Dive Brief:
- Laramie High School in Wyoming plans to enhance geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and calculus classes with the help of drones and robots.
- According to the Laramie Boomerang, the high school received a $69,000 grant to aide STEM instruction with new technologically advanced tools.
- For example, Laramie's three math teachers are getting a drone, a robotic rover, a robotic ball, and a robotic arm along with a tablet computer that controls the robots.
Dive Insight:
This is an awesome example of real world application of subjects. Dennis Hogsett, one of Laramie's math teachers, discussed the potential of teaching physics by programming a robot to shoot baskets. Students would have to determine how far the ball could go while also learning how to work with robots and programming. This dual instruction is key, as in the real world many of the STEM subjects are not done in isolation.
“If they’re not particularly interested in doing math already, and they’re saying, ‘What’s the point of this?’ we’re hoping this can help motivate kids to say, ‘Oh, a robot does these things, and that leads to this kind of math,’” Laramie High School math teacher Paul Street told the Laramie Boomerang. “So, part of the model is to raise problems and questions that naturally arise from what these robots do.”
The money comes from the Wyoming Department of Education’s Wyoming Education Trust Fund.
