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SPARK (Starter Programs for the Advancement of Robotic Knowledge)

Educational Resources

Cool Stuff
Programs
Resources for Elementary School Teachers, Parents and Students
Teaching Resources

Curricular Unit

LEGO Education Website  (expand)

http://www.lego.com/eng/education/mindstorms/default.asp

Robotics is a popular and effective way for teachers to cover important areas of their Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math curricula. The LEGO MINDSTORMS Education series are tailor-made for classroom and after-school activity use. They include construction sets, programming tools, and curriculum relevant activity packs.

Platform: LEGO


Contributed by: Danielle

LEGO Engineering  (expand)

http://www.legoengineering.com/

LEGOEngineering.com is dedicated to providing educators with resources for teaching through engineering with LEGO materials.

Platform: LEGO


Contributed by: Cara

Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Academy  (expand)

http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/roboticscurriculum/index.html

The Robotics Academy is committed to using the motivational effects of robotics to excite students about science and technology. We are an educational outreach of Carnegie Mellon University, and part of the university's world-renowned Robotics Institute. The Robotics Academy offers robotics curricula at the middle school, high school, and college levels based on LEGO and VEX platforms.

Platform: LEGO, VEX


Contributed by: Cara

Teaching Science Through LEGO Engineering  (expand)

http://www.legoengineering.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=144

The following four curricula are designed to introduce students to various science concepts through design-based LEGO projects. The first several lessons of each unit engage students in scientific explorations sometimes using the LEGO toolset as a resource. The students are then charged with an open-ended design challenge where they use the science they learned alongside the engineering design process to design and build LEGO creations that meet criteria that the students can observe and test.

Platform: LEGO


Contributed by: Cara

Razor Robotics  (expand)

http://www.razorrobotics.com/

Razor Robotics is dedicated to robot education and offers a wide variety of resources to help everyone, from the newest to the most experienced student roboticists.


Contributed by: bigglesuk1

Educator Training

TechStart Education Foundation  (expand)

http://techstart.org/

TechStart Education Foundation offers K-12 teacher technology training on topics including robotics, Flash and web design, and game creation.


Contributed by: Danielle

The STOMP Network  (expand)

http://www.stompnetwork.org/

Welcome to the STOMP Network. This site is designed to be an online resource to unite university-based Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) outreach programs across the country and throughout the world. This effort is driven by the Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program (STOMP), originating at the Tufts University Center for Engineering Educational Outreach.

It is the intention of this site to build a community of STEM outreach programs similar in nature to the STOMP model. This site serves to provide resources, activities, research, and experiences from STEM outreach programs, that can be shared to help strengthen current programs and disseminate STOMP models.

Platform: LEGO


Contributed by: Cara

Tufts CEEO Workshops for Educators  (expand)

http://www.ceeo.tufts.edu/Workshops-Index/workshops.html

Professional Development for educators is a priority of the CEEO. We offer week-long workshops during the summer as well as day long workshops during the year. Workshops are structured to allow participants to engage in similar activities to their students. Most of the time is spent on hand-on activities and understanding how to present engineering to students - there is very little traditional lecture.


Contributed by: Cara

Hands-On Activity

Roboworld  (expand)

http://www.visitroboworld.com/visitroboworld/lessonplans.aspx

Includes activities for grades K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12.  Most activities use readily accessible materials or are entirely computer-based.

Platform: Not required


Contributed by: Danielle

PBS ZOOM Activities for Kids   (expand)

http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/

ZOOMsci features a variety of hands-on science activities from the PBS Kids show ZOOM. Many of these were submitted by kids!


Contributed by: Cara

Math Stars Newsletters   (expand)

http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/math/archives/2005/06/math_stars_news.php

The purpose of Math Stars is to challenge students beyond the classroom setting. Good problems can inspire curiosity about number relationships and geometric properties. It is hoped that in accepting the challenge of mathematical problem solving, students, their parents, and their teachers will be led to explore new mathematical horizons. Math Stars are in sets for Grades 1-8 and include commentaries for teachers. All Math Stars Newsletters are ready for classroom use and available for downloading as PDF files.


Contributed by: Cara

Hey, Kids! Test Your Engineering Skills   (expand)

http://www.new-sng.com/experiments.cfm

This site offers a variety of engineering projects to do at home. The site is sponsored by YES Mag: Canada’s Science Magazine for Kids.


