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- USING THR SPHERO EDU APP FULL
- USING THR SPHERO EDU APP PORTABLE
- USING THR SPHERO EDU APP CODE
- USING THR SPHERO EDU APP FREE
USING THR SPHERO EDU APP PORTABLE
Ideas for creating a barrier include long wooden planks, pool noodles, and even hula hoops! I decided on large plastic bins for a portable solution that is easy to clean. For the canvas area, use butcher paper and then create a barrier around the canvas to prevent the robots from escaping and painting the floor. Once the Sphero is in the rubber cover, wrap it in Press n’ Seal wrap just for extra protection from the paint. You’ll be using the Sphero robot to paint across the canvas and the result is very similar to what Pollock painted! For this activity, I would suggest buying rubber covers for your robots. This fun activity is inspired by the work of artist Jackson Pollock, who was known for his abstract ‘drip style paintings’. To mix things up this year, we decided to merge the two activities to let our robots create the mural! Another popular station is a STEM mural, where students draw something related to a STEM career. 2: Sphero Paintingĭuring STEM Family Nights, families love driving Sphero robots around an obstacle course to learn the basics of controlling a robot. A little messy, but a lot of fun! Check out some examples here. This is basically a chariot challenge in the water, and you can connect to real-world tug boats.
USING THR SPHERO EDU APP FULL
The goal was for the robot to carry a boat full of pennies across the water. In a summer camp, I used Sphero to have the students make robot powered boats. These robots are ready to be used right out of the box, so you can spend more time teaching computer science rather than picking up building pieces all over your classroom floor.
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The new BOLT education pack can carry up to 15 at one time! 5: No Building RequiredĪnother thing I love about their design is that you don’t need to actually build the robot before you can start jumping into the programming. Sphero offers an education pack (available for both SPRK+ and BOLT), that’s basically a charging suitcase! So you can plug the suitcase in and charge all the robots at the same time, while having a super cool way to carry them. So for anyone that has a mobile classroom, these are great for carrying from classroom to classroom. SPRK+ and BOLT both have a hard spherical shell about the size of a baseball. Traveling between schools, I love that these robots are compact. Besides making them more durable, there are many possibilities here! 4: Outside Shell Design Amazingly, the original 12 we bought two years ago are still going strong to this day. However, there was no damage, and that same robot is still working to this day! We also use these robots at family nights that reach thousands of people a year, from preschoolers to high school students. To my horror, I once had someone throw a SPRK+ on asphalt (they thought it was a toy ball). This is a great way to bring in those real world skills for high school students that may eventually want to go into the field of computer science. Text - Text programming allows you to program the robot in JavaScript. In the updated app, they have now streamlined their blocks with Scratch.
USING THR SPHERO EDU APP CODE
You draw a shape in the app, and the robot will follow that shape outline.īlock - Block programming is similar to what you would see on Hour of Code or Scratch and is geared more towards middle and high school students. For the programming part there are 3 different options:ĭraw - The Draw choice is great way to introduce robotics to elementary students. When driving the robot, you use a joystick type circle that allows you to move the robot around.
USING THR SPHERO EDU APP FREE
Here are the basic components at the core of both of Sphero’s education focused robots, the SPRK+ and BOLT: 1: Programming capabilitiesīy using the Sphero Edu app (which is completely free by the way) you can control the robot by either driving or programming it. The new BOLT, really highlights the versatility, because not only can you do basic programming, but you can also use it to create animations, use as a light sensor in a project or create a game - the possibilities are endless! The Basics of SpheroĪlright, let’s get into the reasons on why Sphero is worth the investment. And with the Sphero robot, I can have students learning to drive the robot or advance to using block coding to program the robot through a maze. Some have been in robotics club since elementary school, while others have never even seen a robot. I run an afterschool STEM program where I work with 6-8th graders (yes, all in one room) that have widely different skill set levels. My top two reasons? Their products are approachable for all students and bring versatility to the classroom. So what really makes Sphero stand out? I have used many robotics kits, and Sphero is the one I keep returning to.
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