Jennifer Watkins believes in the power of robotics to make math and science come alive for students.
But robots don鈥檛 come cheap, and Watkins doesn鈥檛 have any dedicated funding for her STEM program for 3rd through 8th graders in her rural Arkansas district.
So, with support from her administration and in partnership with her colleague, Emily Crabtree, who teaches gifted education, Watkins has figured out how to give her students hands-on engineering and robotics experiences on a very tight budget.
鈥淚 want for them to see that the science [concepts] that they鈥檙e learning about are things that they can hold in their hands,鈥� said Watkins, who teaches in the Fouke School District, in southwestern Arkansas. 鈥淭he electricity that they鈥檙e learning about is something they can produce.鈥�
Watkins added: 鈥淚 want for them to see that they have the power to create the video games they love to play. I need for them to understand that that鈥檚 coding and that somebody, some programmer somewhere, made that sound and that graphic and that response and all of those things happen and that they鈥攎y kids鈥攃ould also do that.鈥�
To give her students those learning opportunities, Watkins has had to figure out how to stretch very limited dollars by finding inexpensive鈥攐r free鈥攖ech tools that can help her students see coding, electrical circuits, and augmented reality in action.
Here are some of her favorite, relatively inexpensive tech tools and classroom approaches, which she shared with fellow 糖心动漫vlog in a session at the ISTE+ASCD national conference in San Antonio this summer:
3D printed cubes to see and feel science
One ed-tech product, , combined with a device such as a Chromebook, gives students the chance to interact with virtual simulations of the earth鈥檚 core, the solar system, the inside of a frog鈥檚 body, and other science concepts. Each cube retails for about $30 on Amazon.
Educators can sometimes get cubes for free at conferences like ISTE, produce them using a 3D printer, or get samples from the using cardstock, and then have their students put them together. The app that powers the cubes has both paid and free versions.
鈥淪itting in a desk learning about the Earth, [students] don鈥檛 care, but whenever they can hold it and see it firsthand, it makes it relevant to them,鈥� Watkins said.
Making devices to teach how electrical circuits work
Makey-Makey devices, which retail for around $50, allow students to use a circuit board, clips, and a USB cable to make just about anything鈥攁 banana, a potato鈥攊nto a makeshift keyboard.
Watkins uses it to teach how electrical circuitry works. At the ISTE+ASCD conference session, she had four oranges hooked up to it and demonstrated how she could create a closed circuit by putting her hand on one of the oranges and turning the others into a piano.
They鈥檙e also helpful for teaching coding. Watkins will have her students use Scratch鈥攁 student-friendly coding language鈥攖o create a game. The Makey-Makeys can turn just about anything鈥攃ardboard, Play-Doh鈥攊nto a gaming console. Students can then play the game they鈥檝e created without ever touching a traditional keyboard, even though they are playing it on a computer.
That takes design thinking, Watkins said.
鈥淚 want my kids to be able to mess up,鈥� she emphasized. 鈥淚 try really hard not to tell them how to do it. I try to kind of throw it in front of them and let them play around. I tell them all the time, 鈥業 really hope you get it wrong the first time, because then you鈥檒l get to improve upon it.鈥欌��
Teaching elementary and middle school kids how to code
BBC micro:bits, a small device, which retails for around $30, is also great for teaching coding, Watkins said. She will pre-program it for younger students and let them play a class-wide, digital version of rock, paper, scissors. She lets middle schoolers do the coding on their own, using tutorials on a free website.
She鈥檚 used it to let students code information about themselves as an icebreaker and made herself a micro:bit nametag to get students excited about using the device.
Building things to learn engineering skills
A building kit鈥攚hich can be purchased for about $20鈥攊s great for younger students building creations with cardboard and can help introduce engineering skills without a digital component, Watkins said. There鈥檚 a saw for cutting cardboard that鈥檚 safe for even small kids, a screwdriver that can help students connect two pieces, and a perforating tool to make folding easy.
鈥淜indergarten can use these,鈥� Watkins said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to cut them. It鈥檚 very safe.鈥�
How to use STEM products to raise money
Watkins and her colleagues also found some creative ways to generate money.
For instance, Watkins bought a 3-D printer and filament (a type of plastic) for around $1,000.
Then she used those products to create small figurines her students and their families could buy, with prices ranging from about 50 cents to around $8. She created small panthers (the school鈥檚 mascot), dragons, and dragon eggs, and sold them at events like Field Day. The endeavor ultimately helped generate about $6,000 over two years. Watkins pumped those profits back into the district鈥檚 STEM program.
The district also funded a week-long STEM summer camp at a low cost per family. A local parent organization helped finance scholarships available for needy students. Watkins used part of the tuition money to purchase tools she could include in the camp and then repurpose for the classroom.
Most recently, the district secured a $10,000 grant from the Arkansas STEM coalition to help purchase other supplies.
