Category Archives: Robotics

Dragster Record Broken

Posted on November 15, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

Two great designers and great grade 6 kids, Kyle and Mark, worked together in an exceptional way to break my current record for dragster cars.  They achieved 7.7 ft/sec beating the old record of 7.63 ft/sec.  They created a dozen … Continue reading →

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Book Nearing Completion

Posted on October 23, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

I am in the (hopefully) final throes of producing my book Elementary Engineering:  Sustaining the Natural Engineering Instincts of Children.  I decided to self publish through createspace.com.  Going through large companies was taking to long.  I hope to have it … Continue reading →

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Calculating Velocity

Posted on October 3, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

I had a great team of 2 boys this week who were the first to build a LEGO NXT Dragster.  I usually instruct kids to build a 10 foot course and time the car.  Well, I noticed they were setting … Continue reading →

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Year 2 Case Study Results – Summary

Posted on September 11, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

Year 2 – Longitudinal Robotics Case Study John Heffernan – 7/7/13 Introduction This basic research seeks to understand how children’s engineering skills change over time. Secondarily, I want to know how our K-6 robotics program influences students.  Every year from … Continue reading →

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Gender Differences in STEM

Posted on July 27, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

This is from a very interesting study that looks at how teachers treat boys and girls differently in the context of a STEM LEGO robotics project.  It confirms my experience that girls need to be involved in engineering projects all … Continue reading →

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Robotics Bibliography

Posted on July 16, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

As part of my book project and for graduate school, I am working on a research chapter for my elementary robotics book. Next step is an annotated bibliography but here is the non-annotated one for now.  I will post a … Continue reading →

Posted in Research, Robotics | 1 Comment

EV3 Woodpecker

Posted on July 9, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

One interesting project would be for students to create their own wild animals that mimics the  movement or behavior of a wild animal.  In addition to the open ended engineering challenge of building the robot, they would need to research … Continue reading →

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Sample Lesson Plan – Grade 2 Robotic Amusement Park Ride Challenge

Posted on June 26, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

I am in the process of finishing my Elementary Engineering with Robotics book.  I am now finishing all the lesson plans.  Here is a sample lesson that will be in the book.  Note that the standards alignment will be in … Continue reading →

Posted in Robotics, Teaching, Technology | 6 Comments

New NXT Dragster Record

Posted on June 3, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

Our sixth grade had a new dragster speed record this week. The previous record was around 6 feet per speed. This year we had a student, Evrett, who achieved a time of 1.3 seconds on a 10 foot course, which … Continue reading →

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LEGO WeDo Vehicle Challenge

Posted on May 31, 2013 by JohnHeffernan

I needed another open ended challenge for a grade 3 class that wanted to do another project this year. A couple of second graders made a car for the amusement park challenge this year (see below) so I thought I … Continue reading →

Posted in Robotics, Teaching, Technology | 5 Comments