Computer Science Immersion Program at Savannah Grove integrates STEM learning Savannah Grove is excited about its second full year of our Computer Science Immersion program by Code to the Future. Thanks to the support of our school district and a major grants recipient of The School Foundation our students will be undergoing three 8 week cycles of Computer Science Immersion projects. Grades K-2 will integrate their projects with the classroom teacher while 36th grade will integrate their projects in our STEM Lab led by Dr. Haley Taylor. In Cycle 1 of our computer science immersion program, our students are utilizing Scratch to learn block-based coding skills. They are integrating these skills with ELA and MATH skills to create interactive projects. For example, our 4th graders are creating and coding a math review game that includes addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in a game where the player has to sort the math problems and answers into the categories of "greater than," "less than," or "equal to" a given number. Our kindergarteners are using a story they have read to build and code a project about the main character, the setting of the story, and an event that takes place in the story. With each year and each cycle that comes, the students are building upon the skills they learned the previous year to create and code. To the average passerby, it may seem like the students are just "playing" on the computer, but when you take the time to ask them what they are doing, you will learn they are solving problems, debugging, and iterating their projects in order to produce a complete piece of work that they can be proud of. Learning these skills in elementary and fun ways now will prepare them to learn more in-depth coding programs such as Java Script. Having the experience of coding in their skillset will set our students apart from others when they apply for a school or job that requires these skills. Our students can work to fill the million-person job gap mentioned earlier. Cycle 2 brings tons of excitement from our students because they design, build, and code robots! We use Lego robot sets to implement this unit. The students use their knowledge of Scratch to block-base code their robots. Each grade level works to master a specific challenge with their robot at the heart of the problem solving aspect. Their robot may be used to model how an oceanic robot could assist in collecting oil during an oil spill in the ocean. Another could be hypothetically sent into a remote and dangerous area in the jungle to collect information about a new species of animal. Some of the robots are simply coded to follow a map. This unit really has the ability to broaden our students' horizons as far as their future goes. They get to really see how robots are changing the world today, as well as brainstorm ideas and put their own robots into action to maybe one day be the catalyst of their own project that changes the world of medicine, agriculture, architecture, and beyond. Cycle 3 allows our students to go behind the screen, if you will to learn how the famous, Minecraft game works. The students are challenged with textbased coding and learning how math and numbers are incorporated into computer programming. Our 6th graders are even immersed into Java Script and begin to see how their typed words behind the screen control what characters do, how weather changes, and how actions and reactions happen within their Minecraft world. Overall, the students are gaining valuable life lessons, career skills, and are even preparing themselves for life after elementary, middle, and high school. If they invest in the fun learning now, they will be able to solve problems, communicate effectively, and leave a positive and influential digital footprint on the world.
13 Publizr Home