are making the most out of extracurricular activities such as robotics by encouraging students to actively contribute to their community and make STEM exciting and engaging. Her student, Alyssa Marotta, states, “When I joined the robotics club, my involvement in the school reached a new level. Instead of only going to school, I began to actively participate [in both robotics and school] and I felt that I was contributing to what makes Cypress Bay the recognized school that it is.” Ms. Ashley explains, “STEM education needs to be fun and hands on. We need to not ‘teach’ STEM in a traditional manner. Instead, we need to let students explore with their minds, and learn to create and build with their hands. Most importantly, we need to encourage them to build what they can imagine. Traditional classroom settings tend to stifle imagination and creativity - the exact opposite of what we should be teaching them.” Students at Cypress Bay have taken this message to heart. Each year, they participate in robotics competitions and apply their knowledge and understanding of programming and engineering to plan, design, and build a robot. This year’s challenge, entitled FIRST RES-Q, is modeled after rescue situations faced by mountain explorers all over the globe. The team’s robot can score points by “resetting” Rescue beacons, delivering Rescue Climbers to a shelter, parking in the Rescue beacon repair zone or floor goal, and parking on the “mountain.”
Not only do these students apply their knowledge and abilities towards competitions, but they also work towards expanding the impact of a STEM education. For example, at Cypress Bay High School, the department head of the special-needs program reached out to the robotics class and asked if they could construct inventions that assist special-needs students with daily tasks, ranging from putting papers into a paper shredder to watering a garden. As a result, the class is currently creating an apparatus for wheelchair-bound students to be able to bowl as well as a blender that can be safely used by students with poor dexterity. In order to fully derive use out of STEM fields and STEM-oriented education, it is essential that everyone is included and accounted for. As Ms. Ashley states, “With each passing year this world gets more and more high-tech. It affects everyone in every aspect of life. Young or old, we are surrounded by technology.”
Climbers to a shelter, parking in the Rescue beacon repair zone or floor goal, and parking on the “mountain.”
Not only do these students apply their knowledge and abilities towards competitions, but they also work towards expanding the impact of a STEM education. For example, at Cypress Bay High School, the department head of the special-needs program reached out to the robotics class and asked if they could construct inventions that assist special-needs students with daily tasks, ranging from putting papers into a paper shredder to watering a garden. As a result, the class is currently creating an apparatus for wheelchair-bound students to be able to bowl as well as a blender that can be safely used by students with poor dexterity. In order to fully derive use out of STEM fields and STEM-oriented education, it is essential that everyone is included and accounted for. As Ms. Ashley states, “With each passing year this world gets more and more high-tech. It affects everyone in every aspect of life. Young or old, we are surrounded by technology.”
are making the most out of extracurricular activities such as robotics by encouraging students to actively contribute to their community and make STEM exciting and engaging. Her student, Alyssa Marotta, states, “When I joined the robotics club, my involvement in the school reached a new level. Instead of only going to school, I began to actively participate [in both robotics and school] and I felt that I was contributing to what makes Cypress Bay the recognized school that it is.” Ms. Ashley explains, “STEM education needs to be fun and hands on. We need to not ‘teach’ STEM in a traditional manner. Instead, we need to let students explore with their minds, and learn to create and build with their hands. Most importantly, we need to encourage them to build what they can imagine. Traditional classroom settings tend to stifle imagination and creativity - the exact opposite of what we should be teaching them.” Students at Cypress Bay have taken this message to heart. Each year, they participate in robotics competitions and apply their knowledge and understanding of programming and engineering to plan, design, and build a robot. This year’s challenge, entitled FIRST RES-Q, is modeled after rescue situations faced by mountain explorers all over the globe. The team’s robot can score points by “resetting” Rescue beacons, delivering Rescue Climbers to a shelter, parking in the Rescue beacon repair zone or floor goal, and parking on the “mountain.”
Not only do these students apply their knowledge and abilities towards competitions, but they also work towards expanding the impact of a STEM education. For example, at Cypress Bay High School, the department head of the special-needs program reached out to the robotics class and asked if they could construct inventions that assist special-needs students with daily tasks, ranging from putting papers into a paper shredder to watering a garden. As a result, the class is currently creating an apparatus for wheelchair-bound students to be able to bowl as well as a blender that can be safely used by students with poor dexterity. In order to fully derive use out of STEM fields and STEM-oriented education, it is essential that everyone is included and accounted for. As Ms. Ashley states, “With each passing year this world gets more and more high-tech. It affects everyone in every aspect of life. Young or old, we are surrounded by technology.”
STEMulating Young Minds
ROBOTICS
22
Compass / April 2016