Want to end the school year with some fun STEM activities for your students? Below is a summary of three easy-to-do activities that teach both engineering and social skills, according to Jason Innes, director of curriculum, training, and product management for KinderLab Robotics, originally published in The Journal.
Social Emotional Learning With Superhero Robots:
This activity is for teachers who already have robots in their classrooms. Designed to help students develop both technical and social skills, the activity requires students to program their robots to be super heroes that defend their communities. Next, they will make costumes for their superhero robots and program them to show off their new powers. This free lesson plan can help you set up the activity.
Floating Boats:
A great way to teach students about engineering design is to ask them to design boats out of everyday materials, like cans and cardboard, that can float. Students should design their boats with as little material as possible. To test their designs, they will float them in water and then add coins or stones to see how well they float. Teams should also take breaks and collaborate with one another to share ideas and learn.
“Programmer Says”:
Similar to Simon Says, Programmer Says is a game in which you give your students a sequence of programming commands to act out in the correct order, using either their own bodies or a robot. You can either speak the commands out loud or use symbols on cards that reflect real-life programming icons from block-based programs such as Scratch Jr. You can also have your students think of other actions their robots might perform and ask them to make new cards with these commands. Teachers that have real robots in their classrooms can ask their students to program their robots to program sequences from Programmer Says.
Additional STEM Resources
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