Brooklyn Sixth Graders Learn How to Create a Better R2D2
My students need, books, cutting mats, rulers, scissors, glue and several other items in order to make our introduction to our Karakuri & Robotics club a success.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Remember the first time you saw "Robby the Robot", R2D2, or Transformers? The scientist in you wanted to know how they were created? Now imagine if your science teacher had the supplies and knowledge to help you create your own robot! Students are about to learn the physics of karakuri and robotics.
Our school is a new science middle school that will open its doors for the first time this fall.
Our group of sixth graders are bright, loving and engaging students who are interested in science, engineering, and technology. This year will be my students first year as participants in the FIRST LEGO League and we want them to take the steps needed to understand the engineering involved in designing and building robots. What better place to start then with the design of their own karakuri.
My students will learn how to build a karakuri, classic toys that move via simple mechanisms like cams and gears. My students will also learn about the automates' that fascinated Europeans in the 18th and 19th centuries. These simple designs will help them to understand the physics behind the more complex robotic designs, as they progress in building more complex robots. Our parents are hard working but could never afford the cost for the supplies for our robotics club, so we need your help.
My Project
Utilizing the works of Keisuke Saka from the Karakuri Book and all the tools, students will learn how to measure, cut, paste, and design various cams, gears and cranks as they create a tea-serving robot, a peek-a-bear as well as various other machines. Our robotic club will meet three times a week and will teach students the principles of physics. Students will be introduced to the basic logic behind some important mechanisms.
Easy to follow diagrams will help students to understand how they work. Students will learn that karakuri mechanisms are found in common tools and machines we use everyday without knowing. The paper-craft models found in our books will bring the laws of physics behind such items into the 3-D realm. Students will teach other students how to construct Karakuri and will progress to designing more complex robots when they engage in our FIRST LEGO League competitions.
My goal is to expose our students to the science that is needed to ensure that we have more scientist and engineers in our country.
Your donations will ensure that we have the supplies needed to encourage our students towards engineering, technology and other sciences. The confidence they will develop will help them to decide if these are fields that they would like to pursue. Mastering the complexities of these designs will build self confidence that young adults need to believe in themselves.
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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 Ms. Jennings and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
