Fourth Graders and Ozobots in the STEM Lab, Oh My!

Our new STEM Lab is humming with activity at Monsignor Slade Catholic School. The fourth grade students are learning how to calibrate Ozobots. Ozobots are miniature robots driven by 5 optical sensors.After calibrating them, Mrs. Kathleen Olesczczuk taught her students how to use different color patters to make the Ozobots respond in particular ways. 

Through these activities, fourth graders have begun learning about programming Ozobots. Ozobots are miniature robots driven by 5 optical sensors. The students are given the task of figuring out how to instruct the Ozobot to behave in a certain way.  These are the beginning concepts behind creating code.  Students are given opportunities to create a color pattern code, test its effectiveness on the robot then make changes to the code and re-evaluate.  By exploring coding with Ozobots students are improving their problem solving skills, learning to pay attention to detail and using logical thinking all while having fun.