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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2019)
JANUARY 25, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7 KeizerCommunity KEIZERTIMES.COM Celts fi nd droids they’ve been looking for Round robots unlock physics lessons By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes Jessica Graham has been teaching science at McNary since 2005 and takes pride in having engaging and fun activi- ties in her curriculum. But she may have hit the jackpot when she introduced Spheros to her science class ear- lier in December. A Sphero, roughly the size of an orange and otherwise known as a spherical robot, is an elec- tronically charged, mobile, ball- shaped robot that is wrapped in polycarbonate and can be con- trolled using a smartphone or tablet. It was originally released in 2013 and it was featured in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. While several smartphone apps and games have been cre- ated for the platform, Graham uses the Spheros to teach the velocity unit to McNary fresh- men in her honors physics and chemical systems class. “It’s defi nitely a unique way to learn,” McNary student Va- nessa Orlov said. “I’m a big sci- ence geek, but I never thought that I would be doing some- thing like this in high school.” “There’s a lot of tri- al-and-error, but it’s really fun.” With the tap of a fi nger, you can command a Sphero to go up to fi ve miles and even get in to move on water. It makes pinpoint turns and can even do several different fl ips and tricks. The Sphero can be used as a fun and playful toy, but it also incorporates signifi cant STEM (Science, Technology, Engi- neering, Arts, and Math) capa- bilities in the device, which is why Graham wanted to bring them into her classroom. Graham got the idea to bring Spheros to McNary after going to a conference for the Oregon Science Teachers As- sociation (OSTA) in Newport earlier in the school year. After borrowing a set of Spheros from the Salem-Keizer School District TAG Depart- ment (Talented and Gifted), Graham introduced them to her kids. “I wanted (my students) to get past just working with an equation,” Graham said. “I wanted them to construct the Hayden Wampler (above) and Jordan Flesch work with Spheros, small round robots as part of their physics lessons. KEIZERTIMES/ Matt Rawlings program to tell the Sphero what to do. The kids went from just learning about velocity, to actually programming a robot to do the velocity lab.” After their fi rst activity, Gra- ham saw her students test scores improve drastically, which was all the convincing that she and the science department needed to buy a set of Spheros for the school. Even though the students in Graham’s class have been working with Spheros for only a short period of time, they already have done multiple unique group projects with the de- vice — with the most popular being the Mar- tian-Man Challenge. Graham gave her students the scenario of a martian min- er who is stranded on Mars and needs to be rescued using the Spheros. By writing a computer pro- gram to test the velocity of the Sphero over a set distance and learning how to refi ne the computer program to increase accuracy of data collection, the students were able to “rescue” a stranded martian miner — which is just a small toy person — using the Sphero to get the miner back to its home-base following a set course that in- cluded several stops and sharp turns. The students also had to construct straws and pipe cleaners together to carry their martian miner on the Sphero. “There was a lot of indepen- dent learning involved. I didn’t tell them to program anything beyond the fi rst day. They had to fi gure it out,” Graham said. “It took a lot of problem solv- ing and skill-building within the groups.” Eventually, the project turned into a friendly class competition to determine which team could develop the most accurate and fastest com- puter program to safely trans- port the martian miner on the course. “Learning about velocity and acceleration in the nor- mal way, to me, would be more boring and less fun. But with the Spheros, I actually want to know how this stuff works,” McNary student Sage Allen said. “On the last day, of the Martian-Man Challenge, my group was able to take a cou- ple seconds off our time by just changing some minor things. It was really cool to see how changing the speed of some- thing just slightly could effect the way (the Sphero) goes around the course.” The students have also used the Spheros to test the First Law of Thermodynamics — which looks at the transfer of kinetic energy through collisions. In the coming months, Gra- ham plans to have her students design a computer program and engineer a corresponding roller coaster to demonstrate kinetic versus potential energy. Along with the obvious sci- ence aspect, Graham has been pleased with how the Sphero projects have allowed the op- portunity for her students to successfully work as a team. “Not only were students working to work out how to program their Spheros with the correct coding and math, but they also taught each other how to problem solve their way through the math and code,” Graham said. St. Ed hosts blood drive The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive from 12:30 to 6 p.m. at St. Edward Catholic Church on Wednes- day, Jan. 30. Blood donors may sched- ule an appointment by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS, sign up online (redcrossblood.org) or walk in on Jan. 30. KEIZER CLASSIFIEDS EMPLOYMENT Part-Time Community Reporter All news is local and no one does it better than the Keizertimes. The Keizertimes is adding to its staff with a part-time community reporter. The chosen applicant’s duties will include writing for print and social media as well as posting on keizertimes.com. Specially, this position will write short news briefs about activites at local schools, churches and non-profi t organizations. Reporter will also cover personnel changes at Keizer business as well as other assignments. An ease with interviewing, a nose for news and able to work within deadlines is a must for the chosen candidate. Some photographic work may be required. The reporter will work both inside and outside the offi ce. A working knowledge of Word, TextEdit and InDesign preferred. Hourly wage based on experience. Benefi ts. Submit resume and writing samples via email to: publisher@keizertimes.com no later than Feb. 22, 2019. Keizertimes is an equal opportunity employer. MUSIC LESSONS SERVICES SERVICES SERVICES Beginning Acoustic guitar lessons @$25 per 30 min session. 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Zerr, Pastor Saturday Vigil Liturgy: 5:30 p.m. Sundays: 8:15 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. La Misa en Español: 12:30 p.m. SUNDAY SERVICES 4505 River Road N, Keizer • 503-393-4507 www.FLCkeizer.org Sunday School - 9:00 am Worship Service -10:00 am 452 Cummings Lane North • 393-0404 8:30 am • 10 am • 11:30 am • 6 pm Faith Lutheran Church , ELCA Pastor Linda Matz Easterling John Knox Presbyterian Church JOIN US FOR SUNDAY WORSHIP 9:00 am Children’s Programs, Student and Adult Ministries 1755 Lockhaven Dr. NE Keizer 503-390-3900 www.dayspringfellowship.com and 10:45 am www.KeizerChristian.org Rev. Dr. John Neal, Pastor Worship - 10:30 a.m. Education Hour - 9:15 a.m. Nursery Care Available www.keizerjkpres.org