Contributed by: Cara

Bristlebot  (expand)

http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php?story=bristlebot

This page from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories shows how to make a Bristlebot, a tiny robot that is controlled by a single, vibrating motor. Younger kids may need an adult’s help to complete the project.


Contributed by: Cara

Edible Robots   (expand)

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/edible_robots.htm

In this craft project, you can make a robot out of food.


Contributed by: Cara

Junk Robots  (expand)

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/junk_robot.htm

In this craft project, you can build a robot out of junk you have at home.


Contributed by: Cara

Introduction to Engineering with Paper Airplanes  (expand)

http://spark.irobot.com/index.php/educational_resources/story_detail/sp4rl/v/materials_intro_to_engineering_with_paper_airplanes

Steven Oakland, an instructor at the PATH public high school in Boston, has created this classroom activity to introduce the engineering process using paper airplanes.


Contributed by: Cara

iRobot WebQuest  (expand)

http://spark.irobot.com/index.php/educational_resources/story_detail/elementary_school/stories/materials_irobot_webquest

This WebQuest was designed by iRobot to help students learn what a robot is and what the basic requirements of a robot are.


Contributed by: Cara

CosmoBot Worksheet  (expand)

http://spark.irobot.com/materials/Element_cosmobot_worksheet.pdf

This set of worksheets includes 18 fun activities for kids to print and color.'


Contributed by: Cara

Robo Info   (expand)

http://www.iguana-robotics.com/publications/roboinfo.pdf

Fun Facts on Robots. Also includes exciting activities!


Contributed by: Cara

Index/Links

Robotics Curriculum Clearinghouse  (expand)

http://robotics.nasa.gov/rcc/

The Robotics Curriculum Clearinghouse (RCC) is an online directory of robotics based curriculum targeted at all grade levels (including informal education).

Platform: Various


Contributed by: Danielle

NASA Resources for Educators  (expand)

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html

The site includes NASA's Education Materials Finder, to help teachers locate resources that can be used in the classroom. Users may search by keywords, grade level, product type and subject. With hundreds of publications and Web sites indexed, the finder is the best way to locate NASA educational resources.


Contributed by: Danielle

Engineering Pathway  (expand)

http://www.engineeringpathway.com/ep/index.jhtml

Engineering Pathway provides a digital library of engineering teaching resources to the K-12 Education and Higher Education communities. Engineering Pathway also provides education-level specific information about preparing courses, developing engineering curricula, and national standards and accreditation programs.


Contributed by: Danielle

National Center for Women & Information Technology Digital Library  (expand)

http://www.ncwit.org/resources.library.html

NCWIT is the National Center for Women & Information Technology. They are a coalition of more than 170 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to increase women's participation in information technology (IT). NCWIT has partnered with the University of California at Berkeley and the Engineering Pathway to build a comprehensive and diverse digital library of rich media, articles, research papers, curricula, and partner organizations on the topics of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, computing and gender.


Contributed by: Danielle

Science Buddies  (expand)

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/

Hands-on scientific investigations are acknowledged to be the best way to teach science literacy. Science Buddies supports these activities by providing free science fair project ideas, answers, and tools to teachers, parents, and students from all walks of life. Our objective is to save our users time while guiding them to a successful outcome.

The Kenneth Lafferty Hess Family Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit public charity founded in 1995. In 2001, the Foundation began its sole operating program: Science Buddies. Science Buddies is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, but serves millions of students from all over the United States and the world.


Contributed by: Cara

Interactive

NASA Education Robotics Website  (expand)

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/robotics/home/index.html

Innovation, creativity, problem solving -- the world of robotics at NASA is all of these things. Spend some time on this site to see if robotics might be in your future.


Contributed by: Cara

Lesson Plan

Learning Roomba   (expand)

http://gicl.cs.drexel.edu/wiki/LearningRoomba

Learning Roomba is a collection of free tools and materials to support an educational curriculum focused on robotics. The tools are designed around the iRobot Roomba, a low-cost robotics platform that is great for educational projects. Learning Roomba is geared toward pre-college students with an emphasis on grades 6 - 9.

