Students in Kim Bullard's eighth-grade STEAM class put their creativity to work when faced with helping a fictional toy maker with a problem he was having.
"Two weeks ago, I presented the class with a problem," Middle School STEAM teacher Kim Bullard said. "A local toy maker was disappointed that his sales numbers were down for the last three months. The robots he had made were cute and fun to look at but weren't selling."
Students in the class were then told they were being called in to help create "Better Bots" to increase interest and sales.
"The most fun part was adding the details to the bot, student Sophia Page '27 said. "We worked to give it a personality and make it as realistic as possible."
Among the creations were a dragon and a penguin wearing a backpack that waddled when it rolled.
"The class is fun because you get to create," Page said. "Creativity is encouraged, and Ms. Bullard puts no limit to what we can do."
The project was a part of the "designing a better bot" unit as part of the year long eighth grade STEAM curriculum.
"These kids never fail to impress me," Bullard said. "Just when I think I have seen it all, they blow my mind with what they dream up and accomplish."
After finishing the robots, students will send out a Google Survey with information and photos about their "Better Bot." It will include questions like "how would you rate the robot" and “would you buy it." The information will allow them to gather qualitative and quantitative data.