Learning in Motion - Thomas MS Robotics

CPSD Learning In Motion takes a peek inside our classrooms to see what students are learning across our district. 🎬💡 To celebrate #ctemonth, we’re joining Thomas Middle School students in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) robotics course. 🤖

CTE courses are an important part of our curriculum that allow students to explore career interests and gain hands-on experience. In robotics, students learn the basics of coding, engineering and additional science and math skills that can be applied to other classes and support their future career goals.

In Ms. Mendenhall’s second period class, students worked in pairs to build and control a robot. First, they used Lego Mindstorms pieces and followed detailed instructions to construct the robot. Then, they used the Lego Mindstorms software to code programs for the robots to follow from their laptop. Their objective was to program their bots to travel no more or less than 50 centimeters before stopping, turning around and traveling 50 centimeters back to the original starting point.

This lesson required students to use math and computer science skills as they perfected their code to get the perfect result from their robots. After plenty of trial and error, the students were able to work through their setbacks and accurately control their bots. Learning the basics of coding and engineering at a young age is vital for students who are entering a technology-based job force when they graduate from CPSD in the future. Whether they enter the tech industry or follow another career path, they are learning life-long skills that will benefit them in any fi