The materials provided are (1) a software toolkit to enable using the iRobot Roomba as an educational platform, (2) a Teacher's introductory guide, (3) a series of five modules each consisting of a Teacher's guide, Student's guide, Presentation Slides in Microsoft PowerPoint format, and Presentation Slides in PDF format, and (4) other related resources developed in conjunction with this work. The Teacher's introductory guide explains how to use the Modules.

The contact for this work is Drew Housten (dth29@drexel.edu or dhousten@gmail.com). This was developed out of his master's thesis work at Drexel University during 2008. Comments are more than welcome as this is intended to be a continuous work in progress. In addition, if you create more modules expanding the concepts or topics, they can be posted here.

Platform: iRobot Create


Contributed by: Danielle

Outreach Program

Institute for Computing Education  (expand)

http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/ice-gt

ICE is the Institute for Computing Education. ICE is a partnership between the Georgia Department of Education and the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. This partnership was announced in June 2004 by Kathy Cox, Georgia's State Superintendent of Schools, and Dean Richard DeMillo of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. ICE has provided links for teachers to materials and information relating to computer science, robotics, programming, and other related topics at http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/ice-gt/163.


Contributed by: Danielle

Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach  (expand)

http://www.ceeo.tufts.edu/

The Tufts University Center for Engineering Education & Outreach (CEEO) is a leader in supporting efforts to integrate engineering into K-12 education. The CEEO consists of four divisions or pillars working closely to ultimately achieve the mission: Outreach, Educational technology development, Research, and Student workshops and teacher professional development.


Contributed by: Cara

Tufts STOMP  (expand)

http://www.stompnetwork.org/

The Tufts University STOMP program was the first of many STOMP sites in existence today. As the flagship, Tufts STOMP has offered programs to both its main campus in Medford/Somerville, MA and its Boston Campus for over 10 years. The program at Tufts has always been a paid $10/hr job for both undergraduate and graduate students to participate in up to 8-10 hrs/week. Each semester the program averages about 35 fellows of all ages from a variety of disciplines ranging from engineering to child development.

The main goal for Tufts is to partner pairs of fellows with K-12 teachers in the greater Boston area to create an engineering curriculum that reaches across all disciplines, peaks the students' interests in engineering, and improves the students' problem-solving skills. The engineering curriculum also specifically meets the standards required by the Science, Technology, and Engineering component of the Massachusetts Frameworks.

Platform: LEGO


Contributed by: Cara

WizKidz Science and Technology Centers  (expand)

http://www.wizkidztech.org/

WizKidz Science and Technology Centers, Inc. is a Georgia 501(c)(3)Non-Profit organization that offers after school and summer academic enrichment program for elementary and middle school students and give high school students a pre-college learning structure that outline concepts that are important in the understanding of science, technology, engineering and math. The multi-component initiative addresses the unique needs of youth to help them achieve success and provide a constructive outlet.


Contributed by: Cara

Software Tool / Environment

PREOP   (expand)

http://cs.ua.edu/PREOP/

PREOP (Providing Robotic Experiences Through Object-Based Programming; formally called MARE) combines both syntax free programming with robotics to provide students with a relevant learning experience that thoughtfully transitions students to traditional languages. PREOP affects both retention and skill acquisition by exploiting linkages between confidence, competence and relevance.

PREOP utilizes the Alice programming environment to control an iRobot Create through a BAM (Bluetooth Adapter Module). The PREOP website includes both the necessary software downloads as well as instructional materials.

Platform: iRobot Create


Contributed by: Danielle

Tern  (expand)

http://hci.cs.tufts.edu/tern/

Tern is a tangible computer language designed to provide a painless introduction to computer programming for children in educational settings. With Tern you can create programs for robots like the LEGO Mindstorms RCX or the iRobot Create.

Platforms: LEGO, iRobot Create


Contributed by: Danielle

SAM Animation Home Page  (expand)

http://www.samanimation.com/

SAM Animation is software designed to give students the power of making stop-action movies to share their ideas and understanding. The software is easy to use and provides a unique experience for students to explore challenging problems in any subject through creating animations. The SAM Animation software is in development and thus feedback, discussion, and ideas are welcome. The site includes links to forums and a wiki on which educators can share SAM-based activities and movies made using SAM.


Contributed by: Cara