OPS fifth graders visit UNL, participate in robotics-based STEM learning activity

Deepika Menon shares a robotics activity with Edison Elementary School fifth graders in Omaha, Neb.
Deepika Menon shares a robotics activity with Edison Elementary School fifth graders in Omaha, Neb.

During a visit to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in May, fifth grade students from Omaha Public Schools' Edison Elementary School participated in a faculty-guided STEM activity using Bee-Bots, programmable robots designed for use by children.

Deepika Menon, PhD, assistant professor in the Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education and of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, and Amanda Thomas, PhD, associate professor of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, engaged the fifth graders in the activity, which integrated science, technology, and mathematics using robotics. Students were asked to each choose a plant or animal (for example, a tree or a frog) to discuss its life cycle.

"The activity allowed students to use creativity in sketching the phases of life cycles, scientific knowledge, mathematical and technological skills," Menon said.

Using rulers and markers, each student drew a rectangular path for a Bee-Bot to follow, in which a corner of the rectangle represented one phase of the life cycle for the organism. The Bee-Bots were programmed to act as tour guides along the paths situated in the context of the phases of the life cycle, pausing at each phase along the way.

"We had a great time today sharing about some of the impactful work being done in our college with a group of fifth graders from Omaha Public Schools," the UNL College of Education and Human Sciences shared on Facebook, "Students learned about augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices, fashion business planning, family and consumer sciences, and STEM learning using Bee-Bots."