For this project, we used computer keyboards sourced from Goodwill so students would have the same piece of technology to take apart. You can source items many different ways, and Diana Rendina’s article is a great resource if you are looking for ideas. Since I did not have multiples of the same item, and was introducing this as a small group (5-6 students) reading class project with 2nd graders, I chose to purchase keyboards ($1.99 each) at Goodwill. Students were challenged to carefully deconstruct the keyboards using real tools, while following strict safety rules, and then reflect on their findings through writing and speaking tasks.

Why a Take-Apart Activity?

Take-apart activities are a great way to:

• Build curiosity and encourage questions

• Develop fine motor skills

• Foster problem-solving and perseverance

• Integrate reading, writing, and speaking skills in an authentic way

In this case, the Take-Apart Treasure Hunt gave students a real reason to read instructions, use vocabulary words, answer reflection questions, and present their ideas, all while getting a peek inside everyday technology.

By working hands-on with real objects like computer keyboards, students practiced literacy skills in a way that felt purposeful, engaging, and exciting.

Setting the Stage for Success

Before starting, we reviewed our Take-Apart Treasure Hunt Agreement, which included important safety rules:

• Eyes Safe: Wear safety glasses the entire time.

• Hands and Body Safe: We will not throw any parts or tools. We will be careful with the tools and our bodies.

• Parts Stay: All the small bits will go in the tray. The bigger parts can stay on the table. Nothing leaves the classroom.

• Tool Time: We will use the tools the right way. Ask if you need help!

After we read the agreement out loud, students signed it to show they understood the expectations and were ready to be careful, respectful engineers. Note that while all parts stayed during the time we worked on the project, students ended up taking everything home (other than the museum display parts and tiny screws) if parents agreed. Use of baggies in several sizes helped keep sets of materials and each student’s parts contained. Gallon and quart sized slider storage bags were labeled with names and trays/tools were labeled with numbers since we had to share some things like the screwdriver sets. You can see photos in the gallery at the bottom of this post.

Building Literacy Skills Throughout

Students completed pre-activity reflections to predict what they might find inside their keyboards. They used a word bank and practiced vocabulary related to parts, tools, gears, wires, and safety. After the take-apart session, they answered a series of written reflection questions about what they found and why it was interesting.

Next, they used a very basic Google Slides template to create a visual presentation featuring one or two parts they found, what they thought the parts did, and why they found them interesting. This also gave them a chance to practice typing, organizing ideas, and preparing for oral presentations. Students chose the parts they wanted to highlight and helped me set them up to be photographed. I added the photos directly into their slides.

Our Take-Apart Museum

To celebrate their hard work, students created a mini Take-Apart Museum to showcase their discoveries!
Each student was given a simple paper display stand made by folding a piece of paper into an open box shape with a piece of cardboard glued to the bottom for stability. Their display included:

• One or two parts they chose from their deconstructed keyboard

• A colorful background or frame created with the folded paper

Next time I would add this in, or consider setting it up with links to last year’s presentations for more students to see this year:

• A printed caption, or if space was tight, a QR code linking to them a video of them reading their slides

This museum-style setup allows students to share their STEM and literacy work in a real-world way that makes their learning visible and celebrates their curiosity. The greatest challenge was the timing for when we started and completed the projects, so they never had the full museum display experience. The good news is that the students all recorded themselves reading their slides (using the built-in screen recording feature of Google Slides), so it is easy enough to use the QR code option mentioned above to highlight the projects again this year.

A Take-Apart Treasure Hunt: More Than Just STEM

This project wasn’t just about technology or science, it was about giving students a meaningful reason to read, write, think, create, and share.
Using an authentic task like this one helps make pullout reading and writing groups feel important, exciting, and connected to the real world.

I look forward to building on this experience with even more hands-on literacy-focused STEM projects!

If you’d like to try the Take-Apart Treasure Hunt with your students, grab a copy of the resources below and please reach out to me with any questions about logistics or anything I did not cover in detail within this post.

Make a copy of the Google Doc for this activity

Make a copy of the Google Slides template for student sharing - this is very basic and fit with the age/level for my groups and time we had (the end of the year!)

And a special thanks again to Diana Rendina for her inspiring "de-construction not destruction" take-apart approach!

Introduction

Robots transform elementary classrooms by engaging students in hands-on, interactive learning. In this post, we will dive into how I introduced the Code & Go Robot Mouse by Learning Resources to my students. If you are curious about using robots in your classroom, keep reading and try these activities with your students! Through a fun “driver’s license” certification activity, students developed problem-solving, sequencing, and debugging skills. We also explored a math activity using coins and basic pathways, integrating robotics into foundational skills practice.

In my role as a special education teacher at a K-5 public school, I have the privilege of working with small groups of second-grade students who benefit from targeted support in foundational reading and math skills. These pullout groups provide a focused environment where students can build confidence and engage in hands-on, interactive activities tailored to their needs. One of the tools I recently introduced is educational robots. From coding basics to integrating math and literacy concepts, these robots bring a new level of engagement and problem-solving to our lessons.

This post is the first in a series where I share how educational robots, like the Code & Go Robot Mouse, can transform learning for students with IEPs. The educational robots I will be sharing in this series provide a hands-on, screen-free way for my students to build critical skills such as problem-solving, sequencing, and spatial awareness. Since these robots do not require reading to program, they offer accessible and engaging learning experiences for all students, including those with diverse literacy and language needs. By integrating these tools into lessons, students can strengthen foundational math and reading skills while building their confidence and creativity.

Getting Started: Code & Go Robot Mouse Driver’s License for Elementary Students

We began our journey with the Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set because it offers a low barrier to entry for integrating robots into academic small group work. The cost of the activity set is reasonable, but you can also find them in garage sales or even on Facebook Marketplace for less. Our set was from my neighborhood sidewalk sale and cost $8. When added to an existing set at school that included a non-functional blue Colby the mouse, we ended up with plenty of green pathway pieces, purple wall barriers, and orange archways. Fortunately, the company stood behind the warranty for the original set and sent a replacement mouse. You can purchase a mouse separately as well. The kids enjoy the fact that this replacement is one of the standalone purple versions, named Jack. Since I first began with this set over a decade ago in a different position, the company has added a new version that includes a rechargeable mouse. While I have not used that version of the activity set or the standalone rechargeable purple version myself, I can speak to the fact that batteries (3 AAA) do go fairly quickly, so keep that in mind if purchasing one of these new!

To help my students become familiar with Colby the robot mouse, we started with a "driver’s license" certification. This activity allowed them to explore the basic functions of the robot while building their confidence in coding and troubleshooting. There are a number of existing resources that can be used to create your own “certification” program like I did, but you can also make a copy of my version in Google Slides here. Learning Resources even has some bonus activities on their own website for free. I used the “Explore Robot Mouse Functions” lesson as a basis for the first part of my own activity and made only minor changes to make it work for my students. For example, we have a page to label the buttons that includes a word bank and large spaces to accommodate fine motor writing challenges. We had to have a separate conversation about the red button/lighting bolt card and icon to make it clear that the “action” button could do one of three different random actions whenever it was pressed. It was great to see all their ideas about it before testing and then see their curiosity as it did something different when pressed again. Since we ended up with both a Colby (sidewalk sale) and a Jack (replacement), I included both options in the slides for the paper mouse cutouts. Another resource mentioned that having a paper version of the mouse is helpful to practice with and demonstrate how we do not drive the mouse “like a race car” by pressing it manually. This is one of the most common ways to damage them, so it was imperative for me to help the kids understand that that as part of the safety and care step. When in doubt, have a cutout paper copy for each student - the kids loved picking between Colby or Jack for their paper mouse.

5 Steps to Certification

1. Button Exploration:

• Students tested each button on Colby and recorded what they expected it to do. After testing, they circled "Yes" or "No" to show whether their predictions were correct.

2. Labeling the Diagram:

• Using a word bank, students matched coding terms like "Forward," "Left Turn," and "Clear" to the correct buttons on a diagram of the mouse.

3. Practicing Sequencing and Directionality:

• Before programming Colby, we worked on understanding how sequencing and directionality play key roles. Students practiced identifying right and left by picturing themselves in Colby’s position, noting which way he was facing. The arrow on each turn button (left or right) points to the direction Colby will go after turning.

• This skill was essential for ensuring their programs were accurate and for reinforcing spatial awareness.

4. Hands-On Coding Practice:

• Students used coding cards to plan and program Colby’s path to the cheese. They started with teacher-provided sequences (see road test examples below) and progressed to creating their own.

• Click the picture of either road test example below to download a PDF copy. These were created by me in Canva (very basic examples!), but once again you can find a number of other options online or just use some of the provided activity cards that come with the set.

5. Safety and Care:

• As part of the certification, students agreed to keep Colby safe by ensuring their hands were clean, avoiding manual driving, and pressing buttons gently.

Students earned both a full page certificate for completing the written portion and road test, in addition to a smaller (just printed with several on a page to reduce size) “license” with their picture. Everything was made using Canva.

Math Integration with Educational Robots: Practicing Coins and Coding

After earning their driver’s licenses, students applied their coding skills to a math activity involving coin recognition and value. Since our coin lesson was a new skill in math, we also utilized a “helper page” that showed each coin as a picture, word, and the value associated with it. Having this resource, and becoming familiar with how to best use a skill sheet is also an important skill in our foundational classes.

Activity Overview

1. Set Up the Path:

• I created a simple path using the Code & Go Robot Mouse grid with 6 pieces in a straight line. Along the path, I placed a single coin manipulative (penny, nickel, dime, and quarter).

2. The Task:

• Each student took turns programming Colby to move along the path to reach whatever coin I called out for their turn. At each stop, they identified the coin, counted its value, and we recorded the total for each student on a small dry erase board.

3. Extensions:

• Challenge students to program Colby to collect a specific total value or follow a path using only certain coins (e.g., only dimes and quarters).

This activity combined math and coding, reinforcing number sense while engaging students in a fun, interactive way.

Practical Tips and sharing

• For students struggling with directionality, use floor tape with arrows showing left/right.

• Encourage students to face the same direction as the mouse.

• Model and explain the difference between turning and moving forward.

Ensure that they can practice with their body facing the same direction as the mouse and physically turning towards the way the arrow points. Reinforce left and right with the color coding (left turn is the orange arrow, right turn is the purple arrow) that matches the mouse/coding cards. Model how the mouse only TURNS 90 degrees left or right when the arrow is pressed, but it does not turn and move forward. This is a common misconception that may frustrate young students, so be sure to model and reinforce what actually happens so they get in the habit of programming a turn along with a forward/backward movement as needed.

Encourage reflection! Have students discuss, write, or draw about their experience with the robot:

• What was challenging?

• What strategies helped them debug their code?

• How did they feel when Colby reached the cheese?

What are your favorite ways to integrate technology into reading and math lessons? Let me know in the comments or on social media. Please share and tag me on social media (@msgilbertrocks on Twitter/X and Instagram) if you use the activities!

Why Use Robots in the Classroom?

Introducing robots like Colby provides students with more than just coding skills. These activities build critical thinking, persistence, and collaboration. They also show how technology can support foundational skills in reading and math, making learning accessible and fun for all students.

Coming Up Next:

In the next post, I will explore a different educational robot and include integration for literacy activities inspired by the Wilson Reading System.

Have a product you want me to review?

Think your robot or other product would make a great addition to the special education classroom? I welcome opportunities to review tools and collaborate with brands. Let’s connect!

This is Jen’s third LEGO Wall, and quite possibly the last. Our previous build can be found written up in this blog post: Classroom LEGO Wall for Playful Learning. We've learned a lot from our past experiences, and we are excited to share how we have adapted the concept for this mobile version.

Inspiration struck thanks to Maggie mentioning that we should consider using a whiteboard on wheels, and a post from Brooke Brown (@teachoutsidethebox) on Instagram. Brooke's custom rolling furniture with a built-in LEGO Wall sparked an idea: a mobile LEGO Wall with a cabinet base for storage and floor play!

Designing and Sourcing Materials

The idea of combining a mobile LEGO Wall with the practicality of using a cabinet to keep pieces at the bottom and allow kids to sit on the floor to use it seemed like the ideal fit for our shared classroom space. With this in mind, Jen used Tinkercad to mock up a design of what she thought we could create, if we built something from scratch. We also wanted a visual to use if shopping for materials or trying to explain the project to others. We were curious how much materials would cost, so the mock up was helpful to get overall dimensions in order as well. Initially, we were looking to do something that would span approximately 30 inches (3 baseplates) wide, be 24-ish inches tall (just over 2 baseplates), and about 6 inches deep to fit the limited classroom space available. Wheels were a must to make everything mobile. While initially considering building from scratch ($60-$100), repurposing furniture seemed like a budget-friendly option.

