Carver Magnet students participate in new robotics class

Ashton Scott speaks a command into a microphone and the small robot attached to it comes to life, moving forward until she tells it to stop. The robot’s movement takes place in less than a minute, but is the result of hours of learning, programming and trial and error by Scott and partner McKenzie Dalton.

Scott and Dalton are sixth grade students in a robotics class at Carver Magnet School.  The class is working on building and programming robots using Lego Mindstorm sets. These sets are made up of programmable Lego bricks with electric motors, sensors, and other pieces. The program requires students to master many complex math and science skills to program the robots to perform tasks like moving, turning and responding to voice commands.

“We have to do lots of equations and memorize lots of numbers,” Scott said.

The robotics class is part of a federal program the school is participating in called Project Lead the Way. The project is aimed at increasing student interest in science and engineering, career fields facing shortages of personnel. The program provides participating schools with teacher training and software to start hands-on science courses.

Carver and Beverlye Magnet School are two of only three middle schools in Alabama participating in the program, which reaches about 3,000 schools nationwide.

Program developers believe that allowing students to experience science through action instead of through lecture will spur an interest in pursuing a career in the field.

“A math teacher can talk about a circumference, but when students see it, and it’s real, that makes a big difference,” instructor Paula Dean said. The program is in its first year at Carver and next year Dean hopes her students will be able to compete in a robotics competition that students from Beverlye participated in this year.

Dalton said the class has become one of her favorite courses at Carver.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” she said. “I didn’t know that we were going to do things in here. I thought it was going to be a career class at first.”