Summer school is a great opportunity to try out some unconventional projects - the kids need extra motivation to continue to show up and work when it should be summer vacation. One of the most popular items in our Makerspace are the Sphero SPRK+ Robots. These small, easy-to-use robots are constantly skittering around underfoot in the library during the school year. They are sealed, so they are waterproof, too! I'd heard about using the Spheros to paint on Pinterest a few months ago, and I just KNEW we had to try it! However, the idea of having a classroom full of middle schoolers driving paint-covered robots around my carpeted library made me twitchy. I knew it would have to be a small group setting when other students would not be walking into the library... summer school seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out this fun way to create some abstract artwork! We used 9'x12' plastic painting tarps on the floor, the SPRK+ Sphero robots, the SpheroEdu app, washable tempera paints, 8.5"x11" cardstock, and one iPad per Sphero: I was really impressed with their completed work! We discovered a few tips: 1. LESS IS MORE. Paint, that is... use less paint than you think you need. It spreads! 2. SLOW DOWN. Turn the drive speed down on the Spheros - otherwise you'll end up driving paint-covered robots on the carpet. Not that we did that or anything... 3. MODEL. I know that shouldn't need to be said, but model the expected behaviors first so the kids understand what they are to do (and NOT to do). I modeled everything and the kids were very careful and responsible with the robots and the paint. What could have been a huge mess was a really fun art project! If I were to do this during a regular school year, I would add a coding component too - the students did some limited coding with this project, but mostly drove the robots over their paper. I would use larger sheets of paper and require the kids code their robot to drive a pattern or path! My summer school sessions were time-limited, so for this project they were driving the robots manually. Check out some pictures of the students' work below, and don't forget to comment on how you might use Spheros to make art!
2 Comments
Sally
7/17/2017 09:18:32 am
How about glow in the dark paint? Math talk about intersecting and parallel lines! Write their initials?
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Anurag Kumar
9/25/2017 01:14:24 pm
What if you programmed the spheros to work in a cluster, where all of the separate iPads are connected to the same main server. Said server will serve as as command central, where the spheros go to receive instructions. Then you give an input 256-colour gif to replicate. Then the server will reduce 256 colours to n number of spheros with [] colours and start the spheros.
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About the AuthorHi! Welcome to my blog! My name is Christine Hurley. This is my 17th year of teaching - I've taught Kindergarten, 4th grade, elementary media, and now I am in my 6th year of teaching middle school media! Archives
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