Tuesday, June 25, 2019

What looks like a light up ball, is actually one of my favorite STEM tech tools to use in the classroom. While the students like driving them around, there is so much more to do with these rolling balls of fun! Did I mentioned that you can throw them up in the air and they won't break. Use them paint or run them through light water. 

Sphero Edu is a STEAM-based tool that uses coding within their software to promote 21st Century skills. Sphero Edu prides itself on going beyond the coding by nurturing student's creativity, which is more than a lot of programs can do. 

One of the wonderful things about the Sphero, is that the app works on almost all devices. You can download the app on Mac Apple Store, Google Chrome, Amazon App Store, Microsoft and any mobile device. This means that even if you don't have iPads in your classroom, students can use them using Chromebooks or classroom computers.

The app is super friendly. After you create an account, you will be asked to connect your Sphero. Depending on the kind of Sphero you have depends on how you connect it.

Once you have connected your Sphero, you can browse through already made programs, take your Sphero on a test drive or actually code your robot to do what you want.

In the videos below, are my students just having fun driving the Sphero's around. Depending on time, this is what I have them start off with. This gets them accustomed to the directions (which tend to be opposite). They can also change the color that their Sphero is. 

After letting them play around with them by driving them is when you can begin to have your students code. When creating a new program, this is what you or students will see. Below the blank screen, students can scroll and have a bunch of different options to choose from. I created a sample of what the code could look like. Students can change the degrees of the Sphero's turn, how fast it goes and for how long. They can code the Sphero to say something, make a noise or even turn a different color. 

I used the coding specifically when we were talking about Geometry. I gave my students a checklist and they had to create a maze for their Sphero to move through. For example, it had to have an intersecting line, right angles, straight angles and so on. It took a lot of trial and error for them to figure out how to work it exactly. 

Other ways that you can use the Spheros in the Classroom are: 

1. Have your students code them to be planets in the Solar System and orbit a sun. 
2. Force and Motion 
3. Use the Sphero in reading to play the "Big Bad Wolf" and knock down students structures 

While these are just a few ideas for the Sphero, their website offers already made activities that you can have your students complete or play around with. 

Check out their website, download their app and have fun! 

Monday, June 24, 2019















Tuesday, June 18, 2019

I am teaching a Tech Tuesday to 5-8 graders this summer, so I thought I would blog about it too. Every Tuesday for the next couple weeks, I will write a post about a specific STEM Tech Tool that I have used and absolutely loved! 

Today's tool was Ozobots. Probably one of more simpler tools to use, Ozobots was actually my first STEM tool.  Ozobots are small little robots that blend both the physical world and technological world. It teaches students how to program and code by using FOUR markers: black, red, blue and green. With one type of Ozobot, the Bit, you just need the Ozobot itself, paper and the markers. These can be any brand of markers. The other type of Ozobot, the Evo, you can actually use it on a digital device and code from there. Both types are great, I however prefer the Bit. They are more affordable, selling on Amazon for about $40-$60. 

I have used the Ozobots mainly in Math and Social Studies/Science. The first time I used them for Math, was during our Monster's Inc. Multiplication Day. I wanted to integrate STEM, so I actually introduced students to Ozobots on this day and they were a hit. If you go to the link above, it will take you to the Ozobot website. There they have a lesson library for lessons that you can use in your classroom and printable for you to use. I used the printables to allow students to get adjusted to using the Ozobots. When they felt comfortable with the tools and codes, I had students create a map of Utah, with the different environments we had learned about in Science and code their Ozobot to "travel" through the state visiting each landform. 

The next time that I used them it was for a Math lesson. As you can see in the picture below, Sully and Mike needed to help return Boo safely to her door before Randall catches them. Naturally when you place the Ozobot on the black line it will start moving, but when it gets to Door Number 1 it will stop because it doesn't have a code or command. That is where I snuck in math problems. The second page of this had five multiplication problems, where students needed to solve them. Their answer to their multiplication problem would give them the code that they needed for the door they were at.  For example, the answer to Door Number 1 is 365, students would then find their answer from the codes below and then color the boxes at Door Number 1 to match the codes. This code is Super Snail Dose, meaning their Ozobot then would go super slow. The Ozobot would then continue to follow the path until they made it to Door Number 2 and the process would start all over. 


The next way that I used Ozobots in my classroom was in our Geometry Unit. I was doing a Race Car Room Transformation and wanted to stick with the same thing. I set the scene and told students that race car drivers have to use their knowledge of lines and angles to plan their perfect route. Using the markers they had to to code what they thought would be the perfect race car track BUT they had to include different types of lines and angles. This is where you see a lot of s student creativity come into play because they are able to have choice in what the end product looks like. I have included a video of a students map with some coding on it at the end, so you can see what it looks like with this activity! 

Make sure to visit the Ozobot website and check out their Lesson Library. Let me know if you have any questions by commenting or e-mailing me.