Repurposing Magic at the Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse

After mocking things up, we figured we would look around for any pieces of furniture that could be repurposed as well. We thought we could save costs by finding a piece of furniture with similar dimensions. Maggie had some options to consider, but ultimately the shelf unit was too tall and heavy to be practical. One issue we had was that many shelving units/cabinets do not necessarily have real wood for the back panel, and this was an important “must have” given that the baseplates would be adhered to that back panel.

Maggie suggested checking out the Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse to find something more suitable. We figured we could find something reasonably priced and add wheels to make it work for this project. Little did we know that a trip to their store would yield a perfect match on almost every level for this project. Imagine our surprise when Jen walked down a row and saw a little cabinet with a real wood (albeit relatively thin plywood) back…and upon kneeling down to measure it discovered it already had little wheels on it! Jen’s jaw literally dropped when this happened! The size was not too far off for width and height, but the depth was around 15 inches. We thought it would still work out and held our breath when rolling it up to check the price (there was no tag). Another stroke of good fortune for us - while there is no teacher discount, this piece was only $10! Yeah, we still can’t believe our luck with this unique little piece. Solid wood, including the back, and only a single shelf to remove to create a fully open cabinet. Jen hoped the shelf could be also be repurposed into the front lip at the bottom to contain the LEGO pieces on the bottom of the cabinet. We did finish walking around the store, but no other piece came close to this little cabinet in form or price, so we happily purchased it ($11.04 with tax) and loaded it easily into the car (it is fairly lightweight!).

Prepping the Cabinet

The first task Jen gave herself was to start the prep inside the cabinet by removing the shelf. Easy to say, hard to do. The nails were VERY long and had to be dug out way more than Jen would have liked to keep the sides looking nice, but after two days of solid work on that and removing the staples (much easier) holding the shelf to the back panel, Jen noticed that the shelf also was set into the side panels of the cabinet (🤦🏼‍♀️). Since she was determined to have the option to re-use a piece of the shelf cut down to about 4 inches for that front lip, she purchased a flush hand saw to attempt to remove it with as little damage as possible to both the shelf and the interior of the cabinet. We thought this was worthwhile since the shelf was sized exactly to the interior dimensions of the cabinet and would match the rest of it, rather than purchasing a new piece of wood for the front lip. We had no plans to paint or stain since the cabinet fits in well with our older school building with the original age/coloring of the wood. Another day later, the flush saw was put to use…and actually worked! We were pleasantly surprised and moved on to sanding over some of the areas that were not quite flush on the sides. A quick trip with the cabinet to Maggie’s garage gave us an opportunity to work on more sanding and gather supplies to fill the holes in the wood with wood filler (interior) and putty (sides with nail hole gouges).

In between prepping the cabinet, we set out baseplates and measured to cut them to size along the back panel, top to bottom, as well as the left and right sides of the cabinet top to bottom. We took the greater depth as an opportunity to add baseplates to the sides of the cabinet as well! Cutting baseplates is not particularly challenging, and gets easier with experience. We used an X-Acto knife to score (approximately 7 times) along the line of LEGO pieces used to mark the bounding area for cuts. It is important to keep pressing down on the LEGO pieces to ensure they stay secure on the baseplate as you are cutting. We used a self-healing cutting mat under the baseplate as well. Once scored, we bent the the pieces gently to get them to separate cleanly. The last step in prep was to place blue painter’s tape where the baseplates would meet and have a slight gap showing the wood behind it. This was more of an aesthetic choice since we liked the idea of potentially using the cabinet as a blue screen and thought it may help. If you look through the photos, you will notice the painter’s tape in the cabinet along the areas where baseplates would meet as well as at the top, and where the back and side pieces meet. This stayed as the baseplates were installed with adhesive.

You can use any baseplates that fit your budget, and absolutely can use the branded LEGO versions for an upcycled LEGO Wall. There are a number of non-branded versions, from Dollar Tree to online resellers that have larger packs. There are baseplates that have adhesive backing on them, but we have never used those ourselves.

Final Steps

Once everything was prepped, we added adhesive using Maggie’s muscles to squeeze a caulking gun to spread it out on the back of each baseplate. As part of the prep process, I labeled each baseplate with a number so I knew where it would be placed in the cabinet. This was particularly helpful at this stage since we could refer to that painter’s tape with a number/location on the front of the baseplate and get it into the appropriate spot. There were a number of smaller cut pieces, so I found it very useful to keep them labeled immediately after cutting to avoid confusion during the installation. Jen did not do a great job with the amount of adhesive we got onto the back of the baseplates, but fortunately Maggie suggested laying the cabinet down and adding weights for the first 48 hours the adhesive was drying. This seemed to help tremendously, but we will not be surprised if we need to re-install some baseplates if they come loose after students start to play with the wall this fall. To that point, we are keeping a tube of adhesive and a couple of the same type of baseplates to be able to make any repairs at school, if needed.

Special Thanks

As teachers on a tight budget with limited access to resources, we greatly appreciate all of the support provided by the community on projects like these that enhance our shared special education classroom.

A huge shoutout to Nick Gosser, contractor extraordinaire, for cutting down the shelf to make that front lip of the cabinet using the original shelf, just the way we envisioned.

Another big thank you to Ed Gross, the owner of North Shore Handcrafted (www.northshorehandcrafted.com) for being willing to assist with parts of the project that required power tools we did not have.

Connect With Us

As always, please reach out here or on social media with any questions! We love to collaborate with others and are always happy to share our process to help other educators. Ready to build your own mobile LEGO Wall? Share your ideas and let’s connect to bring more Playful Learning to classrooms!!

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ELA Resources for Differentiation:

Wit & Wisdom Module 2 Word Play

Background

This is the first year of Wit & Wisdom implementation for the entire school. I have changed schools this year and now work in a 5th grade inclusion classroom. Learners have a broad range of needs and include students with more process and tools/strategies support rather than content differentiation. We also have students with language-based learning challenges and intellectual disabilities, so having differentiated options that can work in both large and small groups has been beneficial.

Module 2, Lesson 1

This content uses focusing question 1: How can wordplay create confusion and humor? to set up a discussion after watching the Who’s On First skit via the YouTube video. Students will participate in a discussion about initial thoughts (What is happening in the skit? What is funny? What is confusing?) after watching the video. This classic Abbott and Costello routine is pure comedic gold, packed with puns and misdirection that aligns with the module's focus.

Prep

It is important to note that there are discrepancies between the video (YouTube linked in teacher plans) and script versions of the Who’s On First? skit in the student workbook. Note that the video does not refer to the right field position, but some Wit & Wisdom resources have the player listed as “Naturally” in the slides or response journal pages. Also note that the script in the student workbook is slightly different in general, so be sure to address challenges for anyone who focuses on one version over the other (video vs. printed script). Similarly, in the YouTube video they refer to the short stop as “I Don’t Care” and in the student workbook’s printed script the character is “I Don’t Give A Darn” instead. The resources I created use the video version since it is meant to be part of a preview (the video is the first exposure students have to the skit), but feel free to adapt for the other version if that is a better fit for your classroom!

Previewing

The first resources I made for this module aligned with the Who’s On First? skit in the video version. With Quizizz, I was able to pop an image and set up matching name cards that go along with video (no right field character name, short stop is “I Don’t Care”). This is a fantastic way for students to review later or to even have a whole class interactive option to match character names to their positions. Check out this example that uses the matching feature in Quizizz. It is a premium resource, and I cannot recommend them enough for the accessibility and differentiation that just continues to grow with every update. Learn more about other ways I have used Quizizz in this blog post. I am proud to be part of the new #QuizizzAmbassador program that started this year!

No tech option

If sorting and matching for Who’s On First? characters sounds good, but you prefer a hands-on manipulative, check out this other option. There are larger and smaller character name tiles, two sizes of the baseball diamond with positions labeled. The smaller character name tiles were a better for the diamond (even with the larger size, full page version) and both things were printed (name tiles cut out) then laminated. Velcro or magnets could even add more tactile fun! This can be re-used year after year once you get it set up the first time. Download your own copy of the PDF with these items by going to this Drive link. Please let me know if something does not work and I can adapt the original!

Vocabulary

We have been using the Word Wall resources shared online (thank you and credit to Shanda Antonopoulos!) and I created several different Quizizz options to have available for both previewing vocabulary and ongoing practice with all 30 words from module 2. I was able to use the AI features built into Quizizz to have the vocabulary (Handout 1A) automatically turned into a multiple choice quiz. The first step was to download handout 1A and then go to Quizizz to create a quiz with the option of AI reading a PDF…that’s it! Once I had the initial content, I was able to add images to match up with the word wall resources that are on display in the classroom. I created several versions of the vocabulary quiz to meet the needs of different learners. Quizizz allows you to take questions from different quizzes and put them together, and it even has an option to reduce answer choices for multiple choice questions. This is a great way to cover that accommodation if students have that in their IEP. Check out all the links to the options below:

• Words 1-30 only 2 choices: *Wit & Wisdom Module 2 Vocabulary Quiz (words 1-30)*

• Words 1-10 only 2 choices: *Wit & Wisdom Module 2 Vocabulary Quiz (words 1-10)*

• Words 1-10 all 4 choices

• Words 11-20 only 2 choices: *Wit & Wisdom Module 2 Vocabulary Quiz (words 11-20)*

• Words 11-20 all 4 choices

• Words 21-30 only 2 choices: *Wit & Wisdom Module 2 Vocabulary Quiz (words 21-30)*

• Words 21-30 all 4 choices

More to come!

I hope to keep adding to this blog post to share what has been helpful for differentiation in our classroom. I am working on ways to use advertisements (like those from mailers or in magazines) to connect wordplay in the real world. If you would like to collaborate on ideas and activities virtually, please feel free to send me a message so we can connect!

The blog graphic background image (stock Canva image) is a nod to one of my favorite quotes from a Kindergarten teacher I worked with in a different school. She once said, quite calmly while walking through students “reading” (in quotes, because all were at their own levels) as part of their morning routine, as one student put a book on their head (😂): “If the book is on your head, then you’re not reading it.”

Additional notes

Chapter 6:

Consider some extensions with “the word guy” and “the number guy” as our class summarized. These characters are actually called King Azaz and the Mathemagician. Students can choose a side (words or numbers) and create poster/video/persuasive writing to support their position on which one (words or numbers) is more important.

Prior to Lesson with 32A

Writing ahead of Handout 32A planner…testing out this graphic organizer (link to make your own copy).

Prior to Lesson with 36A

A graphic organizer to go with the End of Module writing - no helper text here (link to make your own copy).

Modified versions of graphic organizers to go with End of Module writing: Landscape (link to make your own copy) and Portrait (link to make your own copy) . Please adjust to suit your students learning profiles - add or remove scaffolds/helper text as needed. I am planning to use the Landscape version and have students work with me so I can talk through the directions before having them use speech-to-text to record information for each section. I will ask them to put everything together to submit in Affirm, or copy/paste myself, if needed. The students using this version have alternative tests (among others) as an accommodation, so the modification is allowed per their IEP. Let me know what works for you too! Would love to see other versions you all create.

Wit & Wisdom Module 4 Breaking Barriers

Coming soon!

As part of a final project for The Giver, our students used iRobot’s Root Robot and their coding application to create a transportation system that connects different locations in the fictional community. Using the drag-and-drop block coding interface, students programmed Root to navigate around a mat that represented the community, avoid obstacles, and pick up and deliver “goods” to designated locations. This project aligns with the principles of Novel Engineering (from Tufts University), a framework that promotes using literature and engineering design to teach engineering concepts.

Process

Students were tasked with creating the transport trailer from recyclable/craft materials and hot glue (if you’re keeping track…yes, we went through a lot of hot glue this year!). We provided an example to show how something could be attached and roll. The example (shown here) is one that was originally used as a trailer attachment for a Bee-Bot robot many years ago. Sometimes it helps to save a sample or two for visuals! As an added bonus we had students pick some embellishments from our take-apart area where various buttons and pieces are set aside from any technology take-apart projects completed throughout the year. This gives an additional bit of flair to what the students create and allows us to upcycle pieces. You can see a variety of buttons or other components (like a speaker!) that were worked into the student projects in the photos shared below.

Getting Started

iRobot provides several STL files for 3D models related to the Root Robot. One piece that we have used with great success is the “bulldozer” attachment. This piece is used as-is for the “clear the snow” activity with cotton balls. You can learn about that (and more) in this post about our robots on the website. Jen took the existing STL file and modified it (with permission from iRobot) to include a hitch and created an accessory that could connect to a student-made trailer and the newly added hitch post.

If we have permission to share the file Jen created here, it will be added along with the accessory piece. While the hitch is not a necessary component, we thought it worked well to have that consistent for our groups so there were not several methods to attach to the robot each time someone wanted to test their trailer/transport creation. In other classes, particularly if you have more time, the challenge of attaching to the robot and spending more time on the turning ratios etc., could be a wonderful addition to the engineering side of this project. For us, it was enough of a challenge to place the hitch accessory in such a way that the trailer would still roll, but could stay connected to the hitch/robot for the duration of the run.

