Student Pics

Making Catapults

Problem: There’s been a machine breakdown! A farmer needs help getting his pumpkins into the wagon. Can you design and build a Pumpkin Catapult to launch those pumpkins into the wagon?

Students used various materials to build a catapult to try and launch candy pumpkins into the 'wagon'. We enjoyed the building and the slinging of pumpkins!

Some vocabulary words students learned and used when designing and testing their catapults:

--distance --speed --accuracy --angle

--force --fulcrum --lever --projectile

Fun with Rubik's Cubes

Not only did students learn how to solve Rubik's Cubes, they were able to manipulate one side of multiple cubes to put them together to make a mosaic.

The American Flag mosaic was created by middle school students using 45 Rubik's Cubes and the heart was a smaller project created by 5th graders and used 9 cubes.

Puzzles with playing cards

We learned that you can do a lot more with a deck of playing cards by completing various puzzles.

Straw Tower Challenge

Our students took on an exciting engineering challenge: building the tallest free-standing tower using only a limited number of straws and a small amount of tape. To be successful, their tower had to support a tennis ball at its highest point for at least three seconds.

This challenge required students to think critically about design, stability, and balance. Some groups experimented with creative solutions—like building structures that held the tennis ball inside the tower instead of on top—showing flexibility and problem-solving when their original ideas didn’t work as planned.

Coding with Spheros

Our students recently explored coding and engineering through a series of Sphero challenges. They began by learning the basics—coding their Spheros to form simple shapes on the iPads. From there, they advanced to programming their Spheros to successfully navigate mazes, applying both logic and persistence.

The final activity, our SpheroBot Challenge, combined creativity, engineering, and coding. Students designed “battle bots” by attaching materials to a cup placed on top of their Sphero, then added a balloon to the back. Their goal was to design a SpheroBot capable of protecting their balloon while popping an opponent’s. To be successful, students had to understand how to code their Sphero to “drive” strategically while engineering the most effective design for offense and defense.

This project encouraged collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking—key skills that extend far beyond robotics. It was inspiring to see students apply what they learned in such a fun and competitive way!