Galena Park ISD STEM/Robotics Program Overview
Galena Park ISD STEM/Robotics Program Overview
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Purpose: The purpose of our program is to enrich students’ lives by exposing them to the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and robotics challenges. Students will explore complex problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Through research and investigation, students advance their confidence in solving real-world problems. Our district program is in alignment with CoderZ where students will learn how to code virtual robots accompanied by a step-by-step curriculum and gamified missions completely online. The focus of our program is on learning; however, campuses may choose to participate in the Houston area challenges.
Mission: GPISD Elementary STEM/Robotics works to expose and increase awareness of engineering and technology to all GPISD elementary students and our local greater Houston community by providing hands–on experiences and opportunities.
Vision: GPISD Elementary STEM/Robotics is to create opportunities for inspiring young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills that inspire innovation, and foster well–rounded life capabilities including higher-order thinking, self–confidence, communication, and leadership.
District-Wide Kickoff Event
District-Wide Kickoff Event
On Saturday, October 14, 2023 STEM & Robotics Clubs from all 15 Galena Park ISD elementary campuses gathered at the North Shore High School 10th Grade Campus to kick-off the season for STEM and robotics exploration and learning.
The event began with GPISD alumni, Dr. Nikkolai Sales, serving as our keynote speaker. He shared his journey in STEM education to become an optometrist. Students then visited multiple stations and engaged in activities that they would continue throughout the year within their club under the leadership of teachers and staff members that serve as club sponsors. The STEM, robotics, and coding stations were facilitated by the GPISD elementary science and instructional technology departments, our Galena Park High School Robotics Club, and North Shore Senior High CTE and Honor Society Students. We also had activities facilitated by district community partners that support STEM education: San Jacinto College, Harris County Public Library - North Channel Branch, and the Wendel D. Ley YMCA's Y on the Fly Mobile STEM Lab. At the conclusion of our kick-off event, students had opportunity to observe the solar eclipse phenomena!
Campus Clubs
Campus Clubs
Groups meet at least 2 times per month with periodic check-ins depending on the current assignment. The sessions can be before school, after school, or on Saturdays. The time is structured with a variety of activities, from research, building, challenges, explorations, and hands-on robotics and coding. Using CoderZ, schools sign up to compete and engage students through gaming and competition in STEM, coding, and tech literacy. CoderZ League is cloud-based, available on any device, and uses a simulation of virtual 3D Robots to perform complex tasks and missions. The virtual experience makes it easy to design, program, and test a simulated robot in a variety of 3D environments. Teams of students work collaboratively to program, plan, and complete missions.to promote exploration, critical thinking, collaborating, and problem-solving.
North Shore Elementary - First Place Team
Havard Elementary - Second Place Team
Jacinto City Elementary - Third Place Team
CoderZ League in a Box
CoderZ League in a Box
CoderZ League in a Box is a virtual robotics competition that was hosted amongst all 15 of our elementary STEM & Robotics Campus Clubs. The competition consisted of several missions and challenges that encouraged our students to develop hard skills in robotics and coding, as well as soft skills such as: collaboration, computational thinking, creativity, and problem solving. All of this learning and growth happened throughout the exciting and interactive online experience that CoderZ League in a Box provides.
Congratulations to our winning campuses! We are proud of every student that participated.
First Place - Galena Park Elementary
Second Place - MacArthur Elementary
Third Place - James B. Havard Elementary
S3 - Science Survivor Series
S3 - Science Survivor Series
The Science Survivor Series is an elementary science competition gives 3rd-5th grade students the opportunity to compete as 6-man teams in problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity through science. Each of our 15 campuses will select a coach and team of students to represent them at the competition. The students will practice possible challenges with their teachers on their campuses but they do not know what the actual challenge activities are until they walk into the challenge rooms.
The student teams are given materials and a set of instructions; they must work together to complete the task in three categories: academic, building, and creativity. Using a rubric, judges will score how well they did. At the end of the day, everyone will celebrate their accomplishments and the students are rewarded for their hard work.
Tice Elementary - Two teams entered winning Grand Champion, 1st Place Team, and 2nd Place Team
Sam Houston Elementary - Two teams entered winning 3rd Place Team and 4th Place Team
Galena Park Elementary - Three teams entered winning 7th Place Team and 10th Place Team
Williamson Elementary - Green Heart STEM Challenge, 2nd Place Team Elementary Level Winners
All-Earth Ecobot & Green Heart STEM Challenge
All-Earth Ecobot & Green Heart STEM Challenge
The All-Earth Ecobot Challenge is hosted by The Center for Afterschool Summer, and Enrichment for Kids, or CASE for Kids, a division of Harris County Department of Education.
The All-Earth Ecobot Challenge is an innovative engineering competition that engages fourth through eighth grade students in complex problem-solving, while developing critical thinking skills and elevating their confidence in formulating solutions to real-world missions. Teams will create robots using LEGO® Education robotic kits to navigate challenges based on real-world environmental issues.
This year, three of our elementary campuses participated in the All-Earth Ecobot Challenge: Tice Elementary, Sam Houston Elementary, and Galena Park Elementary. Each campus entered multiple teams and earned several awards.
The Green Heart STEM Challenge for Environmental Justice challenges young people to explore and identify environmental justice issues in their communities and to design feasible solutions to address these problems. Student teams work through a human-centered design process to develop equitable and feasible solutions to the problems they have identified. The Green Heart STEM Challenge2024 is focused on WATER with a special geographic focus on metro-Atlanta and metro-Houston.
Williamson Elementary entered the Green Heart Challenge, winning 2nd Place Team in the elementary level category for the metro-Houston area.
We are proud of our students for their achievements at these Houston Area STEM & Robotics events. Thank you to our club sponsors and campuses for supporting our students.
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