St. Thomas School near Seattle hopes to encourage students to develop a passion for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by starting them young and engaging them with cool, new learning spaces featuring robots and 3D virtual reality computers.
The independent private school in Medina, Wash., starts using technology in prekindergarten and weaves technology into every subject from fourth to eighth grade. The school’s computer science curriculum, for example, starts in preschool with simple wooden robots, allowing students to learn the fundamentals of coding and become confident creating with technology at an early age.
Even though the school equips every student with a Microsoft Surface tablet, it has built two dedicated spaces to bolster STEM education: a computer lab for robotics and coding; and a zSpace lab full of 3D virtual reality computers that allow students to study human anatomy, dive into a volcano and explore the solar system.
Each Tuesday is EducationTuesday here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts about educators and all things STEM. Adafruit supports our educators and loves to spread the good word about educational STEM innovations!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Each Tuesday is EducationTuesday here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts about educators and all things STEM. Adafruit supports our educators and loves to spread the good word about educational STEM innovations!