The Robot Round-Up

Winter 2009 marks the beginning of our second year at Whittier Elementary and another round of teacher and parent trainings in the robotics curriculum. Last year, we designed successful pilot program for the 1st and 5th grade classes, and based on feedback and observation of last year's program, we have refined activities and expanded the engineering curriculum for both grades.

Parents have been an integral part of the development of this program, particularly in the first grade classrooms. Because younger students need more attention as they initially engage engineering principles and physics theories, we trained both parents and teachers to work with the students in small groups. Parents introduced concepts like potential energy and gears to early learners, who were thrilled with the engineering components of the curriculum. Students learned that -energy makes things go, and having grasped basic principles, are ready for more challenging concepts.

Parents noticed the impact of the program, noting that "the robotics activities can enrich and reinforce the classroom science curriculum. In addition to illustrating grade appropriate scientific and mathematic principles, our activities taught -practical science practices [like] observation, measurement, note-taking... [and] hypothesis formation and testing."

One parent indicated that her child -said it was her favorite thing to study in first grade. While the students enjoyed the foundational exercises, most were excited by the vehicles they created, whether they were basic cars racing down a ramp or rubber-band powered roadsters.

But why incorporate physics and engineering into first grade classrooms? At first, these concepts might seem too complex for younger students, but with the right presentation, younger students grasp scientific concepts quickly. And, by introducing basic principles like energy or gravity at an early stage, we develop life-long learners of our students. Consider how much easier it will be for these students to pick up complex principles in their high school science classes if they have been consistently learning these concepts in gradually increasing degrees of difficulty throughout their educational careers. Getting our students excited about these subjects early means they will be more successful in later years and more likely to pursue STEM fields in college or as vocations.

The first-grade curriculum consists of five activities that introduce students to the robotics kits and basic concepts like gears, ramps and energy. Students engage in basic principles of engineering; in one experiment, our amateur engineers designed chairs for their stuffed animals strong enough to withstand being dropped or being flicked. In other activities, they built cars powered by rubber bands, and learn from a series of experiments how design affects power and speed.

This year, Ms. Mayo's first-grade class will also be assisted by their fifth-grade -reading buddies, who are also working on more advanced robotics concepts in their classrooms. In this way, the first and fifth graders both benefit; the first graders learn from students who have already tackled the topics, and the fifth graders reinforce concepts they've learned by mentoring. We'll be observing this sustainable model and developing programming for new school sites based on successful components.