Sharing

To document and present their projects, students created a Google Slides presentation that included:

• Title slide with their name and a title for the project

• A summary of their project, including a paragraph (edited with tools) from their final project document

• Picture(s) of the robot with the trailer attached

• Screenshots of their code, showing how the robot is programmed to navigate from point A to point B

• A video of the robot in action, going from point A to point B

Final Thoughts

One of the great things about this activity is that it allows students to apply the concepts they’ve learned in the novel to a real-world problem-solving scenario, using the engineering design process. They have to think creatively and critically about how to design and code an efficient transportation system, all while considering the limitations of the robot/trailer hitch setup and the needs of the community.

Not only is this activity a fun and interactive way to engage with the material, but it also helps students develop important skills such as problem-solving, coding, and teamwork as well as engineering concepts. Plus, working with a physical robot like Root allows students to see the immediate results of their code and get a better understanding of how technology can be used to solve real-world problems.

If you’re looking for an exciting and unique way to wrap up your unit on The Giver, or any other novel, consider something like Mission: Transport with Root to bring the story to life. Not only will your students have a blast, but they’ll also be learning valuable skills that will prepare them for the future and apply engineering concepts in their learning process.

To get started, check out the coding application on iRobot’s coding website and start experimenting with the different blocks and commands.  You can find our version of the activity page here and make your own copy to modify. As always, please share whatever you come up with so we can see how you build on these ideas!

Photos, video snippets and a compilation video of student runs are shared below so you can see things in action. Notice the challenges with turning - if we were to do another version of this type of activity, we would have the kids test more often to get a sense for how the robot navigated the mat with the trailer attached. This was very tricky for the kids and provided some good moments to troubleshoot their path between the two points.

Planning

In the planning stage, students are asked to come up with a business idea, create a name for their company, and think about what service or product their business will provide. They also need to consider who would work for their company, how much they would charge for their goods or services, and who would buy their product. This helps students learn about market research and target audiences, as well as budgeting and financial planning. We let students work individually or in groups.

Marketing

In the marketing stage, students create an advertisement for their business or product. This can be done on paper or digitally, and should include the name of the product or service, the purpose of the product or service, and the cost of the product or service. This helps students learn about branding and messaging, as well as visual design and communication.

The Pitch

In the pitch stage, students present their business ideas to a panel of "sharks". They create a slideshow presentation that includes a picture of their product or service, and answers to important questions like how much money they're asking for, what percentage of the company they're willing to give up in exchange for investment, and how their product or service will improve people's lives. This helps students learn about public speaking and persuasion, as well as critical thinking and problem solving.

Student Examples

Overall, the Shark Tank project is a great way to engage students in a fun and interactive learning experience. Our goal was primarily to enjoy the creative process along with some actual math examples in the real world. We (Jen, Maggie, and Aimee a.k.a: MarGilly and Weiss) combined classes to allow for more group work and a larger audience on pitch day. As teachers, we were able to float around to assist individuals and groups with their own unique business ideas and talk through the math that was applicable (e.g., costs like materials and advertising). Some examples of student business ideas that were created include:

• Instafoods: Instant Kugel (small batch re-heatable kugel)

• Roman’s Pasta (protein pasta and protein bars)

• Maui Boutique (a clothing and accessory lifestyle brand)

• Post-It Folks (custom sticky notes personalized with an image/face - We know Post-It is actually a brand name, don’t worry!)

• R.O.G. Dog Collars (customizable collars for larger breed dogs with an accessory pouch included)

• Sporf On, Baby: ETT (Easy-To-Travel) Sporfs (travel utensils that include a spoon, fork, and knife) - see product mock-up photos below

  • Students had a good sense of humor with their pitches and this group even included this delightful tagline for their billboard advertisement:

Try it yourself

We created our own (ask me about Jagels Bagels!) teacher example, complete with a Canva-created advertisement, for fun to showcase what a finished pitch might look like after completing the planning document. The options are endless, and I highly recommend using Canva and other digital creation tools (Tinkercad, iMovie etc.) to enhance the products/services. We had students create physical prototypes, 3D model for images to share, and create physical paper-based and video advertisements. To get started, you can use this Google Doc to guide your students through the project, and use these blank Google Slides to create your own pitch deck. Additionally, there are many online resources available to help you teach entrepreneurship and marketing skills to your students. There are existing “Shark Tank” style activities/projects online. If you are looking for even more, check out the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge and the Junior Achievement programs.

The project used a tri-fold display board, brads, copper tape, and wires connected to a Makey Makey programmed in Scratch. Each student recorded audio with Earth Day information and conservation/sustainability facts. The different areas covered in the display were: History of Earth Day, Our Carbon Footprint, Landfills and Recycling, Sustainability, Our Natural Resources, Air Pollution, Water, and Habitat Destruction. Student names were present on the displays, but were removed from the pictures for posting.

We built on the ideas from other Makey Makey projects I (Jen) have completed over the years, such as the Makey Makey Guitar Remix Project and the Global Programming Wall. In the past, I have also used a mini tri-fold display at conferences (see photo on the left) to share about Makey Makey projects, so it was fun to make a full size version with each homeroom this year. These projects demonstrate the potential of the Makey Makey to turn everyday objects into interactive tools for learning.

The first step in our project was to create the display board. We used a tri-fold display board, which provided three panels for us to work with. We then printed out our Earth Day information using Canva and attached them to the board. Personally, I love using adhesive glue tape to ensure items stick well without bubbling/peeling. This is the brand (permanent version) I have used lately, but shop around for the best deal. I also use it at home for paper crafting, so I find it economical to just keep getting refills for the few runner cases I have on hand.

We used copper tape and brads to create circuits on the board. We attached brads to the wires to act as buttons. When students touched the buttons and the copper tape (Earth/ground - styled as a hashtag), they completed the circuit and sent a signal to the Makey Makey. We used wires to connect the Makey Makey to the buttons and included some paper clips to help with conductive surface area on the back of the brad. With the number of buttons we had we did end up remapping each Makey Makey (we used separate Makey Makey’s for each board to ensure portability) to make the “click” button the “0” key which functions better in this use-case within Scratch.

We recorded students in Scratch and connected each recording to a different keyboard key available on the Makey Makey to play the different audio recordings when students touched each button. The audio recordings provided additional information about each topic. We encouraged our students to record their own audio in a way that was accessible to younger students to make the project more engaging for our audience (2nd and 3rd graders).

The final result was a fun and interactive poster that our students enjoyed creating and sharing. They were able to learn about Earth Day in a hands-on way that kept them engaged and interested. We were thrilled to share the project with the younger students and it was a highlight to host them for a class period this spring.

Photos of the wiring setup and Makey Makey connections can be seen below. A video demonstrating how the circuit is completed using the copper tape hashtag (Earth/ground) is also below.

If you're interested in the other Makey Makey projects, be sure to check out our previous blog posts:

• Makey Makey Guitar Remix Project

• Global Programming Wall

Pasta Rovers

First up, the Planetary Pasta Rovers, based on the activity of the same name by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). You can read up about the activity in an unmodified state on their website. There are handouts, pictures showing examples of rovers, and extension activities. Much of the information was used in my modified version (make your own copy of the student handout I created). Over the years I have adjusted the timing to do the rovers first since it involves a budgeting component. The switch allows us to practice with materials management prior to the bridge-building activity. It can take anywhere from 3-5 days to complete the activity using the modified handout (make your own copy here as a Google Doc).

Data collection is nice if the group can handle it and the rovers survive sliding down the ramp a few times. After several iterations of the activity with different groups, I have learned to always record test runs, if possible. If a rover gets smashed beyond repair you can have something to track from the early test runs. Similarly, get pictures early and often to track the designs and iterations after testing. We also learned to add sides to the ramp (all cardboard) to help avoid the inevitable crash/smash of a rover flying off the side. Despite numerous reminders not to do so, expect that your students may try to add a push to the rover at the top of the ramp giving it an uncontrollable applied force as gravity takes over. We do not distinguish between rolling and sliding for this activity - we just want the rover to make it down the ramp and travel a bit further on the ground, if possible. Early test runs often reveal structural issues like single axle spaghetti noodles snapping in the transition from ramp to floor. Fortunately, a little perseverance and a generous amount of hot glue can fix most minor issues.

Logistics

Years ago I purchased each type of pasta listed in the Google Doc in addition to an assortment of miscellaneous options to add flair (like farfalle “bow tie” pasta). The same boxes of pasta have been used for five years and could likely be used for at least another five due to our small class sizes. The larger lasagna noodles (we have two types currently) will be the first to run out and those along with the manicotti are the most delicate/prone to breakage when stored. At the conclusion of all pasta-related activities, the open boxes are taped up, sealed in a gallon Ziploc bag and stored in a plastic tote bin with a locking lid. We have shared mini hot glue guns in the past, but currently have enough for each (4-5 in a class) student to use their own. Extra hot glue sticks are extremely important since you will use way more than you think students could possibly go through!

Last year, we added the plastic activity trays from Dollar Tree and they have been clutch for keeping materials from rolling away on the desks and being able to easily put works in progress on a back shelf at the end of class. I use a label maker to create labels for all students each year and I add them to things like the activity trays to help them quickly identify their project/materials. We decided to add this year’s class to the trays and keep adding each year to preserve the history of the student that came before and used the tray for the pasta activities. I hope it is a tradition that will continue even after I am gone!

Pasta Bridges

It has worked to roll (see what I did there?) right into pasta bridges after pasta rovers. There are fewer materials, no budget for pasta, and the students have learned how to manage materials as well as navigate setup/cleanup with more independence. I start with an introductory class period that has a goal of going over the expectations (safety, materials management). We watch snippets of a few videos to get some visuals of actual bridges and make connections with what a truss bridge design looks like in the real world. Here are some example videos you can pre-select snippets from for your class:

1. We watched this one to 4:47

2. This one is very long, but has chapters so you can skip around to select what is relevant for your class

3. This one is very short and has simple illustrations for the truss design

Depending on your group, you may want to search up some videos of actual pasta bridges as well. There are a number of videos on YouTube that can help provide visuals or ideas for students that may struggle to connect the actual designs in the real world to their pasta creation. After we wrap our bridges, we often find some videos online showing other pasta bridges breaking. These are often high school classes that have different rules (e.g., weight constraint for the bridge/materials) so it can be fun to see the differences in designs and watch them be tested to failure.

Learned Experience Through TEEP

Speaking of testing to failure…when I completed this activity myself in a Tufts University TEEP course, I struggled. There were literal tears and I was fortunate to have the guidance from my very good friend, Ed, to help me navigate the project and learn a few tips. He helped me in many ways and taught me things, like to use parchment paper so my noodles could be assembled into triangles and then lifted right off of the parchment paper without sticking. This use of parchment paper has carried over to every class and hot glue activity, particularly the bridges which require so much small detail work/assembly of multiple pieces. In the introductory session for my classes, I show them a number of photos of my bridge created for the TEEP course as well as the videos of testing it to failure. This helps them picture the “done” for the project they are about to undertake. They see a completed pasta bridge and then see it get destroyed by weights placed on it until it fails. You can see the images of my TEEP bridge to the right of this text and the video snippets adding weights below. If you’re interested in learning more about TEEP at Tufts then I would love to chat with you at any time ;) You can also read more about the program online and check out what they share on social media. I am a huge fan of the program (highly recommend it) and all of the people at the CEEO that work with educators. I am thrilled to have all of the experience to refer back to in many aspects of my current position working with students in the classroom, from TEEP in general and the Novel Engineering coursework specifically.

Logistics

After the intro videos/discussion on expectations, I share the paper copies of materials with students. There is a handout for sketching an initial design idea and an 11 x 17 poster paper folded in half to create a folder and provide visuals for the truss designs. Over the years I have also provided other printed copies of truss bridge designs as needed. I typically search up some options and print what is needed. Otherwise, we go with the folded 11 x 17 as a folder holding their document to sketch initial ideas. You can make your own copy of the Google Doc for sketching ideas here. You can find and download the truss poster on this website. We have a copier that prints on 11 x 17 paper so I am able to just send the PDF to that copier and select the appropriate ledger paper size.

Once working, students have often transferred their design ideas (or used modified versions) right to the parchment paper so they can lay out the noodles and glue them more precisely. This varies greatly by student. Some like to have a “blueprint” type of design to follow on the parchment paper while others like to freestyle their build. On the introductory day we also prepare the rest of the materials (activity tray, piece of parchment paper, glue sticks for hot glue guns in the trays) so the students can grab everything and get started the next day. I write their name on the piece of parchment paper with a Sharpie. Depending on the brand, it may roll up between uses and need to be taped to the desktop surface to be most effective when building with pasta/hot glue. The only other materials we use are: thick spaghetti noodles (any brand should do!), scissors (optional), and new this year: a flat piece of lasagna for a road bed was provided as an option (many kids incorporated it into their build).

