So I had the pleasure of working with a school (Coed Eva Primary, South Wales) that were using Sphero to support science and an understanding of materials and friction and speed. A great little project that also introduced elements of coding as well as being practical and a lot of fun.
The basic premise was to explore the different materials the Sphero could run on and then run code to work out the distance it travelled, finally working out the speed of the device on the different surfaces.
In working with some of the students the conversations around why things were happening and what their findings meant was really rich.
They were discussing friction as the reason for the Sphero going fast or slow as well as starting to explore the level of friction that would help the Sphero go the fastest. This then led to a discussion around grip on roads and tires and how their new knowledge could help them in designing trainer soles, tires for bikes etc, and what benefits different materials or levels of grip would bring.
As a result of the session I decided to create a template for schools to replicate the project and utilise iPad to help document the design thinking, scientific finding and future use of knowledge
You can download the Numbers template here
