BFS
Our Strategic Vision

Focus on Technology: 4th Grade STEAMING Ahead; 3rd Grade Coding

Our 4th grade students have been working diligently on their prototypes, jingles, 3D logos, and webpages for their upcoming STEAM exhibit. In about two weeks, our students will be visiting Heights and Hills to meet their pen pals as well as to get some feedback from them about their prototypes.

Here are some photos of our designers & innovators hard at work!

Our third graders have recently worked through a number of coding challenges in both science and technology. In technology, they have been working on a program called “Dot Rescue” where Dash the robot needs to find a doorway through a barrier of cups to rescue Dot. For Dash 1.0, students needed to code their programs using their understanding of angles and measurements.

For Dash 2.0, they were asked to create a program for the robot to find the doorway no matter where Dash starts in front of the barrier of cups. This enables Dash to be a bit “smarter”. We learned about variables, values that variables can hold, and how to use variables as exits for while loops. Students also applied their understanding of if-else conditionals to their code. We also discussed the idea of going back through programs that already work to make them “smarter’ or more efficient. And just like in writing, we have a similar mantra in coding: “When we think we’re done, we’ve just begun!”

Our next activities with Dash and Dot will involve music and catapults – stay tuned!