Programming and Engineering in Lower School

 

The following article by Lower School Science Teacher Allie Laird appears in the current issue of Saint David's Magazine: 

Engineering and science are deeply integrated within the Lower School curriculum at Saint David’s. As boys deepen their knowledge of scientific concepts, they are also exploring new ways of thinking. Working through engineering tasks builds many of the same cognitive skills used in the laboratory sciences. These skills include problem solving through trial and error, collaboration, and perseverance. Children have a natural desire to build and take things apart to discover how they work, and we are able to take advantage of this curiosity while helping them enter the mindset of an engineer. 

In the earliest grades, boys are encouraged to approach engineering in an exploratory manner. This allows them to observe, practice, and play without the pressure of completing a specific goal. As they get older, boys are tasked with more goal-oriented challenges, which gives them many opportunities to learn through trial and error, all while building their frustration tolerance and their acceptance of failure as a part of the engineering process. The Lower School engineering model is divided into two branches, each with similar overarching goals, but different in their application. Boys develop more intentional approaches to structural engineering, and they also tackle early concepts of computer programming and robotics.

In the realm of structural engineering, the youngest boys engage in building-based play within their science classes and in their homerooms. Using a variety of materials such as Magna-Tiles, wooden blocks, Kinex, and LEGO, boys begin to understand the basic rules of making structures stable. In addition, they start to recognize the need to build differently, learning from mistakes after a collapse. Boys also begin to participate in one-day challenges using these and other materials, allowing them to practice their problem-solving skills. 

Varying the materials used in these challenges increases the boys’ flexibility of thinking, guiding them to find common structural concepts that span across different building media. In Alpha, boys attempt to build the tallest tower they can using apple slices and toothpicks, learning about what shapes make the most stable bases. In a “Floor Is Lava” challenge, kindergartners design a structure to keep as many counting bears off the table’s surface as possible, but they are limited to only using three plastic cups and five popsicle sticks. First graders dive into the design of less static systems, exploring cause and effect relationships through creating domino chains and marble tracks. Throughout all of these activities, boys are continuously encouraged to persevere through initial failure and learn from their peers.

Beginning in second grade, students participate in multi-class engineering challenges with more specific goals. This allows for an exponential increase in the complexity of the designs they create, but it also increases the stakes for the boys in terms of wanting to succeed. In order to help them through this transition, we formally introduce the engineering cycle, the iterative process that working engineers use to solve problems. 

This is also where planning and blueprinting skills are more explicitly taught. Second graders first encounter this cycle in the context of a cardboard engineering challenge, spanning multiple weeks. Teams of students are tasked with completing a functional cardboard structure that falls within given challenge parameters. Some challenges from the past few years have included chairs, forts, vehicles, and large-scale marble tracks. They also learn to rely on their teammates, discussing ideas and delegating responsibilities. 

In third grade, our famous “Nerdy Derby” builds upon the same process. Boys are called upon to design and fabricate an entry into one of three possible derby car races, all of which take place on a massive track, an impressive new version of which was christened this spring thanks to the engineering of current parent, Seamus Fairtlough. Third graders study concepts of forces and motion and use this knowledge to design their cars. This is also when the idea of concept testing comes into play for the students. Leading up to the derby, boys participate in smaller engineering challenges to gather data that will help them in their designs. The Nerdy Derby is a fitting culmination to the Lower School engineering program with its natural melding of both science and engineering, something that becomes more innate once students grasp the basics of thinking like an engineer. 

While the primary methods and thought processes remain consistent with those involved in structural engineering, programming and robotics constitute a unique branch of the discipline, one much beloved by our boys. Again, we follow a model of gradual complexity throughout the course of Lower School, moving from exploratory learning to goal-based projects. The youngest grades begin to play with Beebots, simple moving robots that are programmed using buttons on the robot itself. Beginning with open-ended play, boys gain an appreciation of what a robot is and how commands form programs for the robot to follow. When specific challenges and movement patterns are introduced with the Beebots in Kindergarten, students have more opportunities to practice trial and error and perseverance through initial failure. A key understanding that the boys develop at this point is that robots follow. If they do not do an intended action, the problem is with the program, as opposed to the robot not working. 

First graders are introduced to Ozobots, line-following robots that can do much more than a Beebot can. Similar to the Beebot though, the Ozobot is still programmed in the physical world instead of on a separate device. First graders learn about the various sensors in the robot and how they provide information from the outside world. In second grade, students begin to manipulate robotic sensors in their programming. The Dash robots they use to do this are a significant progression, as they are programmed using software on a separate device. Boys use commands that fit together like puzzle pieces to form longer sequences of code. 

This type of programming opens the door to many new possibilities, such as looping commands and using conditional code. Boys can create much more complex programs, and they are able to save those programs to continuously work on them over multiple days. They learn to look closely at a program to “debug,” a more specific form of trial and error. Once second graders can see and revisit their code, they can apply the same steps of the engineering cycle to their programming challenges. 

The next step is one out of the physical world entirely with Scratch, a similarly block-based coding software that allows students to program computer games and animations. Without the limitations of a physical robot, the boys’ coding possibilities expand while building upon learned code structures. Second and third graders use Scratch in science class, and they continue to use the platform when they graduate to Upper School. Once they have mastered the basics of Scratch, it also becomes a tool in their learning in other areas of science. For example, third graders use Scratch to create their own versions of the observable universe during their study of Space. 

Throughout the Lower School curriculum, the primary goal around engineering is to develop a way of thinking as opposed to mastery of any one process or medium. Upon learning key engineering skills, they are consistently practiced within different scientific areas of study. We also highlight the work of engineers in a wide variety of fields, using their stories to expand the boys’ understanding of engineering. In this way, students are able to see how integrated science and engineering truly are.