Legos® Help Young Students Explore The Foundations Of Robotics
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Kids love to play with Legos®, and second- and third-graders at Washington STEM Academy have used them to create robotic projects. Wednesday night, the school hosted a parent night so they could see what their students have been working on in the Teachers Credit Union-sponsored Junior FIRST® Lego® League. According to science, technology, engineering and math coach Ben Barkey, the Junior FLL is for students in kindergarten to third grade. They have a theme each year the same as the older students, but the Junior League is a simpler version. The theme this year revolves around senior citizens. For their projects, Barkey said, students had to talk to seniors, discover more about them, find one thing that has changed in their lifetime and build a model based on that change. The model has to have a moving part. Every model also has a programming aspect to it. Second-graders in Derek Pike’s class built phonographs. One group built one that has an arm programmed to go down on a “record” and the record starts spinning. Using software and computers, different records play different sounds. Barkey said this is giving students a solid foundation in their education that they can build upon in the future. During the project, students are learning about robotics, programming, reading, writing, research and math. “This is a prime example of project-based STEM education,” said Barkey. To complete the project, Washington Principal Tom Ray said, the students have to give an authentic presentation. Ray said TCU paid for everything (except the computers) from the Legos® and T-shirts to the cookies and drink at Wednesday’s parent night. “And look at the impact they’ve had,” Barkey said. “They will be able to use this for years,” Ray said. “They can transfer what they’ve learned to younger students.” George Robertson, Kosciusko County Economic Development Corp., was impressed with the students’ projects. “I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “Businesses and industry needs people with STEM experience. It’s a good way to introduce kids to technology.” Priya Robertson was glad to see how excited their son was about the project. “I’ve never seen my son so eager to come back to school after being home an hour,” she said. “His whole personality has changed. He went from wanting to be a lawyer to wanting to be an engineer.”
