This grant was funded to introduce robotics to the students in the Investigative Math Class, at Wylie Junior High School. The amount funded was $1,000. Due to the excitement and interest in this new class, 50 students enrolled in this class. The students are eager to learn new skills and work together as a team while building their LEGO robot. As the teams work together to make their robots operative, they are learning problem solving, programming, and robot designing.
The students use a manual to construct their robots and computer software to program their robots to accomplish specific tasks. It is fun watching the creative ways students construct their robots. This learning experience gives them a unique opportunity to learn more about science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines.
Our class recently visited an “animation lab” at Texas Tech. The students were interested in the varied examples of animated objects they observed in Lubbock. This free field trip training lasted 6 hours, but the benefits from it will last long into the future. Robots are common in our world, and the technology skills these students learn now will help them in their future studies and employment.
A motivating factor in this class is the Robotics Competition our class will enter in the spring. Competition in academics can be just as exciting as competitive sports, and I am thankful for this WBEF grant helping fund this project. Thanks also to Texas Tech for loaning us two kits for student use and competition.
Carol Stringfellow, Amber Smith, and Sylvia Martinez
