Castle Hills STEAM Lab

The Castle Hills grant for the STEAM Lab is in full swing. With the Sphero Bots and iPads that they code with, students are gaining programming skills, engineering, and problem-solving. K-5 Steam teacher, Hannah Norman describes the engineering process, “We ask, what is our problem, our constraints? We start brainstorming some ideas and create a plan. Then they put their plan in action.” However, the main focus with the Sphero Bots is to learn making mistakes is OK, they can learn from them and adjust.

“It’s really cool and you get to learn new stuff. We get to go to different stations and learn about what the robot does,” reports 2nd grader, Serena Garza.

At one station, Katarina Garcia shows us how she makes her Bot drive around a city that is on a play train table. Because she got introduced to Spero Bots at school, she convinced her parents to purchase one so she can continue to learn and play at home.

Graham Pickett, 4th grader, is coding his Spero Bot with Roblox to knock down a set of paper tube bowling pins. “My favorite part of the STEAM Room is the robots that we get to use.”

Mrs. Norman is teaching the class about the long-term impact of robotics, “Our kids are thinking about how robots are going to affect their lives in the future.”

Student Serena Garza elaborates, “Like in real life, we’ll have robots, and that’s what we’re learning about.”

The STEAM Lab was funded with a NEEF Innovative Grant amount of $11,012.81. The Spero Bots, software and iPads are being implemented in K-5 STEAM classes and with excellent care, the grant will be sustainable.

NEEF sources funds to develop and expand educational opportunities for the students of the North East Independent School District.