Division: Early Childhood
Teaches: PreK (Center City Campus)
At the end of every spring semester my class … does a robotics project. It’s part of our engineering unit, and is a culmination of everything the students have learned about the design process. Each student creates a prototype of a robot that is meant to solve a problem, either in their personal life or in the world. For instance, we had a student who designed a chef robot that would make dinner so they could spend more time with their dads. Another student was tired of seeing adults pick up trash, and designed robots called City Help Bots to clean up public spaces. Then, they make a model of their robot using salvaged materials.
PreK robot designs
This project is great for preschoolers because … it’s about being able to explore, ask questions to seek meaningful information, and use their vocabulary to describe things. It also is an example of cross-curricular learning: they’re learning about something scientific, but also able to engage with STREAM, the arts, reading, building—multiple modalities help hone their understanding of their world around them.
One really cool part of this project is that … our whole class works together to create a 3-D robot! We use salvaged and recycled materials and make a moveable simple machine. This allows them to see how it works when you bring a prototype to life. This year we made what we called a Wiggle Bot. The students were so excited to build a real robot, not just a prototype.
The project looks a little different every year because … I adjust the parameters to meet my students’ needs and interests. One year, a student was having a hard time thinking of a problem to solve. I modified the project so they could work backward: create something first and then figure out what they wanted that creation to do after. It’s not a linear project—I consider what would be most meaningful to each student. It’s a way for them to explore solving problems and to feel like they can take ownership of the design process.