Robotics Poetry

We all have read poems when we were young students and some of us are still fond of reading them. The beauty of poem is that it conveys powerful meaning in few words; it has ability to touch our heart and convey our deepest feelings. But have you ever heard of Robotics Poetry? No? Well neither did I, till I came across an amazing article talking about 7^th and 8^th graders developing deep understanding of poetry in Allegheny Valley School District, Pittsburgh, by playing around with robotics. Rather than focusing merely on STEM this school district is working on STEAM where ‘A’ stands for arts (creativity). The emphasis is on integration of left-brain and right-brain so that A Whole New Mind mentioned by Daniel Pink can be developed in the students. The thinking that is emphasized over here is that capacity to innovate, create will determine the jobs and salaries of people in future. 

Students created awesome dioramas with robotics tool kits containing sensors, motors, LEDs and a controller. These students spent two weeks analyzing the poems - The Pasture by Robert Frost, The Human Seasons by John Keats, El Dorado by Edgar Allan Poe…..and creating visual imagery for their dioramas. They recorded themselves reading the poems aloud in ‘Audacity’; these voice files turned on the LEDs and motors leading to change in light and movement of different objects in their dioramas! Out of all the dioramas I liked The Pasture by Robert Frost a lot. Take time to watch these beautiful artifacts and share your thoughts!