1. Getting started
This past November I had the chance to attend several workshops at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). One of the workshops introduced a math-focused STEM activity called Robowheels. The purpose of the activity was to introduce the concept of pi, and review measurement and averages.
In this activity, the students had to follow instructions to build a robowheel using bowls, tape, and string. After building, the STEMmers had to learn how to wind their wheels and release them to make them roll. The goal of the activity was for the 5th graders to get their robowheels to roll as far as they possibly could.
In this activity, the students had to follow instructions to build a robowheel using bowls, tape, and string. After building, the STEMmers had to learn how to wind their wheels and release them to make them roll. The goal of the activity was for the 5th graders to get their robowheels to roll as far as they possibly could.
2. Time to Roll!
After getting all of this under their belts, the STEMmers headed to the hallways to roll three times and measure the distance their wheels traveled.
3. Working It out
Now that we had our data, we headed back to the room to use it. First, the students found the average of their three rolls. Then, we watched a video on pi so the students would understand what pi represents within a circle. Next, the STEMmers used pi to calculate the circumference of their robowheels. Finally, the STEMmers used this information to find out how many times their robowheel actually completed a full rotation. Many of the students were surprised at this number!