Category Archives: Robotics

Scalability of Lego Engineering for Elementary and Middle Schools

Posted on December 21, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

I’ve been wondering how scalable either my ELementary Engineering Curriculum or any other similar program would be in terms of cost per student. So if we assume 24 kids per class, kids working in pairs, teachers sharing the kits by … Continue reading →

Posted in Robotics, Teaching, Technology | 3 Comments

Adventure Story

Posted on December 17, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

Airplane Adventure by Katie and Becca   Hi.  My name is Serena.  I wanted to go to France.  I got in my plane and started it up. [Narrator] When she got into the sky, a flock of birds flew in … Continue reading →

Posted in Robotics, Teaching, Technology | 1 Comment

Sample Third Grade Amazing Adventure Story

Posted on December 16, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

Third graders wrote and acted out (with their robots) adventure stories.  Here’s a sample story.  I’ll post a video next of a different team. The Adventure of Max Toney by CW and AB Max Toney is ready for the summer. … Continue reading →

Posted in Robotics, Teaching, Technology | 2 Comments

Cool Burglar Alarm

Posted on December 15, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

  Here was one cool burglar alarm from today.  There is a motion sensor to detect motion at the door.  The kids were challenged to use the tilt sensor too.  This team put some cams in front of the door.  … Continue reading →

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Kid’s Understanding of Engineering Requirements

Posted on December 14, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

I had an interesting experience today in our fourth grade open ended engineering challenge.  The students have to build and market a burglar alarm using the Lego WeDo Robotics Kit and Resource Kit (extra parts).  One team had the tilt … Continue reading →

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Elementary Robotics Here – How It All Started

Posted on November 28, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

When I came to the Williamsburg Schools eight years ago, there was an established robotics program for sixth graders, which I continued.  It was based on the older Lego RCX robots, which were problem prone.  A grade 1/2 teacher and … Continue reading →

Posted in Child Development, Robotics, Teaching, Technology | 4 Comments

Integration of Writing and Robots

Posted on November 23, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

Wow.  The third graders are writing up a storm with their adventure stories that go along with the WeDo airplane robot.  They also started creating Lego and paper props and backgrounds.  Some students, who are in the FLL, Jr club, … Continue reading →

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3 Year Third Grade Students

Posted on November 22, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

The third grade robotics students seem very proficient to me in both building and programming.  I started this group in grade 1 with WeDo robotics.  I wish I could quantify this more.  I will be able to compare their open … Continue reading →

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Use of Props for Robotics Related Writing

Posted on November 16, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

We are doing  the Lego WeDo Adventure Stories unit in third grade.  This unit integrates with language arts, particularly writing.  Students write in a number of different formats (plays, interviews, logs) with their adventure robots as the setting and impetus … Continue reading →

Posted in Robotics, Teaching | 2 Comments

Reaction to Robotics

Posted on November 9, 2011 by JohnHeffernan

I walked into one of my third grade class yesterday with the cart of robotics materials and all the kids in the class cheered when I came in.  That does not happen every day!

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