Crompond Students Develop Prototypes to Solve Empathy-Based Challenges

ESTEAM is thriving at Crompond School!

An inventive class of fifth-graders used their imagination and empathy to find creative solutions to real-world challenges.

After receiving an “empathy task card,” the students in Ms. Brennan’s class broke off into groups and used littleBits to develop prototypes. The electronic building blocks snap together with magnets and are an exciting and engaging way to learn about circuitry and electronics.

The empathy-based challenges included helping students who are non-verbal, older adults who have trouble finding their glasses, toddlers who are afraid of the dark, and pets that go on furniture. District tech specialist Ms. Burns helped the students develop their prototypes.

The students revealed their creations this week, sharing not only how their prototype worked, but an understanding of the problem they were tasked with solving.

One student said, “We learned so much from this project. One thing we learned was how we can work together to create an empathetic invention to help others. Another thing we learned was how to help people with serious disabilities, specifically non-verbalism.”

Another student said they learned “that you have to really be in someone’s shoes to understand what they’re going through.”