STEM Makerspaces- Coding with SPRK+

School:: Golden Terrace Elementary
Subject:: Stem
Teacher:: Tiffany Weeks
Students Impacted:: 450
Grade:: K-5
Date:: September 6, 2016

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

Suncoast Credit Union - $149.99

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 450

The SPRK+ is designed to inspire curiosity, creativity, and invention through connected play and coding.

Creating the Sphero’s programs on the app was a challenge and the student’s loved it! They had to collaborate and problem solve to create their programs and to fix them when the end result was not what they expected.

This year we just worked basic programs but next year we can build on their prior knowledge and experiences to create more complex programs. The students want to create an obstacle course for the Sphero to conquer!

You can view some videos here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2hwkrL7Y0Qra0otQ3VTemhpWGc

Thank you

grant photo

Beginning to program

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Working together

Original Grant Overview

Goal

The goal is to empower the students' pursuit of life-long learning and to inspire them to shape and reinvent their world through imaging, creating and applying.
The students will use their problem solving and critical thinking skills to independently or collaboratively learn to code and program with the Sphero SPRK+ robot and accessory pack.
I want to make learning fun and get the students excited about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)!

What will be done with my students

Special areas, called Makerspaces, will be set up in the media center. These areas will house a variety of STEM projects. These spaces will allow students to independently or collaboratively create a variety of projects using the Sphero SPRK+ pack purchased by this grant.

SPRK+ is far more than just a robot. Powered by the Lightning Lab app, students can easily learn programming, complete hands-on activities, and share creations with the other students. They can navigate a maze, program a painting, mimic the solar system and many other activities!

These makerspaces will be facilitated by the media specialist but will be designed so that students can mostly create and explore independently or with peers.

Benefits to my students

Learning by doing provides in-depth understanding of concepts with application for real-life scenarios.
Working in pairs or teams, facilitates interactive group problem-solving and teamwork, especially in conjunction with design thinking processes.

The SPRK+ is designed to inspire curiosity, creativity, and invention through connected play and coding.

These fun projects will get students excited about learning and also build their STEM skills and knowledge.

Budget Narrative

This kit is not consumable. That means it can be used by students over and over again this year and many years to come!
What's In the Box:
•Sphero SPRK+
•Inductive charging base with USB charging cable
•Maze tape, 360 degree protractor and sticker sheet
•Quick Start guide to get you rolling
•Sphero SPRK Lightning app available for download in the App Store, Google Play, and Kindle Store

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	Sphero SPRK+ Ultimate Pack	$149.99
	Total:	$149.99

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