Hot Glue Gun cooling/storage rack

One of the challenges transitioning from rovers to bridges was finding a good place to set the hot glue guns at the end of class. They are quite hot and messy by the end of class, so they can melt things or stick to something if they are not propped up correctly. Unfortunately, the hot glue guns have seen better days and several do not have a stand to set them up on their own. When we added a second class (thanks to my work wife, Aimee Weiss, for joining with her class!) to work on the bridges, it became necessary to have a better solution for the hot glue guns. Using materials we had on hand (jumbo craft sticks and hot glue), I fabricated two different versions of a hot glue gun cooling/storage rack. You can see a number of photos of both versions to the right of this text. The first one is a contiguous design elevated at the same level. It functions better if you feed the hot glue gun up through the slot so the cord runs through the large opening (not pictured that way). The second version has two levels to replicate the position of a built in stand more. They are also all separate pieces in case we need them to be on a student desk as a holder when working with the hot glue guns. Keeping them separate added that versatility. They can hold several hot glue guns and are fairly sturdy.

building bridges

Other than the introductory activity and the materials logistics, the kids are off and running from day two on for about a week or two. Once we see students winding down on their builds, we plan for the big day to test them to failure (aka break bridges with weights). This year it was nice to have another adult to collaborate with since Aimee was able to circulate around and help both with actual building (sometimes you just need an extra hand to hold a spaghetti noodle in place) and just give the same good advice about supporting their structure based on what we learned about the design of truss-type bridges/triangles in design. I love the shift to the kids becoming more confident in their ability to design/build something and take charge of their own learning. The role of teacher as a “guide on the side” is extremely appealing for someone who values self-guided learning and using mistakes to grow and learn. Since we have desks that are on wheels, they can be rolled around the room so kids can work collaboratively with their desks next to each other. This helps them work together to have extra hands for those unwieldy spaghetti noodles and to share ideas. This works well since we also have limited outlets and needed to plan strategically for plugging in hot glue guns around the room. Additionally, we end up with a large area of empty space, perfect to inspire teacher dancing as the kids work. Every once in a while a student would join us if we broke into impromptu dancing, but Aimee and I were able to bust a few moves in between circulating to assist the kids and check on their design process.

Testing to failure

From the beginning, literally in the introduction, we explain that we want to test the bridges to failure by adding weights to break them. The goal is to see how much weight the bridges will hold and compare the different designs. Over the years, we have determined that we need more weights to get the bridges to failure. The kids keep coming up with new ways to reinforce their bridges, and this year was no exception. While we do have a tremendous amount of glue used, the structures are fairly sturdy by design as well. This year we added steel spheres from an old FOSS kit. Without the steel spheres, our total in grams for weights was as follows:

• Slotted weight set (small): 10 grams each, quantity of 10 for a total of 100 grams

• Slotted weight set (large): 50 grams each, quantity of 10 for a total of 500 grams

• Teacher-created rolls of pennies: 55 grams each, quantity of 10 for a total of 550 grams

We add the weights in that order (starting with the smaller slotted weights) since the slotted weights come with hooks that attach to the rope we tie to each bridge. This brings the initial total to 1,150 grams (roughly two and a half pounds). We have learned to add cups since the bridges continue to perform better and better each year. These paper cups should be added to the rope when it is initially tied to the bridge so kids can add the slotted weights to the rope between them and then simply add the additional weight into the cups if their bridge is still holding up. This year was no exception as we learned that we needed to add TWO paper cups to have room for the penny rolls (can put them on the “road bed” as an alternative) and/or the steel spheres (4 in each cup). Speaking of the spheres, we needed them to increase the mass available for testing since the two and half pounds was nowhere enough for these bridges. With the bridges laughing in the face of that piddly amount of mass hanging from them, we sourced the spheres and they add an additional 238 grams per sphere. With 8 total spheres, we had an additional 1,904 grams for a whopping total of 3,054 grams or 6.73 pounds! Surprisingly, this was still not even enough mass to test these bridges to failure as only one of them actually did fail at 1,479 grams. This year I made it a priority to photograph all bridges in their glory before the testing began, so the kids would have a memory of them all in one piece. I hope they will continue to test their bridges once they take them home since they are almost all still in need of further testing to get to a failure, but I am glad we have such a nice bit of evidence of their designs to share. Please find pictures of their amazing bridges and photos of our breaking process with the rope/cups below. As always, please reach out if you have any questions…and if you try any of the activities, please share with me via email or on social media (@msgilbertrocks on Twitter and Instagram)!

Final products (completed bridges, before testing)

The bandages used for measurement are a Target Up&Up brand flexible fabric adhesive bandage. The three sizes of bandages are:
1" by 3"
3/4" by 3"
5/8" by 2 1/4"

Both organizers hold the bandages, but version 2 was created to differentiate the three sections more effectively. The bottom of the section was raised to elevate the middle and largest sizes. To have an option that will fit in a bathroom drawer, I plan to test out a reduced wall/floor thickness to bring the overall height down. The current designs for versions 1 and 2 are very sturdy with walls that are just over 1/4" thick.

I measured the bandages in their wrappers and made a blocky design that had three separate sections. The width of the entire piece was set for the widest bandage, as was the overall height initially. In version 2, I actually increased the height slightly to test out a raised platform inside the sections for the middle and largest sized bandages. The “stair-step” design of version 2 allows for easier grab and go of each bandage. The staggered side heights for each section also allow for easier access to each section/bandage.

I love the way version 2 came out and I will find some time to try out a third version that could fit in a bathroom drawer. In order to make that version I will need to reduce the overall height, so I am curious if reducing the thickness of walls/bottom will still allow for the same sturdy feel that the first two designs have with the 1/4” thick walls. The approximately 4.75” height for version 2 is entirely too tall for my drawer, but it sits nicely on a counter top. The 3” depth and 2” width are not factors for the consideration of a drawer option. Version 1 will likely get repurposed for some craft supplies in a craft closet, so it is still very functional even if it is not holding bandages!

I have shared both versions on Thingiverse. Please keep me posted if you make one (or more) and let me know what you end up using them for in your home or any place else!

This year we have the pleasure of using several Root rt1 robots on loan from iRobot as part of their teacher ambassador program. In my role as an Advisor I have the honor of trying out new activities and sharing back with other teacher ambassadors or even making posts such as this one to share with anyone who happens across my website! With my return to in-person teaching this year I have been looking forward to making plans for the Root robots on loan. Last year, I was unable to use physical robots since I was teaching remotely from home. I spent a while at the beginning of the year making plans for how to implement a sharing system that would be safe for our small groups and I am so appreciative of all the support iRobot’s education team (shoutout to Anna and Rebecca!) provided. The ambassador program is truly one of the best I have had the pleasure of participating in because you get to know not only the team at the organization, but you have an awesome network of other educators to learn from as well.

root snapshot

If you are unfamiliar with Root robots then I highly recommend checking them out. The robot itself is incredibly versatile. While there are two models of Root robots, we will be using the rt1 as mentioned above. The rt1 is the full-featured model with the white top (versus the clear top of the rt0). Teachers with magnetic whiteboard surfaces will certainly appreciate the fact that these robots have excellent magnets that allow them to traverse vertical surfaces like a smooth-rolling robotic Spider-Man. Additionally, a major appeal of these robots is their ability to work for beginners and more advanced users alike. Since I work in a school for students with learning disabilities, we are very focused on aspects like structured reading and many students lack exposure to traditional STEM content by the time I see them in the middle school. For students just starting out the robots are accessible both for navigation of a physical surface (they come with an awesome fold up mat!) and through the programming interface itself. Level 1 of the programming interface is a block based graphical format that allows for students to use basic features (e.g., move, light up, sound), but it goes all the way up to a full text-based programming option that uses the Python programming language. Within all levels you can access even more of the robots advanced abilities like color sensing, touch sensors (top white quadrants), and bump sensors (front). That’s right, the Root has all of those abilities in a compact little package. Even if you do not have robots (or have fewer than a class set), you can use the coding app (website on Chrome, or iOS/Android app) to program with a “SimBot” using the built in simulator. I LOVE the ability to use the simulator and encourage testing of programs prior to running them on a physical robot. Also, when we worked with only one robot for the entire class this unique feature allowed everyone to participate fully in an activity and simply take turns connecting to the single robot. Now with social distancing it continues to come in handy so I can spread out areas for students to work with their physical robots on their individual mats while still allowing the others to work at their desks within the simulator prior to taking a turn with their own mats/physical robots. My top priority is to keep all of us in the classroom safe, so I have a renewed appreciation of the simulator feature as I plan for upcoming activities with our Root robots.

Sharing safely

If you know anything about me then you know I love a good storage and organization system. Of course, my favorite containers come from The Container Store and they happen to be some of the most reasonably priced and versatile containers around. Since I have several of the TCS “Our Shoe Box” bins at home I was able to test out if these inexpensive for containers would hold a Root with their accessories and a pack of sanitizing wipes. Inexpensive means $2.59 each at the time of this post, but you can save a few cents on a case of 20. I also needed new, more durable containers for our LEGO Learning Kits (see update at the bottom of this post - I blather on about TCS bins there too!) since the ones from Dollar Tree barely made it through the first year. Fortunately, my school supported purchasing the containers for both projects and I sent in the order. My goal was to have each Root robot transferred over to a container that was labeled to match the robot (name and number) with custom vinyl. This would allow for a highly visual/organized system that the students could manage with independence once the structure was in place. Since I have small class sizes, and iRobot was willing to loan us 8 robots this year, each student will only share their Root with one other student in the other homeroom. This system allows for a science class (classes meet by homeroom with two distinct homeroom groups) to have their own set of robots and safely sanitize the robot prior to use by the other class on another day.

Meet the crew

One of the fun challenges in preparing for the Root robots to arrive was to come up with names for each robot. For many reasons I chose to go with an all-star lineup of notable women, but not only women in STEM. Our robots are named after: Ada Lovelace, Amanda Gorman, Maya Rudolph, Grace Hopper, Mae Jemison, Michelle Obama, Tina Fey, and Betty White respectively. While the naming of Betty White was in the works for months, it will be bittersweet to pay tribute to her now that she is gone. Prior to using the robots at all or even accessing the iRobot coding interface online, students will be completing a brief research activity to learn about their robots namesake. The goal of the activity is to practice using tools to search within given parameters, cite a source online, and transfer information gathered onto a shared Google Slide template. In doing this the students will hopefully gain an appreciation for their robots namesake and be able to share about them. In addition to the research document and Google Slide poster, students will be creating a costume for their robot (each student will make one) using a blank template that students can cut out. You can find a blank costume along as part of an existing activity in the iRobot Education Learning Library (check out all the other neat activities while you’re there!) - Robo-Biographies activity from iRobot.

Personalization

Custom vinyl was added to both the bins and the robots. Take a look at the images shared below to see how everything came together as our robots prepared to meet their student partners.

Pandemic Pivot

This activity was also adjusted to accommodate students who may be learning from home during the current (January 2022) surge in the pandemic. I added brief screencasts to talk through each step of the document for students who were not present when everything was covered with the in person classes. Please feel free to use this activity as-is or modify it to suit your needs. The videos are embedded in the document with links, but you can also find them linked as a playlist in the next section if you would like a preview of the research activity.

Try it yourself!

You can make a copy of the Root robot namesake research Google Doc here. Video links that are embedded are shared so anyone can view them. The research information is meant to be transferred to the Google Slide template here. We will use this as a shared file and students working within their own slide (number correlates with their robot’s number), but please feel free to adapt to suit your needs. This works for us as a very small group and it allows for collaboration outside of class since the two homeroom groups meet on different days. Students will be able to modify the template to fit their person as long as they do not change the theme (changes all slides in shared document). The rubric that matches with the Root robot namesake research Google Doc can be copied here. Google Classroom allows you to import a rubric right from a Google Sheet. If you make any changes to the point totals be sure to update both the instructions within the Doc and the actual rubric added to the Google Classroom assignment.

Videos are broken into five screencasts. You can watch them in the video next to or below this text. Note that the videos will play in order from 1-5 as a playlist from YouTube. You can find the playlist here.

What’s next?

We are just beginning the research into each robot’s namesake in January (literally just started at the time of posting this!). Since we have not completed any of our own activities, there may be still be typos or other issues with the documents that are shared, so please take some time to review them prior to pushing out. Stay tuned for more on our journey with our Root robots this year…updates will be added here or shared in new posts. Thanks for reading!

FEBRUARY 2022 update

Research posters (see photos below!) are wrapping up and students will be learning the coding app/website next! Also, a student 3D printed the bulldozer attachment from iRobot at home so we are looking forward to trying an activity with that. Stay tuned!!

