Headlines are full of disastrous disturbing news. Despite this recurring fact, most people are not prepared for a disaster. This gets us even more disturbing news when they are victims of a Nature’s Fury disaster! There are “learning obstacles” that prevent people from being as “disaster ready” as they should be. These learning obstacles can be summarized in the acronym: FAMILIES. Fear: “it’s too scary!” Attention span: “I’m too busy!”…
Read MoreNature’s Fury
Nature’s Fury is a project we have been working made out of Legos. It represents natural disasters that happen unexpectedly like plane crashes. We will use robots we programmed. One of the obstacles is called safe landing. We use a robot that will drive forward, turn slightly, push the lever and release the plane. All of the obstacles are very interesting, like the one that represents tree branches during storms…
Read MoreNature’s Fury Seniors’ Emergency Preparedness
I want to learn more about what can be done to assist Seniors in a disaster brought on by Nature’s Fury. I am in a science club that competes in First Lego League. Last year the theme was Senior Solutions. Seniors have difficulty using computers and getting the forms they need off the internet. I helped write a booklet instructing Seniors how to get this done. This year the FLL…
Read MoreNature’s Fury Disasters – Floods and Tornadoes
I went to Google Scholar which led me to Ready.gov to learn more about Nature’s Fury and disasters. My science club is competing in First Lego League this year. The theme is “Nature’s Fury.” I want to research more about disasters in floods and tornadoes. Every year disasters victimize millions of people around the world and cost billions of dollars. Floods: Floods are one of the most common hazards in…
Read MoreColorado Flooding and Its Affect on Nebraska
The rains in Colorado started off as a simple shower but grew bigger and stronger. This rainfall continued for almost 5 days producing a total of 14.62 inches of rain. The normal rainfall for the month of September is 1.63 inches. All this water created flash flooding in Colorado and resulting in major damage and lives lost. These flood waters would be flowing into Nebraska soon. Preparations needed to be…
Read MoreAcademy Science FLL Programming Camp
Grandpa is an engineer. He is a programming wonder! Little passes without Grandpa assessing the situation and dispensing his experientially qualified advice. Today Grandpa says, “Plan the work and work the plan!” We will get this under our belts one day! Until then programming camp will look like a wild flurry of people, planning sheets, pseudocode, binary programs, robots, attachments, construction materials and miscellaneous stuff going every which way! What…
Read MoreNebraska 4-H Club of the Year
Someone is always watching … Grandpa says this. Guess who is “4-H Club of the Year?” The Awards Moderator’s introduction for Academy Science Club, 4-H Club of the Year: Academy 4-H Club lives the 4-H Pledge and 4-H Motto all year round! We are a club that is always accepting visitors and new members. We serve the community all year round through community projects and club demonstrations. This last year…
Read MoreNebraska 4-H Club of Excellence
A great day in a club member’s and leader’s experience! Nebraska 4-H Extension recognizes Academy Science Club as a Club of Excellence at the Awards Dinner. The Certificate of Excellence reads: This certificate is presented to Academy for developing enthusiastic young people who boldly take action to demonstrate life skills as capable, caring, confident, competent kids of character thus contributing to the improvement of themselves, their family, their club, their…
Read More2013 FLL Nature’s Fury Game Board
Hello readers of the Academy blog! This year’s game board appears to be very challenging, with challenges representing real life natural disasters and disaster recovery. As you can see, the game board has 9 colored zones. In the top-left corner of the game board is the tree, pets, and flashlight. The objective of the tree is to knock the loose branch off without making serious contact with the electrical wires.…
Read MoreFirst Lego League Nature’s Fury Challenge
Nature’s Fury Challenge may very well be one the most exciting FLL challenges I have met so far! Just take one look at the mission challenges on the game board. There are pets we have to place with people. A plane has to come in to land safely. I have no clue as to how it will get out of there after all the debris collect on the runway. There…
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