CULLMAN, Ala. – Students at East Elementary School used rolling robots to create artwork, as part of the school’s broader robotics and coding curriculum.
Young learners across all grades participated in the project, which utilized Sphero Spark Robots — essentially ball-like robot devices that can be controlled — to spread paint and created artwork for their classrooms. The project was a way to introduce students to some basic principles for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) curriculum, as well as fundamentals of coding.
“This is an activity that simply exposes students to robotics, which is a foundation for other upcoming STEM activities and coding activities,” Savannah Wood, library media specialist at East Elementary School, said. “Sphero is a robot in the shape of a sphere that students can drive and manipulate, as well as be used to further code with. Then students can use iPads to control them.”
As for the artwork created along the way, teachers displayed the projects in their classrooms or outside their hallways.
“We used tape to create their teacher’s name, or a bearcat paw print, and once the paint dried we peeled the tape off to reveal the art,” Wood explained.
Wood went on to explain the importance of STEM education and how Cullman City Schools works to innovate and find creative ways to engage students within those concepts.
“Since we are an elementary school, Cullman City (Schools) set the goal to expose students to as much robotics and STEM as possible,” she said. “This exposure will be further developed as they enter middle school and even high school. We are giving them the foundation at this level.”
