ROBOTIC CHALLENGE

  In the year 2001, the National Science Foundation devised the acronym SMET (science, mathematics, engineering and technology) in efforts to draw attention to the newly recognized climactic need for future scientists, mathematicians and engineers. Soon after, the acronym was changed to STEM, a common term now used to address the movement developing skills needed to solve common everyday, as well as larger-scaled future challenges of the 21st century; the first century of the third millennium.  

Thompson Falls Junior High is providing STEM educational experiences by offering an elective drones class, infiltrated with robotics, taught by Jase Miller. Although the class has been offered previously, Sphero robots are a new addition to the classroom and seem to be responsible for creating more appeal. According to Miller, his maximum enrollment was 10 students. This quarter, he has 16.

The last few weeks, students have been participating in a chariot race. "We started off designing a chariot out of K'NEX that went on a Sphero," said Miller, who explained that the Sphero is programmed through coding to move however a student wants it to. After some trial runs, students redesigned their carts and were given a challenge – adding weight to their carts.

In the initial design phase, students were only able to carry two or three blocks on their chariot. With their redesign, the top racing chariot easily held six blocks. Coming in first place were seventh graders Taylor Saner, Annalise Fairbank, Emily Gravning and Savana Wilson, and eighth grader Arianna Grounds. Although they were unable to determine just how many blocks their chariot could hold due to class ending, it appeared to have no difficulty handling the six-piece load Tuesday morning.

"The most difficult was getting the wheels in the middle and not tipping over," shared Fairbank. Classmate Cayden Steinbach said his biggest challenge was "speed." The winning group said they worked on the chariot for three days and had four remodels. Miller said that it took "four days [for the class] to make a clean, full turn," indicating how difficult the challenge was for students, and the progress they have made with Sphero operations.

Miller's class allows students to strengthen their overall knowledge and abilities in thinking scientifically, mathematically, technologically and in applying engineering logic to solve problems.  One example of this is how students practice coding, a specific programming language to make their Sphero robot maneuver as desired. Through this alone, students become more technologically, mechanically, and logically literate.

"The Sphero does some cool stuff," said Jakob Molina, an eighth grader who aspires to one day become a pilot for United Parcel Service (UPS). "You can pretty much program it to do whatever you want it to do through coding and draw coding," Molina continued. Miller said the robots are programmable in four ways: by remote drive, draw shape, block coding and HTML coding.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, STEM careers are expected to grow 8% from 2019 to 2029, with an average annual wage of $87,000. In comparison, non-STEM careers are expected to increase by 3.5% and have an average wage of $38,000. Providing students with STEM experiences opens prospects for future careers in related fields. Many of the junior high students participating in the race said they are considering jobs in the STEM arena.

Thompson Falls Junior High now owns 15 Sphero BOLT robots and has newly acquired a Sphero RVR rover. Miller said now that the chariot race is complete, the class will move on to rover functions. The Sphero units were purchased with COVID-19 funds the school received from the U.S. Department of Education.