 |
|
|
 
To learn how to implement BattleBots IQ in your school or QYO please email BattleBots IQ National Education Director
Nola Garcia.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
BattleBots IQ
Competitive Physics
Trey Roski, Founder of BattleBots Inc., whose pioneering spirit and sheer force of will created a national venue for "Competitive Physics".
Greg Munson, Founder of BattleBots Inc., who understands that providing students and teachers with exciting opportunities for engagement, coupled with an unobstructed view of the "horizon" often results in unimaginably wonderful realizations of the creative spirit.
Nola Garcia De Quevedo, National Education Director, BattleBots IQ, whose trust, support and guidance made this opportunity possible.
Alex Slocum, Professor Mechanical Engineering Ph.D., MIT, whose definitive descriptions of deterministic design were used as the basis for the Design a Program lesson in Chapter 1. Professor Slocum's restless and inventive mind coined the phrases that pay in this endeavor; "Deterministic Design and Competitive Physics"
BattleBots IQ is a program of studies that unleashes the creative potential of mathematical reasoning, scientific analysis and the clear articulation of ideas. BattleBots IQ is about inventing. Inventing a new dimension of learning and doing through the invention of competitive robots.
The BattleBots IQ Curriculum is founded on succesful Constructivist learning and educational practices articulated by learning Theorists and educators such as; John Dewey ( http://www.siu.edu/~deweyctr/), Jean Piaget ( http://www.piaget.org/) , Seymour Pappert ( http://www.papert.com/) and Howard Gardner,( http://pzweb.harvard.edu/PIs/HG.htm) to name a few.
- Learners (Students and Teachers) construct knowledge through active engagement in activities; and they construct it exponentially when actively engaged in activities they perceive as personally relevant.
- Passion enhances learning
- People want to share and demonstrate what they know and are able to do.
- Learning as a team, Students and Teachers are capable of achievement levels far beyond what is presently imagined.
- Students and Teachers make choices about what they learn, how much they learn and how they learn best. Students and Teachers can work together to design richly rewarding and diverse educational environments that provide as many choices to learn and to do as is possible to effect.
The BattleBots IQ Program places particular emphasis on Student centered design and the use of scientific inquiry. Maintaining a focus on interpersonal and communications skills while developing a practical understanding of related physical science and mathematics skills are essential components to the successful completion of a BattleBot.
The authors of the BattleBots IQ Curriculum Program recognize the motivational successes and educational effectiveness of High School Physical Education and extracurricular team sports programs. Each week throughout the school year hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, parents and community supporters gather to celebrate high school athletic achievement.
Each week, thousands of teams of young athletes and coaches work tirelessly to perfect skills, to deepen their understanding of the game and to accept the risks of playing with a highly competitive attitude. They willingly make the sacrifices to improve themselves, to know and be able to do as much as they possibly can within the framework of their chosen sport.
It is difficult to imagine that this passion for learning can only be recognized on the grassy playing fields and hardwood floors of our nations athletic programs. It is clear to the students, teachers and mentors who have been involved in sports, that there should be a way to present the creative, highly engaging and intellectually exciting equivalents of athletics within the academic curricular and extra-curricular framework.
And there are.
BattleBots is an exciting and engaging engineering contest played on a regulation course, as defined and instantly recognizable as a diamond, a gridiron or a court. And it takes a team to compete. Math, science, engineering and communicative skills and knowledge become compelling and creative tools in the hands of Student and Teacher designers. Designing a BattleBot requires the clear communication of ideas, the management of time, materials and resources, and the maintenance of accurate records. Critical life skills that offer advantages to those who develop them.
BattleBots IQ is a compilation of pedagogical strategies that can enhance the excitement and passion to learn generated by the BattleBots competition. At BattleBots IQ, we believe it is important to offer students and teachers, a multitude of avenues to express and share what they know and are able to do. We believe the BattleBots high school team benefits from the creation of many "playing" positions. We would like to attract a diverse group of interested and talented students and teachers into the program. Interest, involvement and engagement are functions of choices we make and the choices we make modify our interest, involvement and engagement. Learning is an adventure in which the paths of knowledge are all in close proximity and often intersect. Creating a venue that celebrates this cross pollination of passions provides students and teachers the chance to construct knowledge to make ideas and to develop skills and ways of being that are both personally satisfying and contribute to the BattleBot Team's success.
The authors of BattleBots IQ understand that people gain deeper understanding through personal , passionate and active involvement in the process of thinking and doing. BattleBots offers the catalyst for meaningful engagement in learning, and provides avenues by which students can share what they know and are able to do.
The BattleBot IQ Curriculum is mapped to national Science, Math and Technology Standards.( http://www.mcrel.com/compendium/browse.asp) The lessons and activities speak to the general ( http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/overview.html ) spirit of the national standards and specifically to the requirement that subject content be delivered in through programs and activities that students perceive as valuable and engaging. ( http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/6e.html ) The BattleBots IQ Curriculum can be readily adapted to State and local Frameworks.
The BattleBots IQ website is the creation of both teachers and students. BattleBots IQ, and the Bot competitions are where developing technologists showcase their growing understanding of science and math. BattleBots IQ invites students and teachers to offer their expertise to others in an effort to engage them in the hard work of learning and doing "Competitive Physics".
We invite BattleBot IQ teachers and students to participate in this program by designing and submitting lessons on BattleBot realted topics. BattleBots IQ wants others to benefit from your talents and expertise. BattleBots IQ can be a cooperative learning initiative whereby students and their teacher/mentors share the ambition to learn through the creation of knowledge.
Web Design/Data Base/Coding
David Cann - Student - Cogswell Polytechnical College
Content and Illustrations
Russel Bozek - Student - Worcester Polytechnical Institute
3D Studio Max Animations
Andrew Burgess - Student - Plymouth North High School
Flash Animation/Graphics
Adam Sternberg - Student - Plymouth North High School
IFI/PBasic Support
Branden Gunn - Student - Wentworth Institute of Technology
Author/Content/Graphics Michael Bastoni - Teacher- Plymouth North High School
|
|
|
|
| |
|
