"Tinkering is what happens when you try something you don't quite know how to do, guided by whim, imagination and curiosity" - Massimo Banzi. Tinkering happens everyday in our library Makerspace. Students have opportunities to explore and embrace their curiosity with LEGOs, electronics and art.
We are a Title 1 magnet middle school with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math.
We are located in the inner city; many of our students come from low-income housing. We also have ties to the military community, as many of our students come from military families. 70% of our students are on free or reduced lunch. Our students come from all over the county, and represent all races and ethnicities.
For many of our students, their main exposure to technology, electronics, robotics and coding comes from school. We want to bridge the digital divide by providing an inquisitive, technology rich environment in our library, inviting all students to explore science, technology, engineering and math in a fun and informal way. Giving them a space and the tools to tinker with will help their curiosity to thrive.
Our students are innovators and problem solvers, and providing more tools will help them to thrive and grow into the scientists and engineers of the future.
My Project
This project will help to expand what we have already been doing in our Makerspace by creating a Robot Petting Zoo. We have robotics classes at our school, but they are more advanced, and not every student is able to take them. By bringing Sphero and Cubelets into our Makerspace, all of our students will have the opportunity to tinker with robotics and programming.
We will start by introducing them to students in our STEAM clubs (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math). These students will get the opportunity to explore Sphero and Cubelets in small groups. Both of these types of robots are easy to learn how to use, so students will be able to quickly get started. Working together, they'll learn things like how to program Sphero to navigate obstacle courses; they'll discover how to build robots with the Cubelets that run away when you approach them. This will allow students to explore concepts like computational thinking and programming through play.
By providing our students with the tools they need, they will be able to continue to be the creative innovators that they are, as they discover and explore new concepts through hands-on experiences.
Exposing our students to these opportunities for discovery will help to prepare them to be the scientists, engineers and problem-solvers of the future. Bringing these robots into our library will provide an exciting opportunity for our students to learn through tinkering. Let's make learning fun.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Rendina and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
