WVMS students explore the solar system using coding

Students in Mr. Algera’s class recently put their growing knowledge of coding to work to bring a dynamic element to their latest lesson — a study on how the solar system works. 

“Each student was asked to research a planet and present their information to the class,” said Mr. Algera. 

He explained that the students used a PDF template to record the facts they learned during their research on their chosen planet. The students customized and used the PDF presentations to share their findings with the class. 

Then, the students programmed Ozobots to show just how their planets would orbit the sun. 

What’s an Ozobot, you may wonder? 

Ozobots is a robotics platform that has proven to be an excellent and accessible means of teaching young students basic coding at virtually any grade level. The small robots are programmable in a number of visual ways, and they move by following the commands drawn out by the students.   

“Each student colored in a planet and placed it on an Ozobot to represent their planet orbiting the sun,” said Mr. Algera. “In the beginning of the year, we learned how to code the Ozobots using markers and color, so this lesson tied back to our previous learning.”