 117 and 119 Smith Hall, 207 Pleasant St. S.E., Minneapolis Students will learn how the presence and absence of clouds affects the global climate. Chemistry researchers will help students to make "clouds in a box" in the lab. - Lake Sediment Core Research--8:45-9:45 a.m. and 10:45-11:45 a.m., Room 672, Civil Engineering Building, 500 Pillsbury Dr. S.E., Minneapolis Students will learn what core samples taken from the bottoms of lakes around the world tell us about how climate has changed over time and the impacts of people on lake ecosystems. Students will see a demonstration of coring by civil engineering researchers and investigate the texture of lake sediments under a microscope. - Past Climate from Tree Rings--8:45-9:45 a.m., Room 15, Rapson Hall, 89 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis, nd 10:45-11:45 a.m., Room 305, Lind Hall, 207 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis Students will use paper examples of tree cores to learn from geography researchers how tree rings can be used to help us learn about past climate variation before modern weather records. - Human-Climate Interaction Game--9:30-10:30 a.m., Room 8, Magrath Library, 1984 Buford Ave., St. Paul Students will play simulation games in small groups to show how human changes to landscape patterns might affect species migrations and survival in the event of climate change. The university event also will include a keynote address given by renowned climate researcher Mark Seeley, a professor in the university's department of soil, water and climate, from 8:45-9:15 a.m. in Room 15, Food Science and Nutrition, 1334 Eckles Ave., St. Paul and again from 9:55-10:30 a.m. in Mayo Memorial Auditorium, 425 Delaware St. S.E., Minneapolis. This year's LEGO League competition theme, "Climate Connections," will help middle school students discover links between science, people, resources and communities as they relate to climate. The competition challenges students to build small autonomous robots from a kit of more than 1,000 parts, including LEGO pieces and elements such as sensors, motors and gears, to accomplish missions related to climate. Students must also complete an eight-week research project in which they identify a problem caused by climate in their community and create an innovative solution. Last year in Minnesota, 320 teams competed in LEGO League competitions sponsored by the Minnesota nonprofit group HighTechKids. Worldwide more than 100,000 children in 38 countries compete in LEGO League competitions. This year's University of Minnesota program is the result of a first-time collaborative partnership between the university's Institute of Technology (the college of engineering, physical sciences and mathematics), the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and the college of Liberal Arts, with support from Twin Cities-based CHS, Inc. (formerly known as Cenex Harvest States). For more information about FIRST LEGO League and HighTechKids visit www.hightechkids.org and www.firstlegoleague.org. ---------- |
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