By Raina Hanna / Special to DeSoto Appeal (Commercial Appeal)
Posted April 4, 2012 at midnight
Cooper Jordan and Ana Le, third-graders in Overpark Elementary School’s Spotlight program, had played with LEGO building kits before but never ones that moved on their own.
But a day of building with LEGO basic motorized kits Tuesday was just the precursor to what the class will experience in the fall when they move up to a classroom set of LEGO Mindstorms.
“Our principal had a company bring in these kits for the day as a reward for the students raising $3,000 to purchase a Mindstorms classroom set that we will have ready to use in the fall,” said teacher Michelle Kinggard.
LEGO Mindstorms allow users to not only build things that move but functioning robots that can respond to light, sound and touch and can be programmed to do a variety of tasks.
The kits the students used Tuesday were part of a program brought into the school by All About Learning Inc. Students were paired up and given the task of building a vehicle capable of challenging vehicles built by their classmates in a battle arena.
Each team was given instructions to construct the vehicle base. Then it was up to the students to decide what weapons, armor and other feature to add. Decisions can be difficult, as students must problem-solve to ensure the vehicle has the ability to both take hits and deal them out.
The first vehicle to lose a LEGO block loses.
“The battle bot kits are kind of an intermediate step, before the Mindstorms,” Kinggard said.
Cooper and Ana set their sights on building a vehicle that would be the most structurally sound.
“I played with LEGOs a lot,” Cooper said. “But these are the first that I’ve used that actually move on their own.”
Often, robotics programs that include materials like LEGO Mindstorms are introduced to students at the middle or high school level. However, Kinggard said more elementary schools are embracing these teaching tools to get students interested in engineering at a young age.
“It’s all a part of STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education,” she said. “We already teach science and math, and these kids use technology every day, but it’s harder for them to be exposed to engineering.”
Ana, who wants to be a fashion designer, said activities like these make her reconsider.
“I like building things. I don’t know, I might consider doing something that combines fashion and architecture, maybe even be an architect,” she said.
Cooper hasn’t yet decided on a career path. He said he knows he has plenty of time. For now, he’s more focused on learning everything the school has to offer, especially when it comes to engineering.
“I can’t wait until next year when we build real robots. These are really great, but next year it’ll be so much better,” he said.
Overpark Elementary’s spotlight/gifted program has 78 students. It is co-taught by Kinggard and Allison Hopkins and includes students from second through fifth grade, with each grade having its own class period.
In second grade, the winning battle bot was designed by Gavin Taylor and Dylan Barnette. Third-grade winners were Kristen Oswalt and Rachel Reid. Fourth-grade winners were Joey Miron and Dru Hines. Peyton Thornburg and Ian McGinnes were the winners in the fifth-grade class.
For more information visit their website at allaboutlearning.co.