Let kids learn how fun Hebrew day school can be at RHA
Issue link: https://rhacademy.uberflip.com/i/797601
Learning Robotics through STEM "Welcome to Integer Robotics in Action," announced the grade 7 students at the Math and Academic Showcase. "We are excited to introduce you to our robots and explain how we have used them to perform various tasks." The challenge to the students was complex. First, they had to work in teams to create the robots, to learn the basics of programming and to write algorithms to run the programs that would control robotic movements. Then, the students had to integrate math and learn the basic concepts of integers. Finally, the job was to write algorithms to program the robot's movement forward and backward on the number line using positive and negative integers. Robotics is so useful because it works for all kinds of students. For kids who are interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), robotics is a sophisticated way of incorporating them all. For students who are challenged by the abstract nature of programming, watching robots perform enables them to see what's working and what's not. For all learners, robotics is fun and so students want to do it. And, by integrating technology with science, engineering and math, students learn to think critically, problem solve and innovate – all the components necessary to becoming original thinkers. On this day, our grade 7 students were excited to show what they had learned. "Let's do this," was the chorus as the students demonstrated their work. Amazingly, the audience included five members of the Israeli Knesset, guests of Toronto's Jewish community who chose RHA as the only Jewish day school to visit on their trip. R o b o t i c s i s n o t o n l y p a r t o f o u r c u r r i c u l u m , i t i s a l s o o f f e r e d a s a n e x t r a - c u r r i c u l a r a c t i v i t y t h r o u g h o u r A c a d e m y o f E x c e l l e n c e . J u s t a s k N o a h , a g r a d e 3 s t u d e n t . H e w a s a b l e t o c o m b i n e w h a t h e l e a r n e d i n r o b o t i c s w i t h h i s m u s i c a l a b i l i t y i n p i a n o t o w r i t e a p r o g r a m t h a t w o u l d t e a c h h i s r o b o t t o d a n c e t o Tw i n k l e , Tw i n k l e , L i t t l e S t a r. P r e t t y i m p r e s s i v e ! Middle School Innovation