COLUMBUS, Ind. — Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. parents watched students use STEM skills to do everything from solving coding challenges to turning a toothbrush head into a tiny robot.
BCSC hosted a Robotic and Coding Exploration STEM Night on Thursday for third through sixth graders. The free event was held at Columbus East High School in partnership with Cummins, Inc. and Columbus Robotics.
“It was amazing,” said Davida Harden, BCSC’s curriculum specialist for STEM initiatives. “For it to be our first one that we’ve ever had — I mean, just the excitement and engagement that was going on with the students was just phenomenal.”
The event featured a variety of activities, including:
- A station led by Columbus Robotics
- Robotics exploration, where students were able to drive robots from school STEM labs
- Making “bristlebots” out of toothbrush heads, motors, batteries, pipe cleaners and googly eyes
- “Breakout boxes,” where students solved different puzzles and codes
- A challenge where students wrote code to maneuver LEGO people through a maze
- Creating “binary bracelets”
Harden said that BCSC has introduced students to robotics and computer science through STEM labs at its elementary schools, and organizers wanted to create an event where kids could apply that knowledge in a variety of ways.
Each student was required to have a parent or guardian present for the entire event. This was partly for logistical reasons, but also so that the adults could see what their students are learning about in STEM labs.
“I just want to thank all of the community partners, and then the STEM teachers and those that have volunteered at the event, because without them it is not possible,” said Harden. “And for them to be able to have the passion to introduce our kids to this, as well as in the labs, it makes a huge difference.”
For the complete story and more photos, see Wednesday’s Republic.
