New extracurricular activity: Lego Robotics

New course, new extracurricular activity… as in previous years, we continue investigating in the broad range of activities offered to children outside the school curriculum, looking for those that may most interest our students. This year we present Lego Robotics by Lego Education, a school within the field of new technologies that combines the programming language with a more playful part. What is today referred to as “gamification”: learning through play. What better game to build and create through Lego pieces, with which we have already played two generations? As if our creations we add a motor and a few orders of movement launched from a computer or tablet, now we get as a result a small robot. In addition, it is taught entirely in English to enhance the use of technical vocabulary in this language.

Thursday the company Robotics Area was at our school to show students from 1st primary up to 2nd from that what is the activity and the material being used.

The school is divided into two groups:

• LEGO WeDo 2.0 is a concept of educational Robotics developed for students aged 6 to 10. Children build models with simple sensors and an engine that is connected to their computers and programmed behaviors with an extremely simple, easy and fun tool to start in robotics.  We-Do 2.0 uses a programming language that allows the creation of stories and interactive activities

• LEGO Mindstorms, for students aged 11 to 14, consists of a complete solution of teaching developed by educators to engage actively to students in areas related to science, technology, engineering or mathematics. Students design, build and program their own robots. You are encouraged that control their behavior by adding sensors and analyze recorded data. Arise them challenges and challenges associated with a multitude of issues. As a final activity, students will create prototypes of racing cars and programmed them to make certain movements. Finally compete in a race, resulting winner not which is faster, but that has best been programmed.

Students spent a fun time manipulating the Lego pieces and checking the relationship between orders in the tablets and the movements of the prototypes. Our teachers also found them very interesting… Some teacher had who asked if he could sign up also! But the maximum age is 14 years 😉