Devices
Hamburg Central has a number of devices available for teachers at all levels to use. Many of these devices are housed in one of the districts STEM Labs (or Tinker Tanks at the elementary level), but they can travel to just about any building in the district.
If you are interested in any or all of the devices below, either visit the STEM Lab in your building or reach out to pwirth@hcsdk12.org.
SPHERO
Sphero is a robot that can be programmed to do cool things. Check out some of the cool things it can do here, and even more here.
We have a few sets of 12 robots that can be used in your classroom. They often come with their own devices, but can be used with student Chromebooks.
MAKEY MAKEY
Makey Makey is the ultimate invention kit in a box. The options with this device are limitless, but check out some of the activities you can do here.
We have lots of Makey Makeys kicking around that can connect to any of the Chromebooks we have in district. Kits can travel to any building in district.
VIRTUAL REALITY
While the virtual reality devices in our district are primarily for use with Google Expeditions, they can be used for a number of virtual/augmented reality applications. Get in touch for some ways to integrate VR.
We have 30 virtual reality headsets with 30 mobile devices. When brought to the classrooms, you'll want to make sure that students have headphones or earbuds with an audio jack.
MICRO:BIT
Microbit is a tiny computer that can be easily programmed by kids. It features an LED array and tons of sensors to take input from the physical world. Want some project ideas? Reach out to pwirth@hcsdk12.org, or check out the official Microbit project library linked here.
We have 14 Micro:bit kits in our district (which include the Micro:bit computer, a USB cable, a battery pack and alligator clips). They can travel to any building in the district, and can be easily used by students in grades 1 and up.
HUMMINGBIRD
The Hummingbird robotics kits allow students to add mechanical behavior to real-world creations. Take a look at the resources Hummingbird provides to get some ideas.
There are 9 Hummingbird robotics kits in district, which each include a Hummingbird board and a number of LEDS and sensors.
LEGO WEDO 2.0
Who doesn't love LEGO? In the Tinker Tank at BVS, there are 4 full LEGO WeDo 2.0 kits that allow students to build robots with LEGO, and then program them with a simple app.
The experience is very structured for young learners, and offers an easy entry point to block-based coding for just about anybody. Check out the LEGO WeDo website for more information.
LEGO MINDSTORMS
Mindstorms is the next step up (actually, a bit of a leap up) from WeDo. Kids build a robot of different styles, following (complicated) building plans and then program it using an app.
We have 3 LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kits available in the STEM Lab at Hamburg Middle School. You can take a look at the LEGO Education page to get some ideas on how it can be used.
FLYBRIX
Want to build a drone out of LEGO that you can actually fly? Flybrix is a challenging building kit that results in different versions of drones that can be flown with an app.
There are 6 Flybrix kits that live in the STEM Lab at Hamburg Middle School, but they can travel to any building. NOTE: this is a difficult build, and the drone is very difficult to fly!