The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS) is looking for undergraduate students to be mentors to middle school kids for the Zero Robotics Middle School Program. Please email Gene Tavares (Eugene.Tavares@ucf.edu) if you are interested in mentoring the students. There is a 1.5 hour online training session the week of May 27 to review the curriculum, which would be ideal for mentors to join
Mentors
We need your help! With the Zero Robotics Middle School Summer Program we hope to provide you with the tools to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering science and technology.
What is Zero Robotics?
“Zero Robotics” is a robotics programming competition where the robots are SPHERES satellites inside the International Space Station. The competition starts in the classroom, where teams compete to solve an annual challenge guided by mentors and an instructor. As a mentor, you get to work with a group of students to help them program the SPHERES satellites for a challenge designed by MIT! You will be assisting the students with their programming tasks. Students in the Middle School Summer Program will use a graphical drag and drop style editor. To find more about our program go to: www.zerorobotics.org.
What you need as a mentor
- You should have some general programming experience (C Language experience is ideal). Mentors need not have prior experience with SPHERES or Zero Robotics.
- You will be assigned to mentor 1 team of 10-15 students from your local area. There will be an instructor assigned to each team; your role will be to help the instructor and students with computer programming.
Timeline
- Week of May 27: Attend a 1.5 hour online training (curriculum preview day) and complete training tutorials on your own (exact date TBD)
- Week of June 3: Attend two half-day (12:00 pm – 4:00 PM) online Curriculum Training sessions (exact dates TBD)
- June 17 through July 26 (there is no program the week of July 1): 1-2 hours per week working with your team in the classroom. Ability to commit to extra hours during Weeks 3 and 4 is desirable.
- Week of June 24: 1) Attend Field Day at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex; 2) 1 full day (exact date TBD) working with the team in the classroom to assist with activities
- August 13: Attend the final Zero Robotics Competition at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (live broadcast from the International Space Center)