In education, it is important to address the needs of all students by appealing to various learning styles in school curricula as well as ensuring that all students are being inspired and challenged in the classroom. Gifted and talented education is a scholastic approach that helps ensure this by offering accelerated learning to students who showcase certain proficiencies. In this article, we’ll look at how Sphero robots and engineering kits can be integrated into STEM-based activities to enhance gifted and talented education programs.
Understanding Gifted Learners
One of the main goals of gifted and talented programs is to create a challenging and enriching environment for gifted students. But what does being “gifted” actually mean? In education, giftedness refers to students who demonstrate a higher aptitude in several areas compared to other students of the same age. Gifted students tend to have advanced skills when it comes to critical thinking and understanding complex concepts, and typically display a high level of intellectual curiosity.
One approach to integrating gifted education in the classroom is to introduce differentiated instruction. Differentiation can be implemented in any classroom and essentially consists of varying lesson content and assignments to meet the needs of different students. Differentiation for gifted and talented students ensures that several learning styles are accommodated and that students of varying levels are adequately challenged. For example, tiered assignments allow groups of students to cover the same basic topics but offer different degrees of complexity depending on the level of giftedness. It is also important for gifted and talented lessons to be dynamic and appeal to different intellectual faculties. That’s where Sphero comes in.
Teaching Gifted and Talented Students with Sphero
Sphero is a specialist in STEM education that offers many tools and resources for PK-12 students and teachers. Sphero’s content-led portfolio, which comprises coding robots, littleBits STEAM kits, and Blueprint Engineering kits, aims to teach kids about STEM subjects in a hands-on way. Like gifted and talented education, Sphero’s robots and kits emphasize skills like creative problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, and the mastery of STEM concepts through meaningful engagement.
Hands-on STEAM Activities for Gifted and Talented Students
There are many Sphero-based lesson plans and activities that can be integrated to enrich gifted and talented programs as they combine complex concepts with hands-on problem solving. Here are a couple to get started:
In this activity, suitable for grades 3-8, students are invited to design their own maze and then program a Sphero robot to navigate the maze efficiently. The level of complexity of this activity ultimately depends on the complexity of the maze, which makes it a great option for gifted and talented students. First, students can create a maze using tape or building blocks, integrating various blocks or obstacles for the robot to navigate around. From there, teams must determine the speed at which the Sphero robot travels and then write down specific instructions for the robot, measuring every angle and distance. These step-by-step instructions can then be translated into code that will control the robot as it moves around the maze. Maze Mayhem is designed for several Sphero robots, including Sphero BOLT+,. BOLT, Mini, and more.
This activity gets students to use Sphero’s Blueprint Build Kit to design and construct a small-scale single-track railway and railcar. Suitable for grades 6-10, the Monorail Challenge integrates many different skills and concepts, including following build instructions, designing, and teamwork. While students will be given instructions on how to build the monorail track, they can get more creative when designing the monorail car, using a variety of Blueprint components, like weighted trusses and linear motion brackets. In the end, the car should be able to hold 10 passengers and a conductor (each represented by a pitch on a weighted truss). To make the activity more challenging, students can also integrate a power source (or a rubber band) to propel the car along the track and test the monorail’s functionality. Like many gifted and talented lessons, this activity leaves much room for students to be creative and pursue different avenues for building a functional model.
Boost Gifted and Talented Creativity with Sphero
These activities are an example of the many lessons created by Sphero that can add some excitement and interactivity to gifted and talented programs. You can find many more STEM resources and lesson plans here.
In the spirit of gifted and talented education, educators can also invite their students to design and come up with their own activities using Sphero robots and kits. Our robots and engineering kits provide a foundation for learning that can be built on in practically limitless ways, allowing students to leverage their own creativity, knowledge, and interests to come up with their own educational games and activities. It’s a challenge that gifted and talented students are sure to enjoy!
About the Author
The Sphero Team
The Sphero Team is comprised of current and former educators, education content and curriculum writers, product designers, engineers, executive leadership, and other experts in their fields. Learn more about who we are and what we do at https://sphero.com/pages/about-us.
