Turns out Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus had it right all along! In the era of the Next Generation Science Standards, there is a great deal of evidence that experiential and project-based learning are effective approaches to education. As described in the Cambridge Handbook of Learning Sciences, project-based classrooms provide opportunities for students…
I am so proud of all of my students, especially when they tackle and conquer difficult projects, like one of my students did recently when she completed a prototype of her Mini Robotic Table. … A Robotic Table?! Heck yes!! It is just as hilarious and awesome as you are imagining. But like most projects,…
What do remote controllers, routers, and robots all have in common? Microcontrollers! These days, beginner-friendly microcontrollers are easy to build with and program using just a laptop, a USB cable, and some (free) open-source software. The catch? There are like, 4324302* different microcontrollers and it can be daunting to get started, especially if you’re just…
Finally! Use your Raspberry Pi without spending what feels like forever connecting external peripherals and dealing w/ a cable monstrosity: Configure your Pi to be headless! (not the scary kind tho) This is particularly helpful for folks teaching workshops with the Raspberry Pi, since it can be cumbersome (and expensive) to provide monitors, keyboards, and…
Introduction Create, build, and play an obstacle course for Brush Bots! This is an activity for all ages that teaches the basics of circuits and design thinking while encouraging and inspiring creativity, discovery, and collaboration. Most importantly, it’s super fun! (But seriously though, watch the video it’s adorbs and will make you smile) This tutorial…