March 2022 update

This update crosses between February and March, but it will live here. After completing the research posters (see photos above), students did a “gallery walk” to check out other posters. While the posters do hang in the hallway, we also made second copies that could be passed around at their desks for easier QR code scanning with Chromebooks. As an added bonus, students learned how to access the camera app (prepare for goofy faces and selfies) and navigate to the QR code scanning option (varies by Chromebook, but all had it). Students were able to visit several websites and give positive feedback to their peers regarding the poster. This was well worth the 10 minutes or so of dedicated time to explore. We did not do any formal presentations about the robot’s namesake, but we did jump into working with the robots immediately following the gallery walk/QR code exploration. Our progression of activities so far:

• Namesake research project/poster (including time for gallery walk/QR codes)

• Exploration of coding site/app

• Coding to draw a square and erase a square

• Coding for pizza challenge

• Winter activities challenge (starting March 2022)

As the students explored the coding site, I also taught them about the simulator, testing code on the SimBot, sharing code with the unique 5 character key, downloading code, naming projects, and connecting to robots. The last two skills are particularly handy to start the next challenge. I ask the kids to name their project right away to save time at the end of class when cleaning up. The first activity with the physical robots has just started, but I wanted to share the document in case anyone else may find it useful. This activity was adapted from two of the “Winter Games Challenges” shared by another iRobot Education Ambassador, David Arruda. Thanks for the great idea and inspiring us to try our own version, David!

Our version of the activity is in this “Root Robotics Winter Activities Challenge” document (click the link to copy). Students were first asked to use Assistive Technology (AT) tools like Read&Write for Google or Snap&Read to review the requirements/steps on page one and then the directions for their selected activity (clear the snow or ice dancing) on pages 2 or 3, respectively. I also asked the students use their AT tools to read the text for level 2 or 3 programming if they want to move to that after starting in level 1. Please feel free to use as-is or modify to suit your learning environment. As always, I would love to hear about how things go if you end up using it.

I will share more photos and videos as we have our practice runs and final runs (timed). The majority of students selected the “clear the snow” option, but we do have a few working on the “ice dancing” option.

April 2022 update

Video trailer shared with families before Spring Break and a clip of robots dancing can be seen below. We continued our open-ended challenges with a “knock down the pins” (aka the knockdown challenge) activity using water bottles as obstacles placed just OUTSIDE the grid mat. Weights (pennies taped with painter’s tape) were added to the top of two of the six bottles on each side. The last student to run the challenge tried using the 3D printed bulldozer attachment since their practice runs were all having the same problem of merely pushing the bottles. The hope was that students would explore more of the sensors to complete the challenge, but we did not have as much time to let them dive into this one, so we had limited “success” in knocking down pins without a bump sensor to turn the robot (hit the walls) or adjusting the speed/continuous motion to achieve greater momentum. Overall, I think it was a great learning experience to throw a short challenge in as people wrapped up the winter activities challenge. Each bottle was worth one point and there was a 30 second time limit. The final run with the bulldozer attachment had the unique feature of running an initial piece of code to navigate the grid mat (was drawing a square the size of the mat in the simulator) and then position itself to head off the mat after being tapped to run the second set of code. This was a very creative way to attempt the challenge and made the simulator runs effective as a way to test code since the student knew when the robot would be outside the bounds of the grid mat. This is shown in the last video below the trailer/dancing videos.

There was no real solution diversity to speak of overall, but there are two student designs that I chose to give them something to compare and discuss. I took time to record the step-by-step process to build each design so I could push it out with the lab report document. This served to let students know which of the two designs they were building and gave them some independence to follow the video versus watching me build them in real time. The videos allow students to pause as needed or even have students who were absent catch up without needing direct intervention from the teacher. Please note that the students still required support, but it was a lot easier for me to circulate through the room and answer questions as needed rather than trying to keep everyone on the same page with an in-person demonstration. See the videos I created for students (A and B designs) at the end of this post. Please note that the “B” design video has some issues with audio quality. Even though I was aware of it after recording I did not have the energy to re-record with all steps. Pandemic teaching in person means conserving energy and after a few takes I just took what I had to try to make it work - the students did just fine using it since I prepped them that the audio had issues in that video. The third model shown in the pictures (above, far right) was created to demonstrate a different pivot point with the cork and it allowed me to launch the same projectiles pretty far (into the hallway!), so I knew that would be a fun reveal prior to sending the catapults home for any further re-designs the kids might do on their own.

Goggles, goggles, goggles!

Safety first. I talk a lot about safety in science class and this year has been no exception. This activity allowed me to separate out individual supplies and a pair of lab safety goggles. Separate plastic baggies (gallon and quart) labeled with the name of each student were set up so the supplies (quart sized baggie) could reside in the larger (gallon sized baggie) with the goggles and the paper copy of the lab report. This made materials management very easy after the initial work putting it all together. As an added bonus the catapults were ready to go home in the smaller baggie once we wrapped everything up and goggles are still separated out in case they are needed for another activity. The kids (and my colleagues) like to tease me about my excessive safety practices, but no one has lost an eye yet ;) Since I spent an entire class period introducing the activity with the bulk of the lecture around use of goggles and I mentioned it quite a few times in my instructional videos, my colleague coined the phrase “goggles, goggles, goggles!” that you hear on the edited version of the videos below. The students appreciate the humor, but also received the message so well that I was completely shamed by one class when I forgot to put my own goggles on when walking around capturing photos and videos of the catapults in action. I can take it because it means they internalized the safety practice of using goggles with all of those projectiles flying around!

Setup and Implementation

Adjustments can be made to suit your space and materials. The “wall” I used was created using two standard sized LEGO baseplates (extras from our LEGO Wall). For us the launch line should be 70 cm from the wall. The wall can be any material that can be placed free standing or secured to the ground easily. It should be roughly 20 inches wide and 10 inches tall. Add a tape line for launch line and wall placement. These should not move/change throughout the activity. Take pictures and leave tape down to keep the setup consistent. One meter stick and ruler at each station.

Remember to photograph the setup and put it in the same place for subsequent testing days. For sanitizing purposes, one red lid container of wipes should be at each station. Add all materials to clear quart size baggies with each student's name. Add safety goggles to the baggie or use additional clear gallon sized baggies labeled for each student to contain goggles and catapult supplies. Completed catapults will continue to be stored in a bag to keep items separated in the classroom.

The overall snapshot of the activity is broken down below. We did not end up with as robust as a final discussion as I was planning just due to the timing spreading out to both before and after winter break combined with absences from the surge during the pandemic. Also, we took a number of days to get everyone through the testing but it does not need to take as long with more stations or class time (ours is incredibly limited this year). It was a great activity to get hands-on experience building, testing, and measuring.

Day 1:

1. Watch video: https://www.brainpop.com/technology/simplemachines/levers/

2. Teach measurement with meter stick and ruler (cm side) using the document camera (show example of measuring distance, clarify that it is not just closest big whole number), need to count lines

Day 2:

1. Reminder about meter stick/ruler for cm

2. Distribute supplies, explain safety procedure, wipe down ruler/meter stick, do not touch wall, entire catapult behind launch line, will stop if safety/distance not happening

3. Establish testing station routine (some sketch first while waiting turns)

4. Start building - use live demonstration of steps and push out videos to each group (A and B designs)

5. Teacher to take pictures of sketches and final design to add on Google Doc

6. Students test and/or sketch, measure distance to track on data table

7. Continue process of testing and measuring for one or more class periods, if needed

Days 3 and 4:

1. Continue testing and measuring distance, when done they should work on entering information from paper copy to digital and answer questions for conclusion

2. Conclusion questions can be HW if needed (if rest in digital copy)

3. Once everyone is finished, demonstrate with the final design (teacher version with cork) and discuss the differences. This may need to be a day 4/wrap up activity

Materials

TEACHER Materials for testing or management:

• Wall (2)

• Meter stick (2)

• Ruler (2)

• Tape and sharpie to mark lines/write on tape

• Gallon and quart baggies labeled with each student‘s name (by homeroom/class)

• Video recording showing catapult build for each design (A and B)

Student Materials:

• 8 rubber bands

• Projectiles (1 each): cotton ball, paper ball, aluminum foil ball

• Plastic spoon

• 8 regular popsicle sticks and 2 jumbo popsicle sticks (A) OR 9 jumbo popsicle sticks (B)

• 1 pair of safety goggles

• Paper copy of lab report and a pencil

Student designs and lab report

Photos included are a sampling of what the students created. Even though many are the same design, they came out with enough differences that their efficiency in completing the challenge (launching each projectile type over the wall) was varied. It was neat to see the perseverance in action as the students tried different ways to position/hold their catapult or modify the ways the rubber bands secured them. A video showing a couple launches is included below the photos (before the instructional videos for A and B designs). Please feel free to make a copy of the student lab report to use and/or modify to fit your own classroom. As always, I love to hear about any adaptations of classroom activities shared on my website, so please let me know if you do something cool with any of these ideas!

Crazy idea loading

After a couple weeks of playing, I had this crazy idea to try doing a science experiment with students making hybrid flowers in Animal Crossing. Then I actually put together information so we could facilitate said experiment a short while later. Since I wanted to use the minimal amount of class time, and focus on gathering data through observations in photos to create a written lab report, this was a very controlled experiment. 

With my classes all taking place in the distance learning format online this year, I am always looking for a balance of engagement and content/skill practice. I am sure there are many ways you can adapt these ideas and get the students involved in more ways…including having them run their own experiments if they have a copy of the game. You can run everything as a class activity, but I would make sure parents are on board to avoid any potential issues at home.

Overview

Since I was having fun with the challenge of creating these hybrid color flowers on my own island, I figured I could gather information from the students and then plant according to their completed diagrams just using my own island - no need for them to have the game. In this version, I captured photos before class each morning and added them to a shared Google Drive folder. Spoiler alert: this also allows the kids to practice with the technology skills that I want them to apply to their own work with greater confidence and independence. In this case that means replacing a placeholder image in the slides template with their photo and identifying the day that photo was taken. For the final results they also needed to figure out an image to use and add the written response (paragraph) to the results slide. 

Activity overview

Here’s what I created:

• Google slides template

• Included directions and placeholder images/text boxes

• Slides with images for each flower type and available combinations to test…even though there are additional combinations I avoided ones that required several steps using flowers produced in a second level breeding and/or extremely low percentages (note that color is not an accurate way to breed flowers, but the genotype - the actual coded genetic makeup - is not something that can be easily determined - see the full guide by Aiteru for all the information you could possibly want on this topic!)

• Added probability for creating a specified color from this simple flower guide

Students were tasked with:

• selecting the flower type

• choosing a hybrid color that they wanted to create

• choosing one of two options for the configuration model used for planting

• copying and pasting flower images into the diagram to show their model for planting in the appropriate configuration

• listing all of these components in a brief data table

The initial steps took less than 15 minutes with the small class (five students) and that includes the time to introduce the project overall. Writing the lab report (on the final day), using the sentence starters and 1:1 discussions with me to check for understanding, took roughly 25 minutes (10 minutes of independent input and 15 minutes to check in and run final Grammarly checks together).

Once I had that initial information from the students, it was time to plant over the weekend. It took approximately 10 minutes to do the planting since I had all of the seeds thanks to my own stock and some help from a friend. The time lapse below shows the planting and our initial watering. I placed an object by each planted area to represent the student. This made it easy for them to identify which photos belong to them in the shared drive folder. 

Data collection

Each day I checked the area in the morning and used the in-game camera feature to photograph the planted areas one by one, making sure that the unique object for each student was visible. I was able to move my character out of the way for photos. Getting the photos from the switch to my phone was a quick process after checking off all five images in the album from the Switch home screen and selecting the option to send it to a smart phone. Once the images were saved to my phone I cropped them slightly and then added them to the appropriate folder (Day 1, Day 2 etc.) on Drive using the Google Drive app. Twice during the week I gave students the last few minutes before a break to update their slides with the photos including the text box that identified which day each photo was captured. If you want to see how everything turned out, please scroll down below the “try it yourself” section to see the compilation video that includes everything from the time-lapse of planting through the photos captured on each day.

Final Logistics

This project was introduced on Friday and by the following Friday we had enough information for students to do a guided lab report. Using specific prompts and sentence starters in a Google doc (attached to the same assignment with the slides in Google classroom), students wrote up the results and conclusion in a brief paragraph. I used our individual afternoon meetings to review the lab report paragraph and do a final Grammarly check with the students to model using Grammarly premium with fidelity. They don’t always stop and think about all of the corrections that Grammarly suggests, so this is a work in progress. 

Exceptions

Two students (mums and tulips) chose to continue through the weekend to see their flowers bloom, so they have eight days of photos compared to the five days for the other three planted areas. In one case, we could not officially confirm the flower color until it bloomed, although we were pretty sure it would be the color that student was going for, and there had been absolutely no new flower growth for that planted area during the first four days. The other student had a lot of growth and actually used each configuration type to try for two different colors. The second of the two colors that they were trying for appeared on the fifth day, but again they wanted to wait for it to bloom to get a final photo for their slides even though that color could be confirmed before it bloomed due to the flower type (mum). 

For the sake of seeing the project through and capturing all growth for them, I took additional photos on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning. In our Monday afternoon session we reviewed the final three photos and their finished lab reports.  The other planted areas were dug up and moved so further growth was not tracked for the remaining three planted areas past the original five day window. 

