Math & Technology Mini Projects

Adaptive Game Board

Grades : 7-8
Subject: Technology, Engineering
Students develop an automated game board that is designed to assist children with a specific or multiple disabilities.  Students design, prototype, and test their automated systems.  The final product will include: Game, Packaging, Directions for Use, and Marketing Strategy.

Inventions and Innovations
Grades : 6-7
Subjects: Technology,Engineering
Students develop a working model for a solution to an identified need in their local community.  Scope of the design is to be set by the instructor and should include ways of making a positive impact on the students' community.  Students will identify a problem in which they are intimately involved or concerned about.  Examples include:  Fairness in Sports, Recycling, Water Conservation.

Anchor-bot
Grades: Middle School
Subject: Technology
The students will create a robot that represents a news anchor. The news anchor will introduce a new scientific or technological breakthrough (within the past year). The news story should talk about the background behind the breakthrough, the current effect, and the potential future impacts.

Angles
Grade: Elementary School
Subject: Math
Students will create a robotic device that teaches about angles. The device should be able to show congruency, supplementary angles, and complimentary angles. The students can then use their devices to teach younger students about angles.

Recycling
 Grades: Middle School
Subject: Technology, Art
In conjunction with EARTH DAY activities, students will explore recycling and its impact on the Earth. As a school wide contest, students will be challenged to design a robot which will make use of the robot kits and encourage use of the existing water bottle recycling containers in our school cafeteria. Students will choose the winner from the top three selected from a group of teachers, administrators, parents, and students. The creator of the winning design will have have authority to establish a team to help build and construct the robot. The specific challenge should focus on changing the exisiting behaviors of misuse and non-use of the plastic water bottle recycling bins in the cafeteria.  A possible solution could include cheery lights and a silly sound when students place items inside the container. 

Full Curriculum

Grades: Middle School
Students analyze a poem for literary devices, as well as symbolzing the meaning of the poem. They then use the symbols to create a robot that illustrates the poem. 

Grades: Middle School
Integrating sensors into 2D artwork to depict changes occurring in nature (day to night, caterpillar to butterfly, food chain etc.)
One extension to this curriculum is a robotic haunted house scene including of robots that react to light and proximity.

Grades: Middle School
Time: 14.4 hours
Students create painting to visualy portray Beatles lyrics or themes and build robots inspired by the choosen theme. This curriculum was written for use in an Art class by one teacher.

Science, Technology, Math, Social Studies, Language Arts, Art -  Museum Bots

Grades: High School
This curriculum integrates Science, Technology, Mathematics, Social Studies, Language Arts and Art. It was written for collaborative implementation by an inter-disciplinary team of teachers. 

Grades: Pre-K
Students will design and build their own robot.

Grades: High School
Students study an organ system and then recreate one of its functions using Arts & Bots

  

Language Arts - Literary Bots

Grades: Middle School
Student write stories in their own voice, as well as stories in the literary voice of Dr Seuss' and build robots to support the narration. This curriculum was written for implementation by one teacher.

Grades: High School
Students create a model of the arm to show muscle movement.

Project Ideas - Sue Mellon

Sue Mellon – Project Ideas

Project #1
Discipline:  Mathematics
Grade level:  6th
Skill:  Measuring Angles to 180°
(Math Assessment Anchor –
 Measurement, Eligible Content: M6.B.2.1.3 Measure angles using a protractor up to 180° - protractor must be drawn - one side of the angle to be measured should line up with the straight edge of the protractor. )
Idea:  Using Servo motors with the “finger like” extension, position small characters at the end of the “finger like” extension and have students move their characters various degrees less than 180°.

Project #2
Discipline:  Reading
Grade levels: 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th
Skill:  Comprehension of Poetry 
(Note:  The “Target Passage Types for the Reading PSSA” chart indicates that poems will be included in all tests for these grade levels.  Many students view poetry negatively and they need to accept the fact that must demonstrate understanding.)
Idea:  Hold a “Robot Theater Classroom Festival” where students give poems “life” by using Robot Diaries.  I would divide the students into groups of two and assign them a poem.  After completing an analysis of the poem, they will create a scene with the servos, LEDs, etc. to accompany a recorded reading of the poem.  After all projects are complete, students will walk around the room viewing each other’s scenes.

Project #3
Discipline:  Social Studies
Grade level:  7th
Skill:  Reporting Research
(Note:  For the last two school years, I have been working with our 7th grade Social Studies teacher to complete the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh’s Middle School Ambassador Program.  Each year, the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh identifies an area of the world for targeted study.  We invite speakers from these regions to our school.  We also research the region by dividing the students into teams and have them create PowerPoint shows as part of a team presentation.  These presentations are very important to the students because they are the basis of determining the top 20-25 students who get to attend the culminating seminar held at the Cathedral of Learning each spring.)
Idea:  I believe that Robot Diaries could be a nice addition to this presentation and would give the teams of four more “hands-on” activities.  The students could use the Robot Diaries to recreate a famous citizen from their region.

Project #4
Discipline:  Technology
Grade level:  5th & 6th
Skill:  Understanding Programming Basics
(Note:  Each week, during one of the daily IE (Intervention-Enrichment) periods, I have a “pull-out” Gifted Support Time called GATE Tech in which we create technology based projects.  With the 4th grader, we do a great deal with PowerPoint—taping presentations and attaching these files, attaching videos from Discovery Education as well as creating interactive presentations (non-sequential).  With the 5th and 6th graders, we complete projects using MovieMaker and Storytelling Alice.)
Idea:  I believe that adding Robot Diaries would be a perfect addition to this work as many of my students are very artistic and love creating things this year.  My students love the new duct tape art as well as origami.  This would also reinforce our exploration of programming concepts such “looping.”

Project #5
Discipline:  Health and PE
Grade level:  6th and 7th
Skill:  Identifying health eating habits
Idea:   Students could create a robotic character and have the character deliver the “health message.”