On April 26, the STEM Squad surprised third, fourth and fifth graders at Falcon Elementary School of Technology by bringing in Rover, a robotic car they can program to dance using calculators. Rover is a nationwide program, and Falcon Elementary in El Paso County Colorado School District 49 is the first elementary school in the country to meet Rover.Texas Instruments designed the TI Rover to help students with STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math). While students are having fun with Rover, they will learn important skills like how to code.
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| Ellen Fishpaw and Dale Philbrick from Texas Instruments discuss the TI Rovers. Fishpaw said this is the first time Texas Instruments has used this program with students of this age. Falcon was the ninth stop on a nationwide tour. | |
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| The Rovers encourage learning through interactive lessons. After programming the Rovers, the students join in to dance with robotic cars. | |
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| Mary Velasquez, D 49 project manager, talked about the Department of Defense Ignite Grant, which has allowed the district to purchase Rovers, calculators and hubs that will be used district wide for kindergarten through eighth grade. | Falcon Elementary third-grader Irece Dunson, age 8, shows the Rover off at Fridayís ìtest drive.î |