Resources and credit

Many thanks to Aiteru (@aiterusawato on Twitter) for the outstanding and accessible resources on the websites linked in this section. Data used for probability comes from the Simple Flower Guide by Aiteru at this link:  https://aiterusawato.github.io/satogu/acnh/flowers/simple.html

Images for the flowers also come from the same guide.

Please check out the full guide for the flower resources (https://aiterusawato.github.io/satogu/acnh/flowers/) if interested in the details of the subject.

try it yourself

Please feel free to make copies of the slides and or lab report files right from Google Drive using the force copy links below. Credit should remain for the guide and resources so Aiteru receives credit with links to the research/resources created. Please share and tag us (@aiterusawato and @msgilbertrocks on Twitter or Instagram) online if you create your own version or try this as-is with your family or class!

Make your own copy of the slides for the teacher version here and the student version here. Make your own copy of the guided lab report here.

Video compilation below includes the time lapse of planting the flowers and the progression each day (organized by individual planted area). Shoutout to the Animal Crossing group for all of your help in getting this going with a special thanks to my good buddy, Maggie (aka Mar of MarGilly) for all of her assistance with planning and daily watering.

Our glow up for student flower plots: How it started (top half of image) and how it’s going/how it went (bottom half of image)

Example of the final results slide:

Other ideas to consider

• Evaluate and record the probabilities for all flower types/colors (data table)

• Graph probabilities (all colors or by flower type/color)

• Compare colors (with probabilities?)

• Compare and contrast color combinations for different flower types

Here’s a link to make a teacher copy of the spreadsheet that can give you ideas to get started. You can make a new version to share with students based on whatever data you decide to have them check, but you can also use the example just for a visual analysis done as a whole class.

Fun fact

I am in the midst of creating all available hybrid colors myself (from seeds) in the game. I am not working on any variations that come from other sources (e.g., mystery islands), but at least a single color of each available for the various flower types. The plan is to clone the colors once I have them, but I have focused on breeding first by containing all other flowers on the island with fencing/natural barriers to force a preference for the breeding pairs to produce offspring each day. This is a work in progress…but my progress as of publishing this post is shown in the spreadsheet below, and it will be auto-updated as I continue. Stay tuned for more!!

May 10, 2021 update:

All flowers are now available as of today. The final two (purple windflower and blue rose) took the longest. Once the purple windflower was ready and cloned, I focused solely on the blue rose. It took about 6 weeks, start to finish, but a single blue rose is now set aside for cloning as of today. Happy blue rose day!

In working with middle school students to understand and practice problem solving with the Engineering Design Process, LEGO solutions are some of my favorite tools to use. While we had a great start with our Simple & Powered Machines kits last year, that has not been an option in our current landscape. Since my goal is to focus more on playful learning, and using hands-on materials as more manipulatives than cookie-cutter design projects, I looked to LEGO Education for advice on bringing the playful learning component into this virtual setting.

Ducks, kits, and playful learning

As a teacher working exclusively in the distance learning format, I have a number of limitations but I see those as opportunities to try things in a new way. Right off the bat I knew that the individual LEGO Learning Kits would be an excellent way to just get started and try something out within my small group of 6-9 students in a cost effective way.

Every year we would typically do the “build a duck” activity within our science classes so I could introduce the idea of using LEGO bricks to express ideas and showcase how everyone sees things in their own unique way (no two ducks are ever alike!). It is something I look forward to each year and our 8th graders can take the lead on their second round of duck building in our blended 7th/8th grade classes. Part of the magic in building ducks is that the activity uses the same basic set of six bricks and the rest is up to the individual and their imagination. This activity is often a challenge for our linear, direction-following students…because there are no instructions. There is no right (or wrong) way to build a duck. These individual LEGO Learning Kits will give us the chance to expand on the principles of playful learning and abstract thinking that are central to the duck build.

Playful learning allows students to express themselves and their ideas. My goal will be to use a combination of existing resources and weave our time with the kits into our existing goals around visualizing, verbalizing, and writing.

The original inventory breakdown (shown at the bottom of this post) that was used for kit creation was shared by a lovely representative from LEGO Education named Stef. All of my work is based on the foundation that she set up to create 20 sets of bricks for individual learning kits from these materials.

Kit Creation

We used the Creative LEGO Brick Set by LEGO® Education (45020) and these minifigure sets: Fantasy Minifigure Set by LEGO® Education (45023) and Community Minifigure Set by LEGO® Education (45022). These minifigure sets may have been retired by LEGO since they are no longer showing on the LEGO Education site as of January 2021. We purchased enough materials for 10 complete kits to start.

Additionally, the bins themselves were purchased from Dollar Tree along with the small baseplates. There were limited colors of the baseplates and color scheme for many items at Dollar Tree likely changes with seasons, hence the plethora of orange between baseplates and container lids! The bins (“Sure Fresh Professional” container with vent lid - 9.54 cups, 76.36 fl oz, 2250 mL) do not currently show up online, but any bin that meets your criteria will do. For me it was important to have the baseplate fit flat inside the bin and have the ability to have built components placed back in the bin with ease. If these things are not important to you then you have a wide variety of options to choose from through Dollar Tree. I did glue the vent portion of the lid even though it was concealed under the inventory topper page.

Due to the makeup of the creative brick pack and our configuration choice for the kits, there are enough pieces to make 20 partial kits. 16-18 of the kits would have the same general composition, but in changing one key component (number of 2x4’s), we would need to add a handful of bricks to complete the remaining sets. If color matters to the makeup of the six-brick set (the 2x4’s), then the quantity of extra bricks increases. Fortunately, my first 10 will have the ideal configuration to test out and further decisions would not need to be made unless/until we decide to expand the number of kits. We chose to go with both sets of minifigures and distribute one each from the community and fantasy set respectively, so students receive a total of two minifigures and their accompanying accessories.

The detailed breakdown of the kit inventory is shared below. Putting the kits together was a process that I broke into four phases. The time for each step is listed below the phases. Please note that it would take less time to complete each portion if you are not documenting the process the way I was with photos/videos and jotting notes!

• Phase 1: sorting of all the bricks from the Creative LEGO Brick Set (45020) and distributing to each kit.

• Phase 2: separating out the three extra pieces that would be added to each kit and tracking them for inventory purposes.

• Phase 3: minifigures built, sorted, inventoried and distributed to kits.

• Phase 4: all steps related to the bins including the inventory sheet for the top of the bin and labeling each bin with the kit number using custom vinyl.

Time for each step (done across several days in my “spare” time so I could document properly):

1. Sorting the bricks took approximately 1 hour. I used the 10 empty bins that would eventually hold the kits and needed a couple extras to hold the 14 unique types of bricks (brick separators not counted in this since there are only 2 total and they are not part of the distribution). I labeled each container for the 14 unique types of bricks (e.g., 1x1, 2x4) using a small piece of painter’s tape.

2. Distributing the bricks to match my inventory configuration took just under 1 hour. I used 20 dog-safe flying discs…because, why not?! They were perfect for containing the bricks and I stuck a post-it note on each disc so I could easily track the full kits vs. the partials at the end. The remaining bricks for the partial kits were bagged with the post-it note to set aside for a time when we add to our kits.

3. Distributing the 3 “extra pieces” that are unique to each set took roughly 20 minutes. I was intentional with my choices and recorded which 3 pieces went into each of the first 10 kits for inventory purposes. I matched the 3 extra pieces across two different kits in the first 10 so we can use that as a partner matching activity to separate into pairs (find the person who has the same 3 extra pieces as you). For the remaining partial kits I used smaller snack sized baggies to contain sets of 3 extra pieces so they can be matched up later if we are adding to our kits.

4. Building the 21 minifigures with accessories in the Community and Fantasy set took 1 hour and 20 minutes and 1 hour and 10 minutes respectively. There are no build instructions for the minifigure accessories so some of them required a bit of extra time to figure out based on the card for each character. For the second set it took slightly less time since I had worked out a system the first time around. I found it helpful to sort the components into separate areas of the workspace so I could easily differentiate what was needed for each character. I did remove any weapons to be consistent with school policies and your mileage may vary with those items. I felt it was okay to keep them out this round and can always go back to add them in later.

5. Time was not well tracked for the additional items I chose to do as part of our system. These steps are not necessary, but are included here since it was part of my process. I created a visual inventory page in Silhouette Studio so I could use the print and cut feature to make them fit properly on the lid of the bin. I printed and cut the inventory pages (just kits 1-10), laminated them, trimmed them, and rounded their corners before hot gluing them to the top of each bin lid. I used a heat gun to cleanly peel the labels off of the bins and cleaned them with a bit of rubbing alcohol before applying the custom vinyl with each kit number to the appropriate bin. While the bins met all of the requirements, if budget was not an issue then I would go with something more sturdy and stackable in the future. The least expensive component of this entire project was the bin and small baseplate ($1 each) from Dollar Tree where we spent a total of $20 for the 10 full kits that were planned. Again, you can cut out just about all of this last step if these are not concerns for you. A plastic baggie would work just fine and you only need the visual inventory if it is helpful for your students or you are requesting that the kits be returned (we are).

There are no inventory pages and extra pieces/minifigures have not been assigned to any other kits past the first 10. All of the remaining components from this order are stored in a single shoebox sized container. I photographed every minifigure in a “lightbox” (pieces of lightweight cardstock taped together) using my phone on a tripod. These photos were used as part of the inventory page that was laminated and hot glued to the top of each bin.

Inventory information is available in the spreadsheet below (note 3 different tabs within the document). In the future we can expand these kits by adding more pieces (even DUPLO) or minifigures to the existing kits and creating even more kits to join our first 10.

Stay tuned for updates as these activities get underway with exploring the kits/vocabulary of bricks (e.g., what does 1x1 or 2x4 mean??) and an introductory six brick activity. Please contact me if anything in the spreadsheet does not make sense or you cannot access a file that is listed below.

LEGO Learning Kit Inventory Breakdown via spreadsheet is shown immediately below this section of text (click here to make a copy of this spreadsheet). If you are interested in the BuildToExpress Build Statements that I plan to pull from, you can make a copy of that sortable list here. Finally, make a copy of the kit agreement (in Google Slides, so please feel free to edit the copy to suit your needs) we used to introduce the kits and try to ensure they come back to us complete at the end of the year!

Additional files from the LEGO Learning Kit adventure include the PDFs (freely available from LEGO) that are shown below in a shared Google Drive folder. I will be using a combination of six bricks activities, BuildToExpress statements, and the SEL “Ready To Learn” curriculum. The twelve brick activity guide is also included. We will be using some combination of the six and twelve brick concepts with standard LEGO bricks (not DUPLO).

Updated resources:

December 2020 - Make a copy of the LEGO Minifigure Trading Cards (version 1) student file in Slides. This sample activity includes a screencast with me talking through the directions. Feel free to use it or replace with your own! Two examples of student work are included below. Make a copy of the writing prompt for a minifigure “backstory” that can accompany the trading cards activity or be used as a stand-alone. Note that this can work for any minifigure they happen to have at home even if you did not send kits home. Feel free to adapt or modify to suit your own needs.

April 2021 - Make a copy of the LEGO Learning Kits: Build The Setting activity in Google Docs. Be sure to change the directions to fit your needs. We completed the activity for a class novel (Stargirl) using the individual LEGO Learning Kits. This activity uses symbolic representation based on the Six Bricks activity “Creative Creatures” on page 10 of the Six Bricks Activity Cards PDF (shared above as well). This activity was done as an assignment throughout a week of assessments when no other homework was given. There was no written output, but each student presented their photo/scene to the class over Zoom and demonstrated an excellent understanding of the story. It was a perfect mix of open-ended and novel-related work that gave them the opportunity to show what they know in a creative way. I regret that I did not think to record the students presenting on Zoom, so consider that if you want to capture some of what they share outside of just having a photo of the build. Photos of the builds along with their descriptions were posted on our class website for families to see. Two examples of student builds are included below. If you are familiar with the book, let me know if you recognize the scenes! Please feel free to adapt and modify the activity to work for you. As always, reach out with any questions!

June 2021 - The LEGO Learning Kits were a great addition to the year. They were particularly useful for the remote setting since I knew that all students would have access to the same set of materials when it came to the kits. One thing to note is that the bins we used (from Dollar Tree) did not hold up very well. Almost all of them had cracks, chips, and/or holes by the end of the year. Our plan for re-using the kits will include updated bins and re-doing the labeling for the bins as well as the inventory pages. The next bin we will use is the slightly more expensive ($2.19 vs. $1), but far more durable, “Our Accessory Box” from The Container Store. There is never a bad time to use TCS bins (the versions referenced here all play nicely together), so I am looking forward to using one of my favorites (what’s the other? TCS “Our Shoe Box” available individually or as a case!). We anticipate the bins not only lasting longer, but also being far easier to store since they stack nicely. The mini baseplate fits inside the bin and it is tall enough to have some items stay built on the baseplate. Again, if those details (baseplate inside, tall enough for build) are not important to you, then you have a plethora of inexpensive options to contain your kits. The inventory page will not be glued to the top of the box in the next iteration. Photos will be added here as an update once everything is re-labeled.

Minifigure Trading Cards and Build The Setting student examples:

December 2021 - The LEGO Learning Kits needed one adjustment prior to joining the rotation for activities with my students this year. As mentioned in the June 2021 update, the Dollar Tree containers did not fair as well as I would have hoped, so we decided to upgrade them to something far more durable. The upgraded storage is The Container Store “Our Accessory Box” as shared in the update above. The price at the time of this update is now $2.29, but we think they will be the last bin needed to contain these kits. Fortunately, my school was able to purchase the bins and I applied new vinyl and inventory pages over winter break in preparation for starting activities in January 2022. The new inventory pages are smaller (printed at approximately 75% of original size) and I cut them manually this time around instead of using the “print and cut” option with the my Silhouette Cameo. They were laminated and applied to the inside of the lids with clear packing tape. Photos below show the update. One tool that was not mentioned previously is the corner rounder that I love. After the inventory pages were laminated I was able to round the corners for a softer look/feel. I use this tool for many things, particularly laminated projects, when I don’t want sharp corners ruining the aesthetic or potentially injuring anyone. I did use the corner rounder for the original inventory topper on the bins and it was a nice compliment to the rounded edges created with the Silhouette Cameo cutting those from card stock. I am not at all embarrassed to say that I have one of these corner rounders both at home and at school!

Rosie

As soon as my on-loan Root arrived, she was unboxed and named Rosie (yes, a Jetsons reference!). Even though I was able to have some fun with Rosie at home, the real magic started once she joined the classroom that winter. Our first exposure included unplugged paper-based challenges using the Root code blocks during Hour of Code activities to introduce the idea of programming with Root. By January we were able to get the kids online using the new web-based coding platform on Chrome as, get this, alpha testers!

Alpha, Bugs, Corona

Alpha testing with the students was a fantastic way to help them connect with programming and how much goes into something like the platform used for Root. Actual people were behind the scenes and students were able to submit bug reports to help share issues they encountered when testing out this new web-based option. We were able to easily program using the built-in simulator so everyone could test their code individually at their seat, then have students come to the whiteboard with their device (PCs or Chromebooks) and connect to Rosie (our single robot) via Bluetooth to watch her run their program. By late February and early March we were all set to dive into a Pac-Man challenge. This is not something we created, but we were inspired by all that the Root team has shared. Here’s an example from another school too.

The plan was for students to break into groups to work towards a common goal: design, build, and program a Pac-Man style maze for Rosie to navigate. Once completed the game would be taken (thanks to the portable magnetic whiteboard used) to other classrooms for younger students to test out.
Students were making amazing progress and building numerous problem solving skills - demonstrating independence and perseverance…and then school closed due to the pandemic. It was sad to leave school for what ended up being the rest of the year, but I am so glad we had some with Rosie for part of the year. Poor Rosie was left to ride out the rest of the school year quarantined by herself at school.

Enter 2.0

I loved Rosie so much, I bought myself a Root robot. My very own Rosie was dubbed Rosie 2.0 and her adventures are shared with the hashtag #rosietherootrobot via both Twitter and Instagram. You can keep up with the next phase of Root robotics with our 7th and 8th grade students during distance learning this year as we attempt to have them program robots from afar. While I submitted for grant materials to bring some ideas to life (the grant status is TBD this fall), we will plan to do something using the free web-based platform and the built-in simulator at the very least. I am thrilled to once again be part of the iRobot Education ambassador program, this year in the Advisor capacity, and look forward to a time when we can once again work with shared robots in a physical space together. I look forward to sharing all of our adventures here and on social media. If you have questions or want to connect, please reach out!

Check out Rosie 2.0’s sweet customization thanks to my Silhouette Cameo 3 and an awesome custom pouch from Maggie.

Internet School

Teaching online presents a plethora of challenges, even for the most tech-savvy, seasoned veterans. Since March of 2020, I have referred to what I do as teaching Internet School. It has been quite the journey since the pandemic started. As a teacher providing full-time virtual instruction to a group of students who are also better served online this year (2020-2021), Classroomscreen has been an awesome resource to keep us all on track throughout our live sessions each day. Everything from the daily schedule, agenda, time, and countdown timers…all in one place! The outstanding part is that I have had the added bonus of being able to test out features through a beta program this year. I am excited to see all of the premium features from their paid service and also test out new features that are in the works.

Paid vs Free

There is a lot to love about the free option that Classroomscreen offers teachers. You can view the comparison at this website and sign up for an account (free or paid) to keep some of your customized settings/lists. While you are limited with the free account (no saving screens!), you do not even need to sign up/have a log in if you want to use the application on-the-go without any saved features. You can simply go to the website (https://app.classroomscreen.com/) and access the widgets/set up a screen any time you need one.

If you are like me and enjoy the convenience of saving screens for re-use, the paid option may be a good fit for you. The plan is only about $30 per year and they even have custom quotes available for districts that would give volume discounts.

Below are some photos and a video clip showing some of the custom features I used in the paid account. I particularly enjoy having my screens for each day/live class session with the break timers ready to go and any other specific notes for each day’s schedule.

Regardless of which option you choose, you have access to the widgets (change the background, random name picker, dice, sound level visual, media for uploading images/video, QR code, drawing tool, text boxes, work level visuals like quiet time vs. group work, traffic light, timer, stopwatch, clock, and calendar. Widgets are found at the bottom of the page and you can even hide the menu bar with widgets if you prefer to have more screen real estate without the menu showing. Saving screens is a pro feature, but is definitely worth the cost if you find yourself typing the same information over and over when you set up your screens. Additionally, you can upload your own photo (see examples below) as a background. This is an option in the free version as well. A nice feature is the ability to make the background of some widgets transparent so they fit nicely on a custom background. In the examples below, there are timers, a clock, and a text box with transparency added as well as a text box with the default white background.

While I was provided access to the paid “pro” account for free this year, this is my honest review of features. I included notes about the free version as well. I highly recommend this classroom tool for anyone looking to display information in a visual/accessible way. Don’t forget to find a balance of information presented because it can also become visual noise and be hard to identify important pieces. Give the free version a try and see what works for you…then consider adding a paid account (single teacher or a district plan) if you know it would be helpful to save screens/name lists etc. that is only available to paid accounts. Let me know how you use your screens and be sure to tag Classroomscreen on social media too! You can find me @msgilbertrocks on Instagram and Twitter and Classroomscreen as @classroomscreen on Instagram and Twitter.

Even though I did not have a lot of time to explore with the machine early on, I am so glad I purchased the Silhouette Cameo 3 when I did. As I have been stuck at home for so long it has given me a lovely outlet to design and create. Over time I have purchased the roll feeder accessory (down to $21 at the time of this post!) and the large scraper (made by Cricut - check around for best prices). For the most part I use standard tools and just recently purchased two more cutting mats to have on hand. Wal-Mart has the best price ($10.49 each or $20.96 for two) that I have found on the original mats made by the company. I preferred sticking with those for now even though they have changed the design slightly. At the price it is reasonable even if they have to be replaced more frequently. Additionally, I use these containers (Iris 12" x 12" Paper Storage Case - SKU#10022759, currently $6.99 each) from The Container Store in conjunction with these shelves (American Crafts Crate Desktop Storage Paper Rack - currently $19.99) in the closet where my materials are stored. The shelves are definitely not perfect (not super stable), but adding a base to them (thin cardboard) made me feel better about materials (vinyl and paper) not flopping down in the corners. There are other varieties that fit 12x12 vinyl or paper, but this was best for my existing space in the closet. The paper storage cases from The Container Store fit paper and vinyl nicely and I am able to keep this fun 12x12 self-healing mat with the materials. I have this funky pink version that was once in clearance at Michaels…it still exists online (here’s a visual) in some places but seems to be unavailable for purchase. Jo-Ann shows a gray version that is the same dimensions and reasonably priced.

Silhouette Studio Software

It has been wonderful to experiment with a number of digital designs through the Silhouette Studio software. I have absolutely no regrets about purchasing the full (business) version of the software since it means I do not always have to go through Adobe Illustrator. Eventually I will get a subscription to the Adobe Creative Suite so I can access that across multiple devices, but this Silhouette software has allowed me to bring a number of creations to life. And if I do pop over to Illustrator or access any older designs that exist in AI formats...Silhouette Studio can usually open them!

VINYL

Over time I have leaned towards using Oracal vinyl in sheets or rolls. When Michaels has 12x12 sheets on sale and I can get them for somewhere around $0.80, it is great to stock up on a variety of colors. During these sales I also get a combination of both matte (typically 631) and glossy (typically 651). It is nice to have both on hand even though I rarely distinguish between the two for their different adhesive properties - 631 is lighter adhesion and typically indoor use while 651 is stronger adhesion for outdoor use. In the samples shown the silver-gray vinyl used is glossy (651) in the “Not all who wander are lost” design (map pin and lettering) and matte (631) in the “Rosie” lettering and the robot decal as well. Both the glossy and matte versions of vinyl work well and it is a matter of preference for most personal-use applications. On my work laptop (PC with black matte finish) I prefer matte for those decals. On my Chromebook or older MacBook Pro that both have a smooth finish I have used both matte and glossy options.

Frisco Craft Brand vinyl

Recently, I had the opportunity to test sample glossy white vinyl on a roll from Frisco Craft. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it did with two different projects. One was done exclusively as a test. Some information about the test projects is included below with the pictures. It is certainly worth considering for your vinyl needs and you can find the glossy white on Amazon (glossy white on a roll similar to this option on Amazon that was unavailable at this time).

TRANSFER TAPE

The reason I found the Frisco Craft brand originally was because of their clear transfer tape on a roll with backing paper. Since that is my preference and I was tiring of only having the gridded option (don’t get me wrong - it works well...I’m just terrible at lining things up), I was excited to try the Frisco Craft option (this is the roll I purchased on Amazon - 12”x 50ft - $16.99). Check out the box turned into a kind of dispenser to hold the transfer tape securely when I cut sections as needed (see photo). It has been fantastic so far! Works well for all of the Oracal and with their own glossy white as well. I love that when I send someone a design they can see it clearly and I do not have to use the backing paper from the vinyl sheet. Since I do small projects I often use weeding boxes (just in sections of a sheet) and need to pick up the vinyl and have a temporary place for it as it travels to the final destination for application. I also picked up some chipboard to cut and include in envelopes when mailing out vinyl projects. It has been a real joy to create things while stuck at home that I can send out into the world for family and friends to enjoy.

Paper

Paper crafting has been a new venture and I am enjoying the challenge of it. So far I have used the software and my machine for practical projects (unicorn costume cut for Rosie the Root Robot! ) in addition to creative boxes and cards. The latest adventure has been using Astrobrights color card stock (65lb/176gsm) in card making for a variety of card sizes and types. I follow a lot of information online and then try to modify the original land to make my own versions. Sometimes it works well (custom boxes), and sometimes it’s an ongoing challenge. For example, in trying to set up my custom sizes for the window version of the pop up card I have had many failures and one success. The full size (folded 8.5x11) card has worked for projects, and I am still trying to get the dimensions worked out for smaller variations (4x6 folded and A2 size). If you are interested in the song linked with the QR code from the project below, you can find it on YouTube: Everything’s Gonna Be Alright (by David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney). If you would like the actual project file for the card, please reach out (contact here or on social media) to me! I intend to post it at some point but want to add a couple more “anchor hearts” in the design.

TAPE for paper crafting

In terms of adhesive tape used with paper, I have always loved the Roll-On Permanent Glue Tape (see it here) that comes in a two-pack from Staples…and I only love it more after trying other options. I find that the typical “crafters tape” pulls and sticks coming off the dispenser making it a challenge to work with. Even though the Staples glue tape is ridiculously expensive, it is my number one choice. I also have glue pens for fine details and plan to add some tape on a roll that is marketed towards card making so I can see if that is a happy (less expensive, but still effective) medium. Stay tuned for more on the adhesive tape options as I purchase and try more.

STICKERS/PRINT AND CUT

One of the features I do not get to explore all that often involves the option to “print and cut” with registration marks. This option allows, for example, custom stickers to be set up in the software with cut lines, printed, and put through the machine to with a “kiss cut” to give you a full page (or whatever you choose) of stickers. The “kiss cut” means that only the top layer of the sticker paper is cut and not the backing paper. You can also cut through the paper entirely, but I have found myself primarily using the “kiss cut” settings for full pages. I found this full page sticker paper (Online Labels full sheet label on Amazon - 100 pack for $17.90) and continue to use that original pack of 100 pages two years later. Since I do not have a color printer at home these designs have been limited lately. I have an outstanding old black and white laser printer that is awesome for the few times I actually need to print something at home, but I cannot bring myself to invest in a color machine. I would likely get a color laser printer if I did add one, but the sticker pages have printed nicely on inkjet (thanks to an assist from Maggie to print the last project - see color sticker below - on her home printer!).

Just like the unicorn costume for Rosie, you can print anything with an outline to cut and run it through the machine for precise cuts. I used a simple rounded rectangle to hold a variation of the custom logo (made in the software using a scan of kids artwork) for the A&M Sticker Agency to make a mock business card for the kids running it (fun activity they are doing from home). Simple black and white design (remember that’s all I can print at home!) that fits 10 on a page. Using the card stock in different colors was a fun way to vary the cards. One thing that is imperative with the print and cut - you must have a good light source when the machine scans for registration marks or your cuts can be incredibly wonky. I am loving the clip on light/magnifier (this one that I purchased was a bit less a couple months ago, but plenty of reasonable options out there!) I purchased recently because it works well for weeding and also allows me to angle a bright light (clipped in place on the desk so my hands are free) right over the machine during the scanning process. I had previously used a small LED flashlight pointing at the area scanned as the machine moved. The hands-free flexibility that the clip-on light gives me both for projects and for use during scanning of registration marks has been excellent.

STENCILS

This is a new one for me and I have only tested out con-tact paper (yep, it cuts just fine!). I purchased mine on Amazon: Con-Tact Brand Creative Clear Covering Self-Adhesive Semi-Transparent Privacy Film Protective Vinyl and Shelf Liner, 18'' x 20', Clear Matte. I have also used transparency sheets (remember those from the overhead projector days?!). I had fun with the transparency sheet and the designs from it, but since the material is fairly flimsy, it is not ideal. I will try a blank laminating pouch (thicker 5 mil option) at some point.

SETTINGS USED

These are the settings that work for me with the materials mentioned. My blade has a fair amount of use at this point and my cutting mat is well worn from projects, especially those with paper. I only use the AutoBlade so far and keep a new one on hand in case I’m in a pinch. I do use painters tape to hold paper in place just to be safe (well worn cutting mat with not a lot of stickiness at the moment) if I use the older mat and I am rotating in a newer one for paper projects.

Vinyl, matte and Glossy (same settings used for all…I believe I have even had success with HTV using these)
Blade Depth: 2
Force: 10
Speed: 5
Passes: 1
Overcut: not checked

Materials I am using include (see more info in full post above about vinyl):

1. Oracal 631 and Oracal 651

2. Frisco Glossy White

3. Siser Heat Transfer Vinyl

4. Cricut Heat Transfer Vinyl (have on hand - thanks, Margie! - but have not tested yet)

Cardstock, Plain (typically no change to default settings)
Blade Depth: 3
Force: 20
Speed: 4
Passes: 1
Overcut: not checked

Materials I am using include:

1. Neenah Vellum Bristol Cardstock, Lightweight, 67 lb/147 gsm, 94 Brightness (love this lighter weight option for the inside of custom cards or testing out designs - it is very easy to work with and does not add too much bulk when layering designs/cards)

2. Astrobrights Colored Cardstock, 8.5” x 11”, 65 lb / 176 gsm (any variation works and I have both this pack as well as others with fewer colors and more sheets)

3. Neenah Creative Collection Specialty Cardstock Starter Kit, 12" x 12", 65 lb (this is just about the same as the basic colors in the pack above, but in the 12” x 12” size…I find myself using more of the standard size and it is easy to find sales on the various Astrobrights cardstock packs at just about all stores from Michaels to Target and Staples)

Sticker Paper (“kiss cut” settings - see note about “cut through” adjustment for force)
Blade Depth: 2
Force: 6 (I have adjusted this to 16 for a “cut through” option when cutting portions of sticker pages)
Speed: 4
Passes: 1
Overcut: not checked

Materials I am using include:

1. Sticker Paper, 100 Sheets, White Matte, 8.5 x 11 Full Sheet Label, Inkjet or Laser Printer, Online Labels (OL177WX)

Small groups in Google Meet

In order to facilitate the student group work using Google Meet you will need to set up separate links. In my case I made a “team 1” and “team 2” link to refer back to during Quizizz games or small group work. This allowed for a team of 3 and a team of 2 in my small classes, but it should work just fine for larger groups if you make additional links. Let students know which link to select (we started pushing out in chat) for their appropriate team/small group and have them mute audio, at the very least, in the main class Meet window. I joined the small groups and usually muted myself until there was a question in one group, or I was directing everyone to head back to the main class Meet window. During these activities I have a split screen to be able to see all the students and they know I can see/hear them throughout.

Quizizz live for collaboration, even in different locations

When hosting a live Quizizz game I share the link right in the Meet chat as well. Look into more about Quizizz here, and feel free to reach out to me (contact through the site or via Twitter) with any questions - I would be happy to help in any way I can! We have tested Quizizz (live games, only have a free account) with Google Meet during both reading and math classes. In reading it was to review content from our class novel (Restart), and in math it was to review concepts in geometry (triangles, missing angles, and identifying triangles). Even though the kids were in teams the reports show the percentage (and questions missed) for each student so you know where any gaps are with the content.

Virtual Tour Destination Exploration

Make a copy of the Virtual Tour Destination Exploration document here and modify to your heart’s content! I know I will be adding more destination options from this excellent list put together by iRobot on this PDF.

Find that document and many more ideas on the online activities page.

Don’t forget to update permissions for teacher OUs related to Google Meet through the Admin Console as the changes are available. See more information in the G Suite Blog update.

Film Canister Rockets

Over the summer, I gathered canisters through donations from area camera stores (yes, you can still find a few). The best canister to use is the one shown in the picture. The lid has to sit inside and form a tight, secure seal. Of course, you can also buy these canisters anywhere from a teacher supply website to Amazon or even Steve Spangler Science. A quick Google search will provide a plethora of options. I was fortunate to find enough for all of seventh and eighth grade to complete the activity through donations from two camera stores. The canisters are not consumable and the Alka-Seltzer tablets are relatively inexpensive. We bought this pack from Target and have quite a few left (1/4 to 1/2 a tablet per launch). We used the template on page 6 from the Educational Innovations lesson. For the first group (room 12) we used about 1/3 a canister of water, and for the second group (room 6) we used about 1/2 a canister of water. Data collection was done via this Google Doc. Check out the results for yourself in the compilation video!

October 2023 Update: Canister rockets

There are many variations for this activity and we had a great time using the canisters alone with 5th grade students. Using just the canister (no paper template) gives the kids the chance to see more of the reaction and also get excellent results for the launch (or “explosion” as they like to say 😉). My new school uses PhD Science from Great Minds and the modified activity works well during the investigation of states of matter/properties of matter. It will also give a good foundational hands-on experience to talk about chemical reactions.

Try it yourself

If you are interested in trying the stripped down version of the canister rockets, please feel free to use and/or modify these documents to work for you. You have a notice/wonder fill in document for printing (to write on paper) that can be adapted for typing - make a copy here. There is also a teacher document (make your own copy here) with some helpful reminders. In our case we used 10 total canisters with our 20 students in pairs. We are fortunate to have plenty of space outside and used some existing markers on the ground as a visual for launch pads. Multiple reminders were needed so students would not walk across areas where others were launching their rockets, so keep that in mind for safety’s sake!

You can see the example with no paper template on the canister in the video above this text. Notice how far that canister flys! This video was from my last school, but it gives you an idea on how fun it can be even without taking time to cut/tape paper to the canisters.

Marble Roller Coasters

A primary goal with force and motion (or physics in general) is to make the material more meaningful and accessible. We can actually have fun AND learn. There are a number of classic activities that are perfect for middle school and can be easily modified/adapted for any population of learners. As we have looked to include more integrated STEM, and focus on engineering, these activities have become the foundation for science this year.

We are right in the middle of the student build for the marble roller coasters, but wanted to share the materials, prep, and samples. The first thing I did was test several sizes of pipe insulation tubing. There are a number of variations of this activity that you can find online and my goal was to give the kids the opportunity to experiment with more independent data collection for several types of marbles in their roller coaster. The kids will identify what factors impact the different marbles (e.g., mass) and have the chance to re-design their coasters to ensure that all three types of marbles travel safely to the end of the coaster. Note that we did not include a place to record the mass on the lab document, but plan to discuss this and offer the opportunity to explore the mass of each marble. The basis for this lesson was taken from one version on the Teach Engineering website and you can find it at this link. The “big mistakes” list was taken from the LanceMakes Instructable that also has a number of other helpful tips and pictures.

Materials and Samples

After experimenting with several sizes (1/2”, 3/4”, and 1”) of tubing, I decided that the best fit for all three marble types was the 3/4” tubing. If you use all the same materials, then the tubing should work well for you too. Note that if you use different sizes of marbles then the tubing may not be the best fit. The channel created by the different inside dimensions does make a difference.

The 3/4” tubing allowed us to use 1/2” marbles that were readily available in metal, wood, and glass. The glass marbles are slightly larger at about 0.56” compared to 0.5” for the others. Other materials include masking tape and some type of cup/basket to catch the marble at the end of the coaster. Not pictured are the options we provided from Dollar Tree so students can now have the choice between a cup, or two different small plastic baskets, and the basic stop watches used to collect data. If you would like a copy of the lab document, you can access it here.

Methods

Prior to introducing the activity we starting placing samples for the students to explore throughout the classroom and in the hallway. We used three free-standing options (basic turn, loop and corkscrew) with a single piece of track, and then two wall mounted options with two pieces of track to show how the transition works between pieces. Several students were able to put up samples that used all three pieces of track (amount that would have during the activity) and incorporated loops, corkscrews, and turns. Having the tangible samples for students to explore helped spark their creativity. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a bad thing to show students a “completed” version of an activity prior to a lesson. For our students with learning disabilities, they may not be able to make a picture in their head and come up with designs unless they have that opportunity to explore the ideas prior to the activity. Check out the samples below shown in photos and video compilations.

It’s no secret that I love finding ways to make physics content come to life for students. Much of the credit for the interest I have goes to my favorite graduate school professor who introduced me to the highly engaging and hands-on side of physics more than a decade ago. Thanks, Professor!

UPDATE:

Coasters by the students are shown in the images below. Please click through using the arrows or select different thumbnails to see all 9 pictures of the amazing student work! You can also check out a video of the double loop that shows it functioning. Outstanding designs by the students for our Hall of Rockin’ Roller Coasters this school year!

Since Aimee and I will be able to present at IDEAcon 2020 together, we will plan to share an update during the presentation on engineering. If you will be at IDEAcon (formerly the ICE Conference), be sure to stop by and say hi: Engineering in the Classroom: Problem Solvers of Today and Tomorrow.

As we begin to implement the activities there will be more to share, but for now we have the kits sorted and ready to use after Thanksgiving break/Hour of Code.

When I saw that these kits did not have stickers to go in the sorting tray (like the WeDo 2.0 kits), I decided to make my own with my Silhouette Cameo (model 3). The stickers match the parts identification page for each compartment of the tray. I selected which parts would go into each section for the bottom since nothing is provided and I wanted the kids to have the visual reference. Stickers were also made and used for organizing the Pneumatics add-ons set (9641). The sticker sheet for the Pneumatics is 3x the stickers on one sheet because they fit and we have 3 kits!

We put each set in a small parts organizer from Lowe’s. The organizer can have up to 16-compartments with the additional dividers (included), and it has a transparent lid.

If you have a Cameo then you can download the .studio3 files, otherwise feel free to use the PDF versions to make your own. There are two PDF versions: one has the print and cut registration marks set up on it, and the other one does not have any registration marks at all.

Files are linked here:

1. Studio.3 file (for use in Silhouette Studio) for 9686 and 9641

2. PDF with registration marks for 9686 and 9641

3. PDF without registration marks for 9686 and 9641

Enjoy some fun videos below that show the setup/sorting process we used :)

As always, please feel free to reach out if you have questions!

As a vegetarian who uses a non-dairy butter alternative, I have never really had a use for this area of the refrigerator. An assortment of condiment packets made their way to this area and were a constant threat to make a daring escape, leaping out of the refrigerator if this compartment was ever opened. That made it less functional as a space to store condiment packets or other small items. Anything placed inside would just end up in a large pile that made opening that compartment to access anything a gamble. Will they all fall out or won’t they? No one would ever know!

Once I finally made time to measure the space and design something it was fairly quick to put together two options. I used Tinkercad to model both versions of the design. I knew I wanted to have the option to use both versions, so I selected the overall dimensions to ensure two could fit side by side.

Even though the dimensions of each organizer are the same, the interior organizer is different. Each organizer is 4.5" wide, 3.25" tall, and 4" deep. This fits the compartment for my refrigerator exactly. The organizers fit in the compartment snugly and do not move around very much when the door to the compartment is opened. While I do not actually have much to store in there at the moment, it is nice to know that the space is more functional for organization of small items. I hope someone else can make use of the organizers so I have shared them on Thingiverse. Please keep me posted if you make one (or more) and let me know what you end up using them for in your kitchen or